ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Off the heels of the first vaccine doses for emergency health care workers, a second vaccine will likely be authorized this week.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday confirmed Moderna's vaccine is 94.1% effective. One of the trial's participants, a Placer County woman, shared with ABC10 her firsthand experience.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna enrolled 30,000 people for its coronavirus vaccine trial. Among them was Nicki Minear of Roseville.
"I raised my hand because I feel like it's the right thing to do and ultimately [will] help us all get back to normal," Minear said.
As with all trials, Minear doesn't know if she received a placebo or the real thing, but she said she experienced symptoms. With her first shot in October, she said there was just pain at the injection site.
"It hurt a lot worse than the traditional flu shot, but still manageable," Minear recalled.
It was the day after she got her second shot a month later that she said she felt significant side effects.
"I was tired and I had a lot of muscle aches," Minear said. “I felt like I was getting the flu. I felt like I was going to be down for the count for a few days.”
But she says it wasn't anything some over the counter medicine couldn’t fix.
"I took a couple of Motrin and it went away within a couple of hours," she said.
The FDA's review of Moderna's vaccine found it 94.1% effective and side effects of fever, headache, and fatigue were common and uncomfortable but not dangerous.
Minear said she's sharing her experience to manage expectations.
"I wouldn't let side effects deter what I think is the right thing - to get the vaccine," Minear said.
Now she follows with excitement as the stage is set to clear Moderna's experimental vaccine for emergency use. An independent advisory board will meet Thursday and is expected to vote “yes.” The FDA generally follows its recommendations.
"The more vaccines that we get out… the closer we are to getting back to normal," Minear said.
If authorized, Moderna could begin shipping 6-million doses by next week – more than 600,000 set for California.
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