Auburn native participates in first COVID-19 vaccine trial; what's next for him?

An Auburn native is participating in the first COVID-19 vaccine trial conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Ian Haydon graduated from Placer High School in 2009. Haydon has training as a biochemist and is living in Seattle and working at the University of Washington as a public information specialist for science communication. Selected individuals could not have certain health conditions or be taking medication that could affect the immune system, according to the KPWHRI website. Haydon said he decided to apply for the vaccine trials since he's in good health and did not have COVID-19 symptoms. He said his being selected was mostly by luck; he was one of 45 selected out of thousands who applied. "I am fortunate to be in good health, and I live in a city where the trial was taking place," Haydon said. "Healthy people need to volunteer, and I decided to sign up." Once selected, Haydon went through a preliminary process of reviewing a consent form, attending a screening visit to learn more about the trial and ask questions, and completing a physical and blood work. Once the blood work results confirmed his health, he was able to start the trial. Haydon said he received his first injection in his left shoulder on April 8 and will receive a second vaccine next month. The trial will continue for 14 months, and Haydon will make trips to the clinic to provide blood samples throughout the trial. According to the KPWHRI website, the trial vaccine, mRNA-1273, created by ModernaTX, Inc., does not contain a part of the COVID-19 virus and will not cause an infection to participants or research staff. Haydon said the vaccine is quick to manufacture and is made of a genetic code that, if successful, will help the body begin producing a protein from the virus which will hopefully allow the body to create antibodies to protect against the virus. "If it works, it will help with both this pandemic and with future diseases," Haydon said. Haydon said there are risks, as with any clinical trial, but he understands the risks to be low. "This is a new virus technology," Haydon said. "No one knows how this virus or technology will behave with the body." Haydon has not had any side effects or symptoms since receiving the injection and confirmed everything is normal. He admitted to having pain after the injection that kept him from being able to lift or move his left arm but said that is not unusual for a vaccine and that his arm is fine now. According to the KPWHRI website, the trial is in phase one, which focuses on the safety of various doses and whether the doses will produce an immune response. Emory University's Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit was added to the trial March 27 to ensure the trail was not dependent upon one geographic location. "We are proud that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases selected us to conduct this innovative trial," Lisa Jackson, MD, MPH, senior investigator at KPWHRI, said in a written statement.