SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The United States hit a grim milestone Wednesday: Over 2,800 people died due to complications from the coronavirus. The only hope of us getting out of the deadly pandemic is a vaccine, which according to experts is right around the corner of being approved. But in order to be approved, pharmaceutical companies must go through an arduous test process.
“I thought, what can I do to be part of the solution? Even a tiny, teeny bit," said Leslie Sullivan.
Sullivan of Del Sur is part of that rigorous process. In May she responded to an advertisement from pharmaceutical company Moderna looking for test subjects for a possible coronavirus vaccine. Thousands of people participate in these trials and in order to get useable data, half would be injected with a placebo and half with the actual vaccine. She got her first shot in the end of July and felt nothing, but her second shot in early September was different.
“The immune response was unmistakable,” she said. “By midnight, I had a fever that got up to 101 and I had chills and body aches. It felt exactly like having the flu.”
This is a response from the body that many feel after they’ve been given a vaccine.
“Honestly the whole time I felt terrible and I was super happy at the same time because I knew that I got the real vaccine," said Sullivan.
While these symptoms may scare some people into taking the vaccine, Sullivan says they were only temporary and went away after a few over the counter painkillers. The vaccine is necessary if we want to go back to life as normal. This is part of the reason why Sullivan wanted to participate in the trials.
“This is a way that I think we can see each other faster," said Sullivan. “Don’t be afraid. Do it as soon as you can get your hands on it. The sooner we get that herd immunity, the sooner we can get life back to normal.”