Biden consultant Dr. Atul Gawande was in the Moderna process

DR. Atul Gawande, a Coronavirus advisor to the elected president Joe Bidensaid CNBC on the Wednesday it attended ModernaCovid-19 vaccine study.

“My mom, 84, said, ‘I want to give something back,’ so she signed up for the trial. I said if my mom can, I’ll sign up for a vaccination trial,” Gawande said “Squawk Box.”

Massachusetts-based Moderna was the company offering a study nearby, said Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Professor at Harvard University. He said he received his first shot in August and “felt almost nothing”. However, when he received the second dose in late September, it was a different story.

“Two days later I had a fever, chills and had to stay home,” said Gawande, who is also chairman of oasis, the joint health company Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. “I haven’t had to take a day out of my practice or public health work in over a year. I barely let anything knock me down, but it knocked me down. Then, about 24 hours later, I was back on my feet and.” I’m fine. “

Gawande’s reflection on his experience comes from the fact that Americans are immunized against it outside of clinical trials Covid-19 for the first time, starting last week with PfizerVaccine and with Moderna this week. From Monday morning 614,117 cans was administered according to a tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gawande said he didn’t know if he received the vaccine or was in the study placebo group. While he suspects the side effects he was experiencing were due to the actual vaccine, he said it was possible that it was a psychological reaction to taking the placebo. He added that his mother “had little reaction” to gunfire she received in her clinical trial.

Vaccine side effects are not necessarily a cause for concern, Gawande said. “That’s the immune system that comes on and your antibodies are made against the virus,” he said.

Gawande is Part of a team of doctors and health professionals Advising Biden on the coronavirus pandemic during transition. It was Biden on Monday vaccinated on live television hoping to encourage other Americans to be ready to receive the shot. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m looking forward to the second shot,” said Biden.

Biden said Tuesday that Americans will need to remain vigilant about the coronavirus over the holidays, even though the vaccine has started to spread. “Meanwhile, the pandemic rages on. Experts believe it could get worse before it gets better,” he said.

Gawande gave a similar outlook on Wednesday, saying the current high infection rates in the country will lead to more deaths from Covid-19 in the coming weeks and months.

“We have 300,000 deaths. The next 100,000 deaths are already branded in, with new infections in the last week or so,” said Gawande. “It’s really about whether we can avoid the 500,000 deaths, which is really just horrible to think about.”