Moderna vaccine trials continue in Hattiesburg

by

kobee vance

• Published on June 23, 2022 • Comments

A nurse holds a vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, right, and a vial of the vaccine for adults, which has a different colored label, at a vaccination station in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. U.S. regulators authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again are on the rise.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

While coronavirus vaccines have been available to the public for more than a year, trials for these medicines are still ongoing. Doctors and patients in Mississippi are working together to continually monitor efficacy and safety.

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To help understand how effective and safe the coronavirus vaccinations are, volunteers in Mississippi have been participating in the Moderna vaccine trial since the summer of 2020. The Hattiesburg Clinic is one of only a few locations across the nation participating. Dr. Rambod Rouhbakhsh says the data they’ve collected has continued to show that these vaccines are safe and effective.

“We have the people that were willing to volunteer to be members of this trial here in Mississippi to thank for helping obtain this level of information for all of us, and to help prove that these remedies are safe for all of us to use.”

The vaccine trials covered a broad variety of ages, including 31 children across the state. Dr. Anita Henderson is President of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and practices at the Hattiesburg Clinic.

“I think having this type of research here in Hattiesburg just shows the rest of the state and the rest of the country that we have the healthcare infrastructure. We have the participants willing to enroll their children to be part of the solution.”

Among the patients who volunteered for the trail is 5 year old Truitt Bush of Laurel. His mother Anna Bush says some of their family have compromised immune systems, and getting their son vaccinated early in the trials helped to protect them.

“You’ll be hard pressed to find a 4 year old or a 5 year old that’s going to tell you that they like shots or blood draws or nasal swabs or anything like that. But our experience has been very positive. He had little to no side effects after the first shot, and after the second shot kinda a low-grade temp and a headache the next day. That was it.”

Experts say they will continue to follow up with trial patients in the coming months, but all reports show that the vaccines remain the best way to prevent severe illness and death from the coronavirus.