Texas congressman one of 30K to take part in vaccine trial

WASHINGTON —When U.S. Rep. Bill Flores checked in atModerna’s lab in Houston last month to get his first shot as part of a coronavirus vaccine trial, he was dressed casually, wearing a Magnolia Farms baseball cap. “Occupation?” he was asked. “Congressman,” he replied. That got a double take, said Flores, a Republican who represents a district that stretches from North Austin to Waco and Bryan. But Flores had been careful not to throw his weight around to be selected.

“I’m not here as a congressman but as someone supporting science,” Flores said he told the Moderna medical crew. “I wasn’t wearing the congressman’s hat.” (He wore the Magnolia cap in a nod to the Wacobased design and lifestyle company in his 17th Congressional District.)

And, as one of the more than 30,000 participants in the Moderna trial, he’s part of history. Moderna Inc., based in Cambridge, Mass., announced Monday that in preliminary results, the vaccine, developed jointly with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was 94.5 percent effective.

“I’m very excited to be part of this,” Flores told the AmericanStatesman. He said became interested in Moderna’s genebased vaccine in the summer and repeatedly tried to sign up for the trial on the website without getting a response. Finally, he said, the company expanded the trial to those over 60 — Flores

is 66 — and he got the goahead.

“I had several reasons for wanting to do it,” he said. “Primarily, I have faith in American science, and I wanted to instill confidence in constituents to have confidence in a vaccine.”

The five-term lawmaker, who is retiring at the end of the year, believes he may be the only member of Congress to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. No other lawmakers have announced they were taking part in any of the trials by multiple drug makers.

Moderna and other companies who have had success with vaccines are awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval before widespread vaccinations can begin.

In the Moderna trial, half the participants received the vaccine and half a placebo — saline water — and it was a doubleblind trial, meaning neither the participants nor the drug administrators knew who got which substance.

“We don’t know,” Flores said. “After the first shot, I felt nothing at all. After the second shot Nov. 13, I just felt crummy for 36 hours. I’m assuming I got the real deal, but I really just don’t know.”

By “crummy” Flores said he felt some fatigue, aches and pains, and headaches, which he recorded as part of the daily diary in an app that participants had to fill out.

He believes he will learn if he got the vaccine or the placebo when the vaccine is approved and administered to large groups, beginning with first responders

who are at high risk of exposure.

“I am assuming and hoping I got the real vaccine,” he said. Flores was drawn to the science behind Moderna’s gene-based technology and the work done by the National Institutes of Health, which he became aware of during his work as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“I wanted to be a part of that,” he said.

The vaccine research is driven by science but has been colored by politics.

In the lead up to the November elections, President Donald Trump promised quick results from OperationWarp Speed, the public-private partnership the White House announced in May to move quickly on a vaccine — something that alarmed some Democrats concerned he would try to rush a vaccine to help his re-election chances.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said during the vice presidential debate that she would not take a vaccine as directed by Trump but by health care professionals.

“I felt like the entire vaccine process had become hyperpoliticized,” said Flores, who credits Trump for the program that mobilized the scientificcommunity. “All of this is an outgrowth of Operation Warp Speed.”

The lawmaker, who is moving full time to his home in Bryan, was compensated for his participation, $375 in debit cards. He took the risk because “it was the right thing to do,” not for money.

“I’ll probably use it to buy Christmas dinner formy family,” he said.

Rep. Bill Flores may be the only member of Congress to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial.