By Rachael Hagerstrom

In February 2023, three months into our relationship, Pfizer decided to break up with me. The company did this by way of two, no-nonsense letters. Pfizer tried to let me down gently. We are “temporarily paus[ing] all participant visits” they said initially. But we both could tell the end was near. “Unfortunately,” said the second letter, sent on the heels of the first, “your participation in the study will need to end early.”

And that was it. After two shots, some 3,000 p