Take a shot, isolate at hotel: Chinese volunteer 048 describes Covid-19 vaccine trial

We were treated pretty well, says one of 108 participants in trial in Wuhan, whose results were published on Friday

The potential vaccine has since become the world’s first to enter a second phase of human testing, according to WHO

Reading Time:2 minutes

Shen Yulan with military epidemiologist Chen Wei in a room at the isolation hotel. Photo: Shen Yulan

Published: 10:05pm, 25 May 2020Updated: 2:28am, 26 May 2020

It was just a slight fever, but it was an inkling that Shen Yulan had yearned for.

“My body temperature rose a little bit on the second day after I took the shot … I told myself that this [vaccine] must work,” said Shen, one of 108 residents of the central Chinese city of Wuhan who volunteered for a human trial of a Covid-19 vaccine conducted by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and CanSino Biologics in late March.

So when the trial’s results were published in The Lancet last Friday, Shen said she had a “sense of pride” at her small part in the experiment.

“Some people call us heroes, but I think we only played a small part – we only took the shot and were treated pretty well [at a hotel for two weeks],” the 28-year-old architect said. “The scientists behind this vaccine are the real heroes.”

Some of the trial’s 108 volunteers were reunited this month. Photo: Shen Yulan

The study based on the trial, led by the Chinese military’s top epidemiologist and virologist Chen Wei, found the vaccine had triggered an immune system response in all recipients.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x