On Nov. 13 National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis celebrated National Kindness Day by receiving a test COVID-19 vaccine at the University of California San Diego satellite medical facility near El Toyon park.
The potential vaccine is being studied by UCSD in partnership with Janssen, the research and development arm of Johnson & Johnson.
“COVID-19 has impacted all of our lives and I want to demonstrate kindness to my community. National City has been disproportionately impacted by this virus and I will be part of the solution,” Sotelo-Solis said.
The southeast San Diego neighborhood has a large number of families living in close quarters, with providers who work in essential service-based positions, and has been comparatively harder hit than some other communities in the county.
Standing at a podium set up outside the UCSD medical trailers near El Toyon Park, Sotelo-Solis gestured to a scar on her right arm and said she is a melanoma cancer survivor of one year, a Latina, a daughter and a mom, all reasons to participate in the scientific study that might pave the way for a vaccine.
“I believe in science,” Sotelo-Solis said.
The vaccine being tested on Sotelo-Solis is one of several undergoing clinical research studies by the COVID-coronavirus prevention network in consortium with the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Katherine Dromer is lead doctor on the study and broke down study numbers for assembled media before Sotelo-Solis received her test injection: 2,000 people are needed for the study. About 1,800 people have volunteered to participate but not all will qualify for the study and only 50 are local to San Diego County.
Research program manager Nicole Carter said it is important to have a set of participants who represent the large Hispanic community in National City as well as a wide range of medical histories so the test studies accurately reflect the whole population.
After giving her statement on why she chose to celebrate National Kindness Day by embarking on the study, Sotelo-Solis invited the news media to join her inside the medical facility as she went through the pre-vaccination process and then received the test vaccine.
After having her blood drawn, the mayor applauded the phlebotomist with a celebratory “Let’s give it up for Renee!” to lighten the mood in the small medical examination room.
She used the extra time to encourage everyone in earshot to stay on top of medical self-care.
Referring to her own bout with melanoma, Sotelo-Solis said she was aware of the mole on her arm a couple years ago where she now has a large scar; it was a friend who made her promise to get it checked out.
Like clockwork, the mayor said, she turned 40 and the mole turned out to be cancerous but she went through treatment and is now cancer-free and able to participate in the clinical research study for the COVID vaccine.
Registered nurse Robert Cass came in to administer two separate COVID swab tests.
With the COVID tests completed and paperwork signed for Clinical Research Coordinator Alexandra Hernandez, Sotelo-Solis smiled and held out her arm for the test vaccine, then held up her arms like a prize fighter showing off their strength after receiving the injection.
Carter said the Janssen study is ‘double-blind’ so neither participants nor the study team know whether the mayor or any other participant has received the actual test vaccine or the placebo injection.
Anyone interested in participating in the vaccine study can find more information at www.preventcovid.org
