>>> TODAY THE UNITED STATES HAS TESTED ITS VERY FIRST
CORONAVIRUS VACCINE.
CORONAVIRUS VACCINE. IT WENT TO A VOLUNTEER THAT YOU
SEE RIGHT HERE, 43-YEAR-OLD
JENNIFER HOWELLER FROM SEATTLE.
ONE OF THE HARDEST HIT AREAS FOR
THIS VIRUS IN WASHINGTON STATE
WITH OVER 840 CASES.
IT’S A FAST-MOVING STORY AND SHE
JOINS US RIGHT NOW, THE VERY
FIRST CORONAVIRUS VACCINE
VOLUNTEER, JENNIFER HOWELLER AND
BACK WITH US FOR MEDICAL
PERSPECTIVE, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AT
UCAL.
UCAL. JENNIFER, THANK YOU FOR WHAT
YOU’RE DOING.
YOU’RE DOING. THIS FITS INTO A LOT OF
DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE ARE
PARTICIPATING AND TRYING TO HELP
AROUND THE NATION.
AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WILLING
TO TALK WITH US.
>> YEAH, I’M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE
AND I AM SO EXCITED TO BE THE
FIRST PERSON.
FIRST PERSON. THIS IS CRAZY.
>> YEAH, RIGHT.
CRAZY IS ONE WORD FOR IT.
I THINK IT’S GOT TO HAVE A LOT
OF DIFFERENT FEELINGS FOR YOU.
VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD, I’D LOVE
FOR YOU TO TELL US, YOU KNOW, AS
THEY SAY, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, HOW
DID THIS COME ABOUT AND WALK US
THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED TODAY.
>> YEAH, YOU KNOW, JUST A COUPLE
WEEKS AGO THERE WAS A CALL FOR
VOLUNTEERS AND I FILLED OUT A
FORM AND GOT A CALL BACK AND
WENT THROUGH THE PHONE SCREEN,
PASSED THAT.
PASSED THAT. I WENT IN PERSON FOR A PHYSICAL
EXAM, BLOOD DRAW, EVERYTHING
LOOKED GOOD THERE, AND HERE WE
ARE.
ARE. I WENT IN THIS MORNING AT 8:00
A.M. AND GOT THE FIRST DOSE.
THERE IT IS.
I AM -- YOU KNOW, WE FEEL, ALL
OF US, I KNOW WE FEEL SO
HELPLESS, LIKE WHAT CAN WE DO.
I AM SO EXCITED THAT THERE WAS
ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT I COULD
DO AND I DID IT.
AND I’M DOING IT, AND I AM SO
PROUD OF MYSELF AND SO THANKFUL
FOR THE PRIVILEGE THAT I HAVE
THAT ALLOWS ME TO DO THIS.
I’M HEALTHY.
I’M HEALTHY. I HAVE A FULL-TIME SALARIED JOB.
MY COMPANY IS FLEXIBLE.
THEY ALLOW ME TO TAKE TIME OFF
TO DO THIS.
I HAVE SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS AND
FAMILY.
FAMILY. MY REAL CONCERN IS FOR THE
PEOPLE THAT, THAT HAVE HOURLY
JOBS THAT LIVES ARE GOING TO BE
SEVERELY IMPACTED COMING UP
SOON.
SOON. >> BASED ON WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING
AND WHAT YOU’RE PARTICIPATING
IN, WHERE DOES THIS PROCESS GO
FROM HERE?
FROM HERE? >> I DO A DAILY LOG, A
TEMPERATURE AND ANY SIDE EFFECTS
I’M FEELING.
I’M FEELING. I KEEP TRACK OF THOSE.
OF COURSE, CALL IN IF I HAVE ANY
ISSUES.
ISSUES. DO A KNOWN CALL TOMORROW.
PHONE CALL
PHONE CALL DO A PHONE CALL TOMORROW.
PHONE CALL THE NEXT DAY.
GET A SECOND DOSE OF THE VACCINE
IN FOUR WEEKS.
I’LL BE FOLLOWED 14 MONTHS
THROUGH THE STUDY.
>> AND DID THE FOLKS INVOLVED IN
THIS TELL YOU ABOUT ANY
POTENTIAL RISKS?
POTENTIAL RISKS? OBVIOUSLY THIS IS, TO PUT IT
SIMPLY, HOPEFULLY A GOOD THING
AND YOU’RE PARTICIPATING IN IT.
YOU CAN IMAGINE SOME PEOPLE
WONDERING AT HOME, OH, MY GOSH,
EVERYONE IS NERVOUS ABOUT ALL
SORTS OF THINGS RIGHT NOW.
HOW DO YOU WALK THROUGH THE
RISK?
RISK? HOW DO YOU SEE THAT?
>> YEAH, YOU KNOW, A REALLY
IMPORTANT THING TO UNDERSTAND
THAT’S REALLY HELPED A LOT OF
FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO WERE
CONCERNED THAT THIS VACCINE USES
MESSENGER RNA, SO IT DOES NOT
USE ANY OF THE VIRUS.
AT NO POINT DURING THE STUDY
WILL I BE EXPOSED TO THE VIRUS.
SO THAT’S AWESOME.
YOU KNOW, REGULAR POTENTIAL SIDE
EFFECTS FROM A VACCINE, TOTALLY
UP FOR THOSE.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE’S THE
ABSOLUTE UNKNOWN.
ABSOLUTE UNKNOWN. THIS ONE HAS NEVER BEEN TESTED
IN A HUMAN AND I’M UP FOR IT AND
READY.
