ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nick Merianos said in a way, he got the idea from work. The Spectrum Bay News 9 meteorologist said he kept hearing news reports about clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

After doing some digging online, he found a phase 3 clinical trial for a two-dose version of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was taking place at Meridien Research. Merianos said it wasn't a hard decision to sign up.

“I had the mindset, and I’m sure a lot of other people had the mindset, just to get to the other side of this as fast as we can," said Merianos. "Just doing my part, and hopefully it works out in the long run."

“It’s really incredible to think that we could have that kind of an impact to help out, not only American people, but maybe worldwide, because this is a worldwide pandemic," said Dr. Gigi Lefebvre, the principal investigator with Meridien Research.

Lefebvre said this study is separate from the one into Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine, which is waiting on emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Half of the participants receive the vaccine and half get a placebo.

“I’m convinced I had the placebo," said Merianos. "I don’t know. I didn’t have any — you know when you get the flu shot, the next day you lift your arm and it’s sore? I didn’t have soreness. I didn’t have swelling.”

Merianos said he checks in at least twice weekly via an app, answering questions about whether he's experiencing any symptoms. While there are questions yet to be answered about all the vaccine candidates, he said he felt confident signing up for this one since it was a phase 3 trial.

“At the end of the day, it is a study. It is a trial. So, there’s some unknown questions and you have to just accept some of the risk that goes along with being part of that study," said Merianos.

“This study is being done because it’s important to get more than just emergency use authorization. Vaccines have never gotten to market as quickly as they are, and what many people don’t understand is that these drugs are being approved for emergency use only," said Lefebvre. "These drugs that have been approved are only approved to be used during an emergency. So, we need to get all of these vaccines true FDA approval.” 

Lefebvre said protocols for this study could change if Johnson & Johnson's one-dose candidate gets emergency approval. She said this wouldn't be unusual. When the study began, no vaccines had received emergency approval. Lefebvre said protocols were changed after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines received EUAs, and participants would be notified if that were to happen again. 

Meridien is still recruiting participants for the study. To find out if you qualify, call (727) 347-8839.