Understanding why some get-togethers become super-spreading events is going to be critical in the continued fight against coronavirus, as a growing body of research seems to confirm that a relatively small group of people tend to be responsible for a huge number of cases.

For example, in a preprint of a study that became available last week, researchers analyzed cases in Georgia and found that 20% of all infections were caused by just 2% of people with COVID-19. Other earlier research of coronavirus clusters in Hong Kong indicated that about 20% of cases were responsible for a full 80% of infections.

What specifically puts a gathering at risk for becoming a super-spreading event is less clear. Preliminary data seems to indicate that the racial justice protests that are being held country-wide cannot be linked to the current huge spike in cases, for instance. Researchers have pointed to a few possible reasons for that: Rally-goers may be wearing masks, or self-quarantining after attending a protest; they may tend to be younger in age, and therefore less likely to develop severe symptoms. It’s being reported that outdoor activities are not a high-risk form of transmission, as well. 

Other events, however, have been directly linked to dozens of transmissions. There was the biotech conference in Boston in February that infected nearly 100 attendees. A funeral in Georgia resulted in over 100 people testing positive for COVID-19. Then there was the person who infected 52 others at choir practice, two of whom died. A birthday party in Texas left 18 people with COVID-19. What was it about these gatherings that made them breeding grounds for the coronavirus?

While more research is needed before experts can say for sure which events are most likely to become super-spreaders, a few different factors appear to be important.

“An event held indoors with larger group sizes, louder talking (such as over music) or heavy breathing (such as exercise), and for longer duration are all factors that increase the likelihood of super-spreading from attendees who have the virus but no symptoms,” says Sachin Nagrani, MD, the medical director of Heal, a telehealth and house call app. Most of the super-spreader events identified earlier had many of these very things in common.

Talking, shouting, singing, and heavy breathing all cause people to expel respiratory droplets, which we know are the main way coronavirus is passed along — particularly if people aren’t wearing face masks, one easy and proven way to reduce transmission. Indoors, there’s “less ventilation, limited sunlight sanitizing surfaces, and typically less space to distance from others,” Dr. Nagrani tells Refinery29. As a result, those droplets can hang around, infecting a maximum number of people.

“Large indoor events with no masks or distancing could result in massive amounts of transmission as compared to smaller, outdoor events where people cover their faces and stay away from each other,” confirms Ben Althouse, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, WA. He tells Refinery29 that whether or not the attendees of the get-together are susceptible to infection also plays a role.

“In a study of 110 case-patients from 11 clusters in Japan, all clusters were associated with closed environments, including fitness centers, shared eating environments, and hospitals; the odds for transmission from a primary case-patient were 18.7 times higher than in open-air environments,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.  

The timing of the event may matter too. A great deal of transmission seems to occur in the window of time after a person is infected but before they are symptomatic, according to a study in the journal Nature Medicine. A person attending an event within that period may create a super-spreading situation, whereas if they had attended just a few days before, they wouldn’t have. It’s also possible that people with a higher viral load — which means they have more virus in their droplets than others — could make a person more likely to become a super-spreader, reports CNN. 

The bottom line is, we’re not out of the woods yet. In many states, case counts are rising alarmingly quickly. On Tuesday June 30, Anthony S. Fauci, MD, said there’s a risk that the U.S. could reach 100,000 cases a day if something doesn’t change. “I’m not satisfied with what’s going on because we’re going in the wrong direction,” Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, according to The Washington Post. That day, the U.S. recorded more than 48,000 additional cases.

“Coronavirus cases are surging in many areas of the country right now, so unfortunately the responsible choice is to avoid many events we may desire attending,” Dr. Nagrani says. “Indoor or combined indoor-outdoor gatherings, outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people, or any type of gathering in areas where the virus is increasing in activity should be avoided right now.” 

If you’re going to go to a small outdoor get-together, and the place you live is allowing it, “wear a mask, maintain six feet of distance from others, limit touching surfaces, and use hand sanitizer if you contact any common surface,” Dr. Nagrani advises. “If you or your family exhibit any symptoms of COVID (fever, cough, muscle pain, loss of smell) do not attend the event and call your primary healthcare provider for advice,” adds Althouse.

We know: It’s July 4th weekend, we’ve been stuck inside for months, and we all want to start getting back to normal. But if we don’t stay the course now, we’ll only be setting ourselves back. So skip the party in favor of an intimate, social distancing picnic or a solo Netflix marathon instead. It’s the right, socially responsible thing to do. And if you do leave your home? Wear a face mask!

