Ever since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, Mario Mireles, instructor of microbiology at Amarillo College, has sought to become part of the solution.

That’s why beginning in July of 2020, Mireles has packed a bag every month or so and set out for the DFW area to participate in a clinical vaccine trial for the drug company, Pfizer.

“If I believe in science, and I do, then I feel like I should put my money where my mouth is,” Mireles said. “I believe in the medicines that have been developed by our pharmaceutical companies, and I believe in the vaccines they’ve developed.”

The mammoth, two-year vaccine trial included approximately 44,000 persons in the U.S. and Europe and was a double-blind study, meaning some participants received experimental vaccines, while others were given placebos. As for Mireles, he was finally vaccinated for real in November of 2020, months before the shots became available to the general public.

“That gave me great peace of mind during that terrible winter,” he said, “with such a high number of cases and deaths. Even so, I’ve continued to wear a mask and socially distance – and I’ll do that for as long as it takes since we know that it helps reduce cases, even among those who don’t want to get vaccinated.”

Mireles says the aim of the trial was not only to produce an effective vaccine in the short term, but one that could be proven safe over the long term. Mireles, therefore, will continue to report for blood tests and health assessments into the summer of 2022.

“I wanted to be part of the study to see if the vaccine provided more benefit than harm, which obviously it does since it received full FDA approval in August,” Mireles said. “I’m more than happy to continue with these assessments because the more data we can accumulate to combat the misinformation that’s out there, the better off everyone will be.”

The motivation behind why he and so many volunteered to participate in the trial, he says, are things you cannot put a price on, things like altruism, patriotism and goodwill.

“All the people I’ve met during the vaccine trial said they were there because they wanted to help decrease suffering and deaths among fellow Americans,” Mireles said. “It’s really pretty much as simple as that. We’re all too young to remember World War II, but we know there was a sense of global community back then, sacrifices that we’re made, that helped people overcome what was truly a worldwide crisis. Knowing that that sense of community made a difference back then is part of what inspired me to do this now.

“If there’s a need for another study for a future vaccine, I’ll be more than happy to do that, too. I’m healthy, so rather than asking someone who might be more susceptible to side effects to become exposed to them, I’d prefer to do that myself.”

-Amarillo College