UTSA professor is first recipient of a COVID-19 trial vaccine in San Antonio

AUGUST 7, 2020 — While Mary Dixson was scrolling through social media one day she came across an advertisement for Pfizer’s COVID-19 experimental vaccine hosted by the Clinical Trials of Texas. Without hesitating, she said, Dixson knew this was something she needed to do to help.

After signing up and going through a health screening, Dixson, a distinguished senior lecturer in the Department of Communication, discovered she would be Patient 001—the first individual to receive the phase 3 trial vaccine.

“There are only four ways out of this pandemic. One is it just goes away on its own, and the second is we live through it and lose a lot of people,” said Dixson. “The next one is a treatment. And the last one is the vaccine—and it’s the most likely. But the only way we’re going to get that vaccine is if we get the 30,000 people in the trial. And I told myself that I’m a healthy woman and I’ve never had any reaction to a vaccine, so I might as well be one of the people to give it a shot.”

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“Somebody had to be a participant in those trials or those vaccines would not exist.”

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Last Thursday, Dixson received her first dose, which she describes as being less painful than a flu shot.

“This was my first time doing a clinical trial, which is a little nerve-racking,” she said. “When I told my brother I was doing it, he was like, ‘Uh…OK. Well, way to take one for the team.’ But you know, it’s in phase III and I’ve been around UTSA scientists long enough to understand [Institutional Review Board] protocols, safety protocols and to understand how it moves from testing on animals to testing for safety to testing for efficiency.

Aware of the possibility of side effects Dixson wanted to still move forward. During the first visit for the trial, a health screening and vital check are conducted before blood and urine samples are taken. After meeting with a doctor for a cursory exam, the first dose is given. With the trial being a double-blind study, it is unknown who receives the placebo or the actual vaccine.

“After we go in for the first dose three weeks later, you go in for a booster shot. I will go in, I believe, August 18 and get my second shot and they’ll do another blood draw,” Dixson said. “They draw blood, I assume, so they can look for things like the T-cell count, the antibodies, all those things. Every six months or so you go back in and they do another blood draw to see how things are going.”

Dixson and other participants are expected to log any symptoms, such as fever, swelling or reaction to the injection site in a mobile app.

“The app is very easy to use. It just asks you what your highest temperature of the day was. Did you take any pain medications or anything to bring down the fever?” Dixson said. “There are questions about swelling, etc., and then you’re done. It takes probably about a minute.”

By becoming a part of the clinical trial, Dixson said this was her way of making a difference during this pandemic.

“The real thought that went through my head is, why not me? Is there any really good reason that I shouldn’t do it given the fact that I don’t have negative reactions to vaccines and I have the flexibility and the time to set the appointments,” she said.

By being a part of the trial, Dixson hopes she can help normalize the idea of the vaccine. She has utilized social media to share her experience and about the study itself.

“When you think about all of the vaccines that we take and that our children take, somebody had to be a participant in those trials or those vaccines would not exist,” Dixson said. “A lot of people are very worried about this particular vaccine idea in a way they’re not about the flu or the measles. I’ve already had a few people who asked me, ‘How are you doing?’ if I can get out and talk about it and let people know it is OK, then maybe they’ll be more likely to take the vaccine when it comes out.”

— Valerie Bustamante

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