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Amid weeks of racial justice protests throughout the U.S., many have wondered whether the gatherings might end up being coronavirus super-spreader events. Now, science finally has an answer.

A just-published study from the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that we can stop stressing so much about this particular concern. Researchers used anonymous cell phone tracking data, pulled from 315 U.S. cities (281 of which saw protests), to determine whether coronavirus cases increased at any point within the 21+ days following the onset of protests, confirmed lead researcher Dhaval Dave, PhD, in an email to Refinery29. The conclusion? “We find no evidence that net COVID-19 case growth differentially rose following the onset of Black Lives Matter protests, and even modest evidence of a small longer-run case growth decline,” the study authors wrote in the paper.

According to the researchers, the fear was that the protests would result in an increase in coronavirus cases because people were breaking social distancing guidelines while marching in solidarity against the systemic racism and police brutality that are creating an epidemic of Black deaths in the U.S. If you’ve been to a protest, you know it’s true: Even if you’re wearing a face mask and staying out of the thickest parts of the crowds, keeping six feet away from the people around you isn’t always possible. 

This study found that while protesters were certainly socially distancing less than before, everyone else may have been socially distancing more. “Our findings suggest that any direct decrease in social distancing among the subset of the population participating in the protests is more than offset by increasing social distancing behavior among others who may choose to shelter-at-home and circumvent public places while the protests are underway,” the researchers explained. They added, “Moreover, to the extent that the killing of George Floyd, and the ensuing civil unrest and mass protests, also impacted residents’ mental health and stress, this may further lead to decreased activity levels and an increase in stay-at-home behaviors.”

The researchers also pointed out that “while it is possible that the protests caused an increase in the spread of COVID-19 among those who attended the protests, we demonstrate that the protests had little effect on the spread of COVID19 for the entire population of the counties with protests during the more than two and a half weeks following protest onset.” So people who attend protests may be continuing to follow strict stay-at-home guidelines except while protesting. At the same time, non-protesters seem to be staying in. Together, this may have prevented a wider resurgence.

The study floats a few other potential explanations for this good news. For instance, protesters tend to be younger and therefore more likely to experience mild coronavirus symptoms, so they may not seek testing or treatment. It’s also possible that the countermeasures rally-goers are taking, such as wearing masks, are paying off.

This is just one study. But Dave and the other researchers highlight the importance of understanding the behavior of all relevant populations — in this case, protest attendees and non-participants — in deriving public health implications. As they conclude, in the case of the recent protests, “public speech and public health did not trade off against each other.” 

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The idea that trauma can be passed down from generation to generation is a new-ish one. The concept of intergenerational trauma was first recognized around 1966, as psychologists began to study children and grandchildren of people who had survived the Holocaust. One study from 1988 found that the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors were overrepresented by about 300% in referrals to psychiatric care. Researchers theorized that the effects of trauma can be transferred from one generation to the next. 

This phenomenon is also known as transgenerational trauma and, when it references a shared experience among a group of people, such as Black people or refugees, it can be called historical trauma. 

It’s particularly relevant right now. Thousands of people are taking to the streets to protest the brutal killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by police — only to be met with tear gas and rubber bullets, and to be called thugs in a tweet by the President of the United States. This is only the latest instance in a legacy of racism that stretches back hundreds of years. 

We asked Mariel Buquè, PhD, a trauma therapist, to explain how intergenerational trauma works — and what, if anything, can be done to heal from it.

How Can Trauma Be Passed Between Generations?

There’s some evidence that trauma alters people’s genes; if that were true, those genetic variations could then be passed down between generations, predisposing their recipients to be sensitive to subsequent traumas and stressors. Trauma can also be passed down behaviorally: A child of someone who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder could learn and internalize certain ways of thinking from the parent.

How Does Race-Based Traumatic Stress Cause Intergenerational Trauma?

“Black lives have been assailed since they set foot in the U.S., and even beyond the U.S.; it’s a worldly phenomenon and epidemic that we’ve been experiencing for hundreds and hundreds of years now,” Buquè says.

In addition to the possible genetic changes they may have inherited from traumatized parents and grandparents, Black Americans also deal with psychological and social sources of trauma that are passed from one generation to the next. 

“The individual’s parents or grandparents may have stories about how their own relatives survived the Jim Crow era, narratives that were marked by terror and fear of the white community,” Buquè says. “There are a lot of messages that are passed on at an early age in life that positions Black individuals to believe that the world is a threatening place, which is the case for us. But when you’re a child and you’re still trying to understand your place in the world, being plummeted with these messages — that are protective in many ways — is very traumatic,” Buquè points out. 

