Earlier this year, when authorities were bracing for the worst-case scenario of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia, Perth-based data analyst Rachelle Kalic was crunching the numbers.
The 35-year-old started her own Excel spreadsheet, mapping out how many hospital beds were available in the city.
“I tried to understand what could potentially happen and what has been happening,” Ms Kalic said.
While Western Australia has so far managed to maintain low case numbers, Ms Kalic still felt the effects of the virus.
“My dad is an Uber driver and so he saw his source of income just dry up. He’s actually on JobKeeper at the moment,” she said.
After hearing about a call out for volunteers for one of the world’s first human trials of a vaccine for COVID-19, Ms Kalic put her hand up.
“The reason I wanted to do it is because I think that developing a vaccine is probably the only way that we’re going to be able to go back to normal,” she said.
Rigorous selection process
7.30 was granted exclusive access behind the scenes of the phase 1 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which is being conducted by clinical research company Linear at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre in Perth.
The 150 volunteers who are chosen to be injected with the trial vaccine need to be fit and healthy and pass several medical tests.
Inside the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research building, the Linear screening team take blood samples, check BMIs and the volunteers’ medical history.
There is no shortage of volunteers, each with their own reasons for putting their body on the line.
The rigorous screening process began last month, with Linear chief executive Jayden Rogers saying the entire tri