HOUSTON – In 2019, Bill King ran for mayor of Houston. In 2020, he is helping in the effort to develop another COVID-19 vaccine by participating in the clinical trial for Astra Zeneca.
“I’m a big believer in vaccines,” King said. “I think they are a miracle.”
In fact, King is so gung-ho about finding vaccines and wiping out the coronavirus, he actually signed up to take part in the trials of four different vaccines -- Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
“I knew they were going to need some seniors in the trial, and a lot of seniors are going to be reluctant to do it,” King said. “I’m lucky in that I don’t have any pre-existing conditions and I’m healthy and I thought it would be a good thing to volunteer for.”
King got his first dose of the vaccine a month ago and said he did experience a number of side effects over the first 48 hours, including chills with no fever, a headache and body aches. He said he felt like he was coming down with something that basically never came.
“I had a pretty good bundle of them the first time through,” King said. “I had body aches, real fatigue. I mean the second day I slept five hours during the middle of the day, which is something highly unusual for me. I had headaches, some chills, some flushing, but 48 hours later, I was fine again.”
King said that as the war to defeat COVID-19 moves ahead, he is happy he was able to do his part to defeat this killer.
“This is the start of the end for this deadly virus”, King said.