This fits into what mental health professionals call the biopsychosocial model, which examines how biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors are interconnected. 

This type of race-based traumatic stress is still not recognized as a diagnostic qualifier in the psychiatric world — despite the fact that in the past 10 or so years, numerous studies attest that it exists, notes Buquè. “The reason for that is because the people that are creating the diagnostic codes aren’t, for the most part, people that look like us,” she explains. “There isn’t a voice in the room to say we have to consider to experiences of Black folks, and how these produce a very specific type of stress race-based traumatic stress that have the markers of PTSD, such as hyper-vigilance, hyper-arousal, intrusive thoughts, and sleep disturbances.” 

How Can Intergenerational Trauma Be Healed?

The first step to healing this type of trauma is to gain an understanding of your own triggers and symptoms. Due to the nature of historical trauma, these are likely different for every person. 

Buquè gives this example: During a meeting, a Black person may find themselves working very hard to deliver a message of inclusivity. They leave, and they’re feeling heavy. They’ve lost their appetite. They don’t feel grounded. But they may not be able to connect the emotional labor they just performed with their symptoms. 

“It’s really important for us to be attuned what the triggering factors are for us, and what the psychological markers are — what it looks like for us to be in trauma,” Buquè says. She recommends mindfulness protocols, which help make individuals more conscious of where the trauma resides in their bodies. This sort of work can be done with a mental health professional or one one’s own, she says, adding, “Having an understanding of what trauma is like for them specifically can be highly empowering, and can be the very beginning of a healing journey to break the cycle of trauma for generations to come.” 

How Can You Help A Friend With Intergenerational Trauma? 

“The most prominent thing to keep in mind for Black individuals and communities of color at large that face racial discrimination, is to keep in mind that we are feeling unsafe. So you can consider what safety or safe places can look like for the person who is in trauma,” Buquè says. Work toward being a source of protection and grounding. 

“One thing that’s incredibly important to consider is just an increase of consciousness around placing added burden upon Black individuals,” Buquè adds. “There are many times when well-intended and well-meaning white people, who I know truly care for me, make statements of white guilt, or express that they don’t know what to do. There are a lot of resources out there around allyship and co-conspiratorship. My recommendation is that people seek those out, rather than place that heavy burden of their own guilt and shame upon a person that’s already in grief and in trauma.”

To help bring attention to the police killing of George Floyd, you can sign the Change.org petition here, or donate to local organizations like Black Vision Collective or Reclaim the Block via the Minnesota Freedom Fund here.

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If you’re quarantining with your partner, chances are “more intimacy” is not something you think you need. After all, you guys are together, like, all the time. Sure, maybe you escape to different rooms during the day. But still — you breathe a sigh of relief when your counterpart leaves for a 15-minute CVS run.

As it turns out, the disintegration of our normal boundaries can actually erode emotional intimacy.

Renown relationship therapist Esther Perel writes about this idea in her book, Mating In Captivity. “Our need for togetherness exists alongside our need for separateness,” she asserts. “Too much merging eradicates the separateness of two distinct individuals. Then there is nothing more to transcend, no bridge to walk on, no one to visit on the other side, no other internal world to enter. When people become fused — when two become one — connection can no longer happen. There is no one to connect with.”

In other words, when you’ve been within 600 feet of your partner all day, when you can remember what they had for lunch yesterday as well as you can remember your own meal, when you can tell simply from the way they breathe that they’ve switched from “work mode” to “home mode,” that can feel a lot like intimacy. But that very closeness can completely squash your ability or desire to feel emotionally bonded to them. It would be like wanting to get closer to your right hand. No, thanks; I’m good.

Of course, if you’re quarantining without your partner, you’re facing a whole different type of barrier. Sure, couples have been making long-distance work since before FaceTime was a thing. But the era we’re living in puts them under additional pressure. “The world has changed, and we are going through extraordinarily stressful times,” notes Rachel Sussman, a licensed marriage and family therapist in New York City. “During such times couples do need to lean on each other. This is harder to do if you are long distance. Those couples may feel alienated from each other and as a result, they may feel isolated.”

All this is to say, all couples could benefit from a little bit of emotional intimacy building right now. We’ve got five strategies to help you do that.

