Emory University: Emory Experts Available To Answer Questions On FDA Approval Of COVID-19 Vaccines

Press release from Emory University Press Releases:

Aug. 23, 2021

After evaluating data from clinical trials and millions of doses administered in the real world, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. It is the first of three vaccines with FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to be approved. Moderna is expected to follow suit in weeks.

Full approval of the Pfizer vaccine will shore up confidence in the safety and efficacy of the shots and help mitigate vaccine hesitancy at a time when the highly transmissible Delta variant is causing a spike in the number of new cases and hospitalizations in various states. The FDA approval will expand vaccine mandates across the country: in companies, universities, hospitals, and government entities. A third shot to boost immunity among the most vulnerable vaccinated patients is also expected to be approved by the FDA soon.

Emory University has been involved in testing all three of the vaccines cleared for emergency use in the U.S – Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen). Researchers here also evaluated Novavax, a vaccine candidate that may apply for EUA in the fall, the Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine in clinical trials as well as a next generation candidate, Gritstone. Emory is still involved in several vaccine clinical trials focused on variants, mix and match boosters, and pediatric and immunocompromised populations.

Emory experts are available to discuss the FDA approval announcement as well as all the other ways COVID-19 continues to impact us all.

Carlos Del Rio, MDProfessor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of MedicineExecutive Associate Dean, Grady Health System

Del Rio is a public health expert and infectious diseases veteran who can speak to a wide variety of issues about the coronavirus, health policy and planning, and infectious disease outbreaks. He has been a regular on national media since the pandemic began. Sample clip.

Colleen Kelley, MD, MPHAssociate professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Kelley is a principal investigator for the Moderna and J&J vaccine trials at Emory and a long-time infectious diseases clinician and epidemiologist. She can speak about COVID-19 and variants in general from a clinical and research perspective as well as the vaccines currently in use. Sample clip.

Aneesh Mehta, MD Associate professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Mehta was one of the clinicians who cared for Ebola patients at Emory in 2014. In this pandemic, he has played an active role on the frontlines of patient care and has also led clinical trials for treatment for COVID-19. He can speak about the impact of the virus and variants, vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, and protection against infections in the immunocompromised. Sample clip.

Colleen Kraft, MDAssociate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Kraft played a leading role in treating Ebola patients at Emory during the 2014 outbreak. During this pandemic, she has been widely quoted and seen in media for her ability to cut through the noise and make the science accessible to lay audiences. Sample clip.

Zanthia Wiley, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University

An infectious diseases physician at Emory Hospital Midtown, Wiley has been looking at the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in certain minority communities and can speak to vaccine hesitancy and community initiatives addressing patient-provider mistrust. Sample clip.

Walter Orenstein, MDProfessor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Orenstein is the former director the U.S. National Immunization Program and is co-author of Vaccines, a widely used textbook. Sample clip.

Evan Anderson, MDProfessor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine

Anderson is a principal investigator for the Moderna and J&J vaccine trials at Emory. He also leads the Moderna and Pfizer pediatric trials for children under 12 years of age. Anderson can speak about COVID-19 vaccines, the virus, and its impact on children. Sample clip.

Nadine Rouphael, MDProfessor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Rouphael is the director of Emory’s Hope Clinic, the clinical testing arm of the Emory Vaccine Center, which is the most comprehensive of its kind in the world. She was a principal investigator for the Moderna vaccine trials at Emory and has been involved with multiple testing initiatives related to COVID-19 ranging from vaccines to therapeutics to assessing the immune response. Sample clip.

Matthew Lawrence, JDEmory University School of Law

Lawrence researches and publishes on health care finance, administrative law, and addictions. He has a wealth of experience in the federal government, having served as special legal advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee. He also worked on health care regulatory issues at the Department of Justice during the Obama and Trump administrations. Sample clip.

Brandon Smith, MBAAdjunct Faculty, Practice of Management Communication, Emory Goizueta Business School

Smith is a workplace expert who can speak to the impact of the COVID-19 variant on workplaces, including mandated vaccines. Sample clip.

