Two days after getting my second dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine as part of a clinical trial, my body was still mounting a robust immune response when, from the floor of my son’s bathroom, I frantically telephoned the clinical research site at the University of Illinois.

The region of my brain that controls thermoregulation, the hypothalamus, likely detected the flood of vaccine-induced copies of viral proteins in my bloodstream and cranked up my internal thermostat to 104.7 degrees F, a fever high enough to make me feel delirious. The trial’s principal investigator called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medication and two bags of IV fluid, which a mobile service gave me at home to stabilize me.

As a volunteer in Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trial, I had received my second dose in early February 2021, before information about side effects was well-known. As I recovered over the following days, I began wondering if my grade 4 fever was typical, or if there was something about my biology that triggered such a dramatic immune response.

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