Go back to basics. In other words, schedule a date night. Sound cheesy? It may be. But that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. The benefits of setting up some “special” couple time is somewhat self-explanatory for long-distance couples: You need an opportunity to bond. For quarantined-together couples, though, date nights can actually help restore some of the boundaries that may be getting blurred. Dressing up for each other, asking each other questions, and participating in an activity together — even if that’s just eating dinner and choosing something to watch on Netflix — has a way of reminding you that the person across from you is a whole, separate individual..

Try something totally new. Okay, so you’re adapting your usual dinner-and-a-movie thing to work in quarantine. But there’s something to be said for taking a total left turn. Novelty is like Viagra for a relationship. The easiest way to keep it fresh in quarantine is by signing up for virtual activities, which you can do “together” whether you’re in the same room or across the country. “Some folks are taking MasterClasses or cooking classes together,” Sussman says. She’s also a big fan of couples signing up for workout challenges together (such as Yoga With Adriene’s 30 Day Challenge, which everyone I know is addicted to right now). The endorphins are good for your moods — and maybe your sex life, too.

Study up. The latest innovation in the relationship self-help space is Rise, a program designed to help couples develop “relational intelligence.” I think of it as a halfway point between “actual date” and “couples counseling.” Once a week, Rise emails you a guided conversation to have with your partner, with questions like “What have you felt optimistic and excited about lately?” and “Is there anything in your relationship you’ve been getting defensive about or avoiding?” The topics are designed to uncover and resolve any sources of tension and to help you deepen your bond — and right now, they’re offering a free six-week course that specifically targets coronavirus-related issues. It works IRL or over FaceTime, and the guides are natural enough that you won’t feel like you’re bringing a script to a date (which would be weird).

Think about your greatest hits. “Reminiscing is a positive tool that can keep intimacy at high levels,” says Channa Bromley, the lead coach at relationship coaching website Relationship Hero. Some ideas: During a more romantic moment, bring up some of your favorite sexy memories. Replicate your first date or the first vacation you took together by wearing a similar outfit or eating a similar meal (if you’re apart, have an order-in meal sent to your partner to be shared on a virtual dinner date). Cue up a Spotify playlist of songs that are meaningful to you.

Enlist the pros. It’s a great time to dip your toes into the world of couples counseling for the first time, or to recommit to the practice again. Plenty of therapists are offering virtual sessions, so it’s more convenient than ever before. Plus, right now is a good time to experiment so you can find a format that works for you and your partner. Relationship Hero, the service Bromley coaches for, offers group therapy sessions in addition to one-on-one relationship counseling. Many other practices are translating in-person therapy sessions to work virtually, courtesy of video conferencing platforms like Zoom. 

—Presented by HBO Love Life—

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One of the first COVID-19 vaccines to begin trials in human subjects seems to be safe and effective, according to interim data released on May 18. While this is definitely good news, experts are still saying that the absolute earliest a vaccine could be widely available would be the end of this year.

This vaccine candidate, known as mRNA-1273, prompted an immune response in study participants, announced its manufacturer, Moderna, Inc., in a press release this morning. It was also found to be well-tolerated.

The human trials for the vaccine candidate began on March 16 in four people, though ultimately, 45 people were included in the study. About a month later, subjects received a second dose.

Two weeks after receiving a second dose, participants’ levels of binding antibodies — immune substances that bind to the virus — met or exceeded the levels seen in the blood serum of people who had recovered from COVID-19. The same appears to be true of levels of neutralizing antibody, which bind to the virus and block infection; but the data for this type of antibody was only available for eight of the study participants.

“The important element here is that in general, neutralization correlates with total binding antibodies once you’re above a certain threshold. So the relevance of these results, for us, is not just the direct confirmation that in these first eight subjects, indeed, we see neutralizing activity. But they really allow us to extrapolate what we expect to be achieving in all 45 subjects,” said Tal Zaks, MD, PhD, Moderna’s chief medical officer, during a conference call. He added that preclinical animal trials showed that the vaccine prevented SARS-CoV-2 viral replication in animals’ lungs. “These data today take off the table the risk of not being immunogenic, or the risk of the antibody type being wrong — no, it works, and you see the demonstration of neutralizing activity,” Dr. Zaks said.

The interim data also showed that the vaccine was generally safe and well-tolerated. Three participants experience flu-like symptoms after receiving a second vaccination at a 250 microgram dose, the highest included in the phase one trial. These symptoms were resolved within a day. But because the early data shows that the lower doses (25 micrograms and 100 micrograms) were so effective, the researchers are dropping the highest dose from its next trials. Plus, as Dr. Zaks told The New York Times, “The lower the dose, the more vaccine we’ll be able to make.”

