KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As coronavirus vaccines inch closer to being cleared for public use in the United States, local vaccine trial participants hope community members will get it when it's available.
Amy Warren, a Kansas City, Missouri, native and nurse practitioner, was one of the first people in the metro to receive the Moderna vaccine in May and June.
"A lot of people thought I was crazy, but I had many reasons for doing it," Warren said. "I wanted to protect my patients, and I wanted to protect my family."
Warren said she is excited to be a part of the solution to the pandemic.
"This is something that we have not had an opportunity to be a part of ever," Warren said.
Warren received two injections – one in May and a second in June – as part of Moderna's Phase Two trials through the Center for Pharmaceutical Research in Kansas City.
Warren said she did a lot of research on the trials and felt comfortable participating.
"A lot of people were scared to do this, and I trust the scientific process," Warren said.
She also said she believes she received the vaccine and not a placebo because she developed flu-like symptoms afterwards.
"You get kind of knocked down, you need to be able to rest for a couple days afterwards," she said, "but it's a small price to pay to not contract COVID."
Now that a vaccine is close to being approved for public use in the U.S., Warren said she wants people to understand it was not rushed.
"These studies have been done by Pfizer and Moderna and Astra Zeneca and Johnson and Johnson to the gold standard of the scientific process," Warren said. "Don't be afraid to get this vaccine."
Lee's Summit resident and teacher Rachel Howard also is a participant in the Moderna Phase Two trials.
"I'm not a doctor, I can't go out there and help, but this is a way that I can help," she said.
Howard said she was inspired to participate after reading an article in the New York Times. Howard said the challenges she and her students have faced this year were one of the reasons for wanting to participate.
"As a teacher, it's been really hard doing the virtual learning," Howard said. "I see my students struggling, the impact it's had on them, my own daughter, and I want to get back to normal."
Similar to Warren, Howard said she believes she received the vaccine and not a placebo. She developed mild symptoms, such as headache and fatigue, after the second injection that lasted around 24 hours.
Howard said she returns to the lab to give blood samples every few weeks and keeps track of any symptoms in an online journal entry.
Howard and Warren met through a Facebook group made up of hundreds of vaccine trial participants around the world.
"We kind of all talk back and forth, and it's a place where we can all share what we're going through," Howard said.
Even though Howard thinks she received the vaccine and not a placebo, she's anxious to find out for sure.
"I want to know because I want to be able to travel, but I also don't want to go get a vaccine if I've already had one," she said.
The Center for Pharmaceutical Research told 41 Action News all COVID-19 trial participants will find out whether or not they received the vaccine or a placebo, but there's currently no time frame on when that will be.
