RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia research firm is now testing a coronavirus vaccine on children — and it’s looking for more young participants.
10 On Your Side’s Don Roberts spoke with one teen about his experience with the testing.
The pandemic is personal for the Candiani family of Richmond. We spoke to 17-year-old Zachary Candiani, and his mother, Tami.
“His grandfather got it a little bit ago, was hospitalized and got better, and my uncle unfortunately got it and he’s in the hospital right now, too,” Tami said.
So when Tami’s husband Erik, told them of an opportunity to participate in the Pfizer pharmaceutical adult trial, they jumped on it.
Erik got his shot about a month ago at Virginia Research Center in Richmond.
“They had opened up and asked if he knew of any teenagers that would be interested, and we thought, Zach might be,” Tami said.
“So, I went over there, got the shot, or what I thought was the shot, but what I got was the placebo,” Zach said.
Zach says staff called him back about a week later and offered to give him the real Pfizer vaccine (as part of a juvenile study.
“It wasn’t a problem for me at all. I felt safe. My husband, like I said, had already been in the trial,” Tami said.
Dr. Aaron Hartman with the Virginia Research Center said “the safety data is pretty clear” about giving vaccines to children.
“The number of adverse side effects is very, very, very low. The last numbers I looked at about a week ago, 11- per- million vaccines. So it appears to be very very safe,” Hartman said.
” It went smooth. My arm was a little sore, that’s pretty much all… I had a headache in the morning but, it wasn’t that terrible,” Zach said.
Zach’s 14-year-old sister also received the vaccine. All have agreed to be in the trial with the Virginia Research Center for at least two years to help test the long-term effects.
The Virginia Research Center isn’t just testing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on young people. It’s also looking for volunteers of all ages willing to get the shot, to help determine its effectiveness against the newer strains of COVID-19.
As part of the testing, you will get the shot. You’ll also have to commit to two years of follow-up visits.
“We’re looking for anybody that’s willing to drive to the Richmond, Virginia, area. Age groups are currently going to be anywhere from 5 years old and above. We’re actually going to start variant trials on adults as well as kids, 5 years old and above,” Hartman said.
If you’d like to participate in current and upcoming trials with the Virginia Research Center, call 1-804-893-2273
You can also visit Virginia Research Center online.