At the lowest dose, just one person experienced a reaction: redness around the injection site.

“The only side effect I experienced was soreness at the site of injection the day after the two doses,” Jennifer Haller, a participant in this human trial and one of the first people to receive the mRNA-1273 shot, confirmed in an email to Refinery29. “But both times it was less uncomfortable than flu shots I’ve had in the past, so that was a welcome surprise.”

Haller said she just found out about the interim data this morning from the news. “They announced last week that the trial was approved for stage two, and that was a good sign, but to hear this morning that binding antibodies were detected even in the lowest dose group (my group), that’s so exciting!” She said she’s not assuming these early results mean she’s immune, and she still plans on taking measures such as social distancing and wearing a face mask. But she’s hopeful, and heartened by the success. “Science is real,” she said.

Now, Dr. Zaks and the other researchers working on this vaccine are turning their sights to the next phases of trials. The phase two study, which is expected to begin soon, will test different doses of mRNA-1273, and a placebo, on 600 participants aged 18 and over. The third phase will involve thousands of participants, and ideally include people who are at risk because of factors including their ages, pre-existing conditions, or occupations, Dr. Saks said. 

If all goes well, Dr. Zaks told The New York Times, a coronavirus vaccine could be available by the end of this year or early 2021.

COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.

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“Quick question. Does anybody else’s face mask smell weird?”

This single question, posed in a company Slack channel, unleashed the veritable flood gates. People compared the smell to rotten paper or gauze, weird vinegar, a high school hockey team bus, and simply “chemicals.” We were buoyed by the fact that we weren’t alone, and relieved to learn that we hadn’t been walking around with bad breath this whole time.

The natural next question: Is a stinky mask… okay?

“I get this question a lot from my patients, and it’s definitely an important one. My response is: How long have you been using the face mask?” says Darien Sutton, MD, an emergency physician at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, during a phone call with Refinery29.

The reason he asks is because an “off” smell is a telltale sign that it’s time to toss a disposable mask, or wash a reusable one.

“When you’re using a surgical mask, you’re breathing on it and your respiratory particles land on the mask. The bacteria in those particles can then grow and cause an odor you find distasteful,” Dr. Sutton explains.

It is okay to wear a disposable mask more than once, as long as you’re being careful not to contaminate yourself. That means removing your face mask correctly (from the back, not the front), and storing it in an out of the way place. Dr. Sutton recommends hanging masks — disposable and reusable — on a coat hanger between uses.

To keep yourself safe, you can disinfect disposable masks between uses. “Put 60% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle and mist the mask, then leave it on a windowsill to dry,” Dr. Sutton advises. “We know that alcohol and UV rays decrease viral particles.” You can clean reusable masks in the washing machine.

But my coworkers and I were talking about fresh masks — just-ripped-the-plastic-off, brand-new masks that still make our nostrils pucker.

Dr. Sutton said this may be down to the chemicals masks are treated with to preserve them, so they don’t break down in storage. Right now, face masks are in higher demand than ever before. “We’re reaching to the back of the storage room,” Dr. Sutton notes. The masks currently on the market may have been sitting around for a while, which means they may smell more strongly of chemicals than usual.

While that’s not a bad thing, you also don’t necessarily want to be huffing those chemicals. So if your mask does have a strong smell, Dr. Sutton suggests letting it air out for a while before putting it on.

Many masks can expire too, Dr. Sutton notes. Check the box or the plastic sleeve yours came in for an expiration date, and if it has passed, toss it.

So basically, a little odor is very likely normal. It may simply mean your face mask is, erm, well-preserved. It may be a sign that it’s time to retire a mask, or give it a good wash. But you can rest easy knowing that it’s probably not your breath.

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As soon as it became clear how quickly coronavirus was spreading across the world, and how deadly it was, the race for the vaccine was on. As of now, there are as many as 115 vaccine programs in the works, reports the journal Science Translational Medicine. One of the first in the world to be tested on humans was created by Moderna, Inc, a biotech company in Massachusetts. One month ago, that vaccine was given to the first set of human subjects as part of a safety trial.

The first person to receive the Moderna coronavirus vaccine was Jennifer Haller of Seattle; she spoke to Refinery29 the day after getting the shot. Around a month later, on Tuesday, April 14, she received the second and final dose. We took the opportunity to check in with her. She answered our questions about what symptoms she experienced as a result of the vaccine, and how she’s handling all the attention she received after news of her participation in the Moderna trial went public.

