[imagesource: AP/Ted S. Warren]

It’s easy to feel helpless when, across the globe, entire countries are locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Researchers believe that the only way we’re going to fully eradicate the coronavirus is with a vaccine, but they reckon a workable one is at least 18 months in the making.

Some experts think it will take much longer. 

To accelerate the process, a number of laboratories are bypassing the usual way of doing things, by introducing human trials much sooner in the testing process that they would normally.

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle sent out a call for volunteers to test their vaccine.

Jennifer Haller, a 44-year-old mother of two, became the first person to participate in the trial, reports the Telegraph:

“Even at that time we were all feeling so helpless,” she told The Telegraph from her self-isolation in Washington state. “There was nothing I could do to stop this global pandemic. Then I saw this opportunity come up and thought: ‘Well, maybe there is something I can do to contribute.'”

According to US researchers,  she became the first person in any country to receive a possible vaccine for COVID-19.

Here she is receiving the first shot, along with some context from Dr Lisa Jackson, one of the researchers working on the vaccine:

Before she could participate, Haller had to undergo a number of tests verifying her as a suitable candidate. This included health checks and blood work.

The 45 pages of disclaimers given beforehand spelt out the uncertainties, not least that participants could be more vulnerable to catching coronavirus afterwards. She signed anyway. “There were a tonne of risks involved. But I’m a real positive person and the benefits of this far outweighed any risks in my mind,” she said.

She will receive two doses of the experimental vaccine in total, administered 28 days apart. Following the first shot on March 16, she experienced an elevated temperature, following which she has shown no symptoms.

Haller will be monitored for a year to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Ms Haller’s involvement, and that of the trial’s other 44 adults taking part, is only just beginning. Her second dose is due next week. Monitoring will not end until Spring 2021. She remains confident that a successful vaccine will emerge, whether from her trial or the ones pushing forward in other corners of the world.

Haller has received an overwhelming barrage of support and praise on social media, but is quick to point out that she’s not the only person taking risks to combat the virus.

She says it is the “hundreds of thousands” of people putting their lives on the line by carrying on with their jobs – healthcare workers, store employees, farmers and janitors – who really deserve it.

I’m sure I speak for us all when I say that everyone doing what they can to combat the pandemic, deserves our gratitude.

[source:telegraph]