READY. >> AND IF THEY DO HAVE A
BREAKTHROUGH HERE, WOULD YOU BE
REALLY EXCITED TO BE A PART OF
DEMONSTRATING THAT?
DEMONSTRATING THAT? I MEAN, THERE IS SO MUCH OF THIS
STORY
STORY STORY THAT’S BEEN SO HARD ON
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. POTENTIALLY -- I DON’T WANT TO
GET AHEAD OF THE TEST RUN, BUT
WOULD YOU BE EXCITED IF IT WORKS
OUT?
OUT? >> I MEAN, OF COURSE.
I MEAN, THE CHANCE THAT I COULD
HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH
HELPING SAVE LIVES IS HUGE.
YOU KNOW, IF THIS ISN’T THE
RIGHT VACCINE OR WHATEVER, AT
LEAST I’M PART OF THE PROCESS,
WE’RE PART OF FIGURING THIS OUT
AND GETTING CLOSER TO SOMETHING
TO HELP EVERYBODY.
>> YEAH, FANTASTIC.
STAY WITH ME.
AS MENTIONED, WE’RE GETTING THIS
NEWS WORTHY PERSPECTIVE FROM YOU
AND PEOPLE AROUND THE COUNTRY
AND THE WORLD ARE WONDERING
ABOUT THE RACE FOR A CURE OR
VACCINE.
VACCINE. I HAVE THE DOCTOR HERE.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT
PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ABOUT THESE
TYPES OF TESTS?
>> IN TERMS OF THE VACCINE WE’RE
DISCUSSING RIGHT NOW, VACCINES
WILL TAKE AWHILE TO BE ABLE TO
MOVE FORWARD AND TO BE ABLE TO
GO THROUGH ALL THE SAFETY
TESTING.
TESTING. THERE ARE A LOT OF REGULATORY
ASPECTS HERE AND WHAT THIS WOMAN
IS DOING RIGHT NOW WHICH IS
WONDERFUL IS PARTICIPATING IN A
VACCINE TRIAL.
VACCINE TRIAL. IN TERMS OF TESTS, THERE ARE
SEVERAL TESTS THAT ARE COMING
ONLINE.
ONLINE. AND THE MORE THAT WE CAN GET
SCREENING GOING RAPIDLY
DISSEMINATED EVERYWHERE, THE
BETTER WE ARE AND THE MORE WE’LL
UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE IN THIS
COUNTRY IN TERMS OF BURDEN OF
INFECTION.
INFECTION. IT WILL HELP DICTATE WHERE
POLICY GOES.
POLICY GOES. >> FOLLOWING UP TO YOU, EVERYONE
WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT TIME LINES.
HOW QUICKLY DO YOU THINK WE
COULD LEARN ABOUT A GIVEN
VACCINE OR EXPERIMENTAL CURE
COULD BE WORKABLE AND THEN
DISTRIBUTED?
DISTRIBUTED? >> IT REALLY -- THERE ARE
SEVERAL STEPS, REGULATORY STEPS
THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN.
THIS IS TO PROTECT PEOPLE TO
MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO SIDE
EFFECTS, THAT THE SAFETY DATA IS
REALLY STRAIGHT -- IS VERY GOOD.
AND ONCE WE HAVE THOSE DATA,
THEN IT CAN MOVE FORWARD INTO
THE NEXT STEP.
BUT THERE ARE ALWAYS SEVERAL
REGULATORY STEPS THAT PROTECT
EVERYONE SO THAT WHEN A VACCINE
IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, IT
WILL -- WE’LL KNOW THAT IT WORKS
WELL.
WELL. AND WE STILL DO BELIEVE THAT
THIS WILL TAKE AT LEAST A YEAR
OR SO TO BE ABLE TO BE AVAILABLE
TO THE PUBLIC.
SO RIGHT NOW ALL OF THE MEASURES
THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT, WE
CAN’T BE PUTTING OUR HOPES INTO
A VACCINE.
A VACCINE. WE NEED TO BE PUTTING OUR ENERGY
INTO SOCIAL DISTANCING, TO
MAKING SURE THAT HOSPITALS ARE
NOT OVERLOADED AND THAT
EVERYBODY DOES THEIR PART TO BE
ABLE TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THIS
VIRUS.
VIRUS. >> REALLY GREAT POINTS ABOUT THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PANACEA,
HOPING FOR THIS TO ALL BE WORKED
OUT, VERSUS ALL THE THINGS WE’VE
BEEN TELLING PEOPLE TO DO.
JENNIFER, FINAL QUESTION.
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
SAY?
SAY? WHAT ARE YOU TELLING THEM?
>> YOU KNOW, SOME ARE WARY ABOUT
IT.
IT. BUT, NO, IT IS AMAZING THE
OUTPOURING AND SUPPORT AND LOVE
I’VE RECEIVED FROM FRIENDS AND
FAMILY.
FAMILY. I’VE HAD MESSAGES FROM STRANGERS
ON FACEBOOK THANKING ME AND IT’S
SO -- I’M JUST SO THANKFUL THAT
I GET TO BE PART OF THIS.
>> FANTASTIC.
>> FANTASTIC. I THINK IT’S GREAT WHAT YOU’RE
DOING.
DOING. APPRECIATE YOU NOT ONLY DOING
IT, BUT TAKING TIME TO SHARE
SOMETHING THAT IS FOR SOMEBODY
WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE PRIVATE OR
DIFFICULT.
DIFFICULT. YOU’RE CLEARLY A PERSON WILLING
TO JUMP IN AND ALSO BE A PART OF