This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

Refinery29: Thank you so much for getting on the phone with me again. I’m so glad we were able to catch up. So tell me, what has the last month been like? 

Jennifer Haller: “As far as side effects from the vaccine, I’ve had basically, zero. My arm was sore the day after the first shot, and my arm is sore again today after getting the second shot. But I’ve experienced no other side effects, which has been great. I’ve just been living my life as normal as possible, since I’m under the same restrictions as everybody else — no special restrictions from participating in the trial.”

Did you have to go in for any blood tests or anything in the interim between these two vaccines?

“Yes. After the first one, I went back one week later for a blood draw. That one was to just check my overall health and make sure that I was doing well. Two weeks after the first vaccination, I went in for another blood draw. That one was to check my overall health as well, but also to check for any antibodies that may have been produced. [Antibodies would indicate an immune response to the vaccine, which would be a positive sign.]

“As of now, even the study doctors don’t know what the results of the antibody production was, so neither do I. My understanding is similar, that this first phase is just to determine safety. And in the second phases they’ll focus more on efficacy. I don’t believe I will know any results until they are published publicly.

“I got the second dose of the vaccine yesterday, and I’ll go through a repeat of four weeks ago: I keep a log for the next eight days of my temperature and any symptoms. There will be a phone call today and tomorrow to just do a check in, get some vitals from me over the phone. In a week, I’ll go back for a blood draw, and in two weeks, I’ll go back for a second blood draw. 

“Then from there, over the next 12 months I’ll have three more visits for blood draws.

“But I’m done — there are no more doses of the vaccine.” 

Has being part of the trial affected your day-to-day at all? Does it feel different knowing that you’ve taken part in this trial or not really?

“No, I don’t presume any kind of inoculation or anything from the trial. I’m conducting myself the same as if I wasn’t in the trial, just taking the same precautions as everyone else.”

I’m based in New York City, where the vibe is still pretty anxious. What is it like in your area, in Seattle? Are you still pretty locked down?

“Yes. In the last week or so, we’ve seen that our state has generally done a good job on the stay-at-home mandate. We leveled off on new cases. We dismantled our field hospital last week, and sent it back to the federal government for them to redeploy and returned a bunch of ventilators. 

“So, our state is feeling cautiously optimistic about the success of the stay-at-home order. But we’re certainly not out of the woods. I don’t think we’re near lifting the stay-at-home order. We’re feeling pretty lucky, especially seeing what’s happening in areas of our country that didn’t take it as serious.” 

After the first time we spoke, I noticed people reacted almost with a sense of relief to be hearing something positive. And not just that they were testing a vaccine, but that you and the other participants in the trial had volunteered and were taking this step to help the greater community. What was it like to be faced with that kind of overwhelmingly positive reaction when the news of you being part of the vaccine trial began getting around?

“Yeah, I think a big piece of me wanting to do this is because I have a lot of privilege: I have a secure job, friends and family nearby, plenty in savings. Being part of a trial like this is something that a lot of people can’t do because they’re under so many more stressors, and have so many more immediate concerns. So it was important to me to find something to do that others necessarily couldn’t. By that I mean — to use my privilege to do something a little more risky than what others could do.

“And all the praise was difficult at first… I did receive a ton of love and thanks and prayers from thousands of people on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all of that. It was very overwhelming and I didn’t know what to do with that. It didn’t feel right to me to have all this praise because I’m just one of many that are participating in a vaccine trial. I’m just one small piece of this effort.

“So I didn’t know what to do with all that. And I talked to a trusted advisor, a spiritual leader, that I’ve turned to in the past. She said, ‘If somebody criticizes you or is mean to you, it’s because they’re projecting or they have something else going on in their life. So you don’t take that personally.’ And she helped me understand that this is just the flip side of that. That praise is also not to be taken personally, and it’s not about me. It’s about people looking for hope and some kind of positive future. And so that really helped me release and pass on the positive messages I was receiving.

“And I wanted to pass it on to those who were actually putting their lives on the line here. The ones who are working to feed their family and keep their housing. People that are working minimum wage jobs, working on the farms or driving trucks or cleaning hospitals — all those who are now termed essential workers. Those are the real people that are making sacrifices and going through some scary times.”

Have there been any stories or news you’ve heard that’s touched you in the same way that people were being touched by your story? Has there been anything you’ve heard that you’ve just been like, “Wow, I can’t believe someone’s doing that or people are doing that?”

