COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Participant From North Texas Hopes He 'Make A Difference For Society'
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - As the first doses of Pfizer's vaccine are administered across the country, it's important to acknowledge the pharmaceutical company would have never been able to get to this point if it wasn't for the 40,000-plus participants in their trial.
"I think I was perhaps the first person to receive the vaccine or placebo in North Texas," participant Adam Pick said.
Just six months ago, Pick arrived at Benchmark Research in Fort Worth ready to participate in Pfizer's COVID-19 trial.
"I participated I think for the obvious reason - you don't want to get COVID," he said. "My wife is a teacher. My kids are active in school and sports. I think second, I don't have the opportunity to be a first line responder, I'm not a doctor, but I can help try to make a difference for society so we can get back to normal. I think that's one of the biggest things for me."
Like all of the participants, Pick received two vaccinations and was not told if he got the actual vaccine or a placebo. He logged his side effects.
"When I first took the vaccine and got the follow up vaccine - a little bit of sickness, but very, very mild," he said. "Headache, a little bit of tiredness, but nothing that would affect my daily routine."
"In the last six months we've dosed a little over 430 subjects between both Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 phase three trials,"Benchmark Fort Worth Site Director Ben Seger said. "We had a meeting yesterday with Pfizer as to how it's going to be rolled out for our study subjects as well as the general public. Right now, Pfizer is following the CDC prioritization schedule. It will be very interesting to see who actually received the vaccine based on all of the side effects that have been going on."
Pick said if he did indeed receive the vaccine, he believes the positives far outweigh the negatives.
"We should find out sometime this week which one we received," he said. "The amount of study and time that has gone into this and expertise has just been incredible and it's been an exceptional thing that's been done in America."
Those who received a placebo are expected to be able to get the vaccine and will continue to be studied for the next year and a half.
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