“I don’t have specific stories, but I am thinking a lot about undocumented workers right now. My birthday was just last week and for the past couple of years I’ve done a fundraiser on Facebook. This  year I picked a non-profit to support undocumented workers.That’s a group that has completely fallen through the cracks and received zero help from the federal government, certainly.

“They have the hardest jobs in our country, I believe, and critical jobs. And so that was something that was important to me to support and to recognize.

“I don’t know how to say it, but I know my family and my neighbors are going to look back on this time and be like, ‘Wow, wasn’t that magical? We got to slow down. We got to spend some quality time with our family. We got to connect.’ And I’m really kind of embarrassed by that, because half of our country, even prior to this crisis, was living paycheck to paycheck.

“So I hope, when I’m doing interviews, when people are hearing my story, what I really hope is that it inspires them to think beyond themselves. It’s natural, when we’re in crisis, to go inward to protect ourselves and to protect our family. But I really hope that this can inspire people to step outside of that and to think bigger. And I hope, certainly more broadly, that this is a wake-up call for our country to recognize the inequality that has always been there and to take some important steps to meet everybody’s basic human needs: universal healthcare, paid sick time, a livable minimum wage, I could go on…”

COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.

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Yesterday, shortly before 5 p.m., I learned that Chris Hemsworth has an app. That knowledge came in the form of a Slack from a coworker. It read: “So has anyone here listened to Chris Hemsworth’s new Sleep For Kids meditation recording on his app? It is a thinly veiled horny meditation for fans.”

Within five minutes I had downloaded the app — ostensibly a wellness program called Centr — filled out a detailed profile, and given my permission to be charged $29.99 if I forget to cancel my subscription within seven days. Worth it. Because just like that, I had access to the guided meditations, designed for children, that my coworker was calling, “Truly the hottest thing I have ever heard.”

Thirty seconds into the first recording, I agreed.

The actor leads two guided meditations. The app designers go out of their way to make it abundantly clear that they are for kids. “Sleep For Kids: Starry Night,” the first one is called. “Narrated by Chris Hemsworth, this visualization will take kids on a journey through the twinkling night sky,” the description reads. We get it — it’s for kids!

And then Chris kicks things off with a low, lightly accented “Hi everybody,” and I am lost.

At first, I think maybe it’s just his voice that’s making me blush: the gravel-y, “just woke up” rumble, tinged with the faintest hint of an Australian accent. And to be sure, that too-rugged-to-be-a-meditation-teacher tenor is at least 80% of the appeal here. But his script contains just enough borderline innuendo to make me think that maybe — maybe — Chris is in on this, too.

“Are you all tucked up in bed?” he asks huskily, and I instinctively look around to make sure my husband can’t hear. “Feel your body go soft and wobbly like jelly,” he whispers into my ear, and I feel perspiration begin to gather at my hairline. In his second recording, called “Meditation For Kids: Share Your Kindness” (emphasis mine), he murmurs, haltingly, “Your body is being filled with love… and kindness… and happiness.” I am sweating.

I don’t know why Chris Hemsworth created such sexy meditations for kids. It was probably an accident, and everything he says at a register below “melodramatic Thor yell” sounds slightly erotic. Possibly, it was a ploy to get more parents to download the app. As another coworker said, “This is definitely more for mommy than baby.”

Whatever the reason, for a wonderful hour on a Monday afternoon, Chris’s guided meditations broke up the tedium of working from home and brought joy to our Slack channel. I only hope he records more. I’d love to hear his take on Deep Breathing (For Kids).

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The race for a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, officially termed COVID-19, is on. As the number of cases all over the world continues to rise, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions are scrambling to create an immunization shot that might halt the spread of the virus.

So yesterday, at 8 a.m., researchers at Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle began testing an experimental coronavirus vaccine. While just four people were given the shot yesterday, in total 45 participants will receive it during this trial, which is meant to determine its safety, reports The New York Times. Other studies will assess how well it works. Even if all goes well, it’ll likely take a year for the vaccine, which is made by Moderna, Inc., to become available.

The very first person to receive this shot was Jennifer Haller from Seattle, a 43-year-old operations manager at a small tech company, and the parent to two teens. She doesn’t have the virus, but she volunteered to take part in the trial in order to help fight the disease.

She spoke over the phone to Refinery29 about what it feels like to be a human guinea pig in something so big that it’s brought the world’s largest economies to its knees and quarantined large swaths of people in major metropolitan cities across the globe, from Milan to San Francisco.

Refinery29: So how did you hear about this trial, and what made you sign up?

Jennifer Haller: “It was about two weeks ago that they put out a call for volunteers. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook, and I was looking for something to do that could be helpful, so I immediately filled out the survey. The next day I got a phone call to review my health history.

“I passed all those qualifications, and went in the next day to do a physical exam, a blood draw, and get more into my health history. And apparently, it was all good and then I got the call to get the first vaccine — which I did, yesterday morning.”

How many rounds of the vaccine will you be getting?

“I’ll be getting two rounds. The first one was yesterday. I’ll be keeping a journal of any symptoms and my temperature and everything for the next two weeks. We’ll do a phone follow-up today and tomorrow, and then in a week I’ll go back in for a blood draw, a week after that I’ll go in for another blood draw. And then four weeks from yesterday, I’ll go in for the second dose [of the vaccine] — and I’ll repeat that whole process again. Then throughout the next 14 or 18 months I’ll have a handful of visits for blood draws.”

Are you being paid for this?

“Technically they’re offering money. But you know, if I was doing it for money like you couldn’t really pay me enough to do this. So it’s just a token, and it’s not really a driver for me at all.”

Were you surprised they called you back? Were you under the impression that a lot of people signed up?

“Yeah, yeah. It was crazy. I don’t know how many people signed up but I definitely had the impression that it was thousands. I was out to dinner with a friend when I got the call. I had just arrived and sat down when the phone rang. I actually asked, ‘Can I call you back later?’ You know, I had just sat down for dinner. And I could sense a little hesitation in their voice. They were like, ‘Yeah, you can call me back later…’ And I was like, ‘Oh okay, wait a minute, I should take this call, shouldn’t I?’ They said, ‘Nooo — but we may not get around to calling you back.’ So I took it. I’m so glad that I did.”

You’re based in Seattle, and obviously that’s been a hotspot for coronavirus cases. Do you have any friends with COVID-19, or can you share what it’s been like being out there with all of this going on?

“You know, I’m barely able to keep up with the newer reports. I’m definitely seeing friends of friends getting it. My parents live in Kenmore, which is very close to the original U.S. epicenter of Kirkland. And my mom is 70, and my stepdad is 85 with asthma. So he’s been staying home for two and a half weeks now. I’m really concerned about their safety, and it’s quite overwhelming.

“But one thing that I really would like to talk about is, you know — I’m going to be okay. My family is going to be okay. We have the resources we need to weather this. I have a deep concern for so many Americans that don’t have the privilege that my family and I have.

“Last Thursday I was able to go to Costco and spend $250 on things I think I might need for the next few weeks. And even that simple act, a lot of people can’t do that. People are losing their jobs, especially in the restaurant industry, the arts community. It’s devastating, and it’s going to be devastating. And I worry about the physical health impact for people and also the mental health impact it’s going to have.”

I would probably sign up for a trial too, but if it came down to actually getting the shot I might get cold feet! Were you finding yourself nervous at all? Did your friends and family express any hesitation?

“Some friends were definitely concerned. I explained that the vaccine uses messenger RNA, which means throughout the whole trial I’ll never be exposed to the actual virus. Helping people understand that has been good. But you know, there’s a 45-page waiver that you have to sign, right? And yes — this has never been tested on humans, so there’s a complete unknown.

“But you know, my understanding is that it’s similar to what they’ve done with MERS and SARS, and that the good that can come from it is so much greater than anything that can happen to me, even if it was the worst. I’m a positive person and I don’t really focus on the potential downsides here. I wasn’t scared. My friends were like, ‘You need to be a little more scared about it.’”

What else do you know about the vaccine, the risks, what’s in it, etc.?

“Yeah, you know that’s really a better question for the scientists, obviously. The potential risk is that the vaccine doesn’t work. I’m not doing it in the hopes of protecting myself, I’m not expecting that. Right now, they’re just trying to figure out what dosage they need to give for it to be effective.”

Were you told to take any additional precautions, besides what’s already being recommended, such as avoiding gatherings of more than 50 people?

“Nothing different is requested of me as far as being part of the study. Just to do everything everyone else is following. Again, because it doesn’t expose me to the actual virus there’s no risk to anyone around me.”

How are you feeling now?

“I’m feeling great. The shot itself was pretty painless, very similar to a flu shot — and surprisingly my arm is not even very sore. I can feel it a little bit today. But besides that I’m feeling great, very normal.”

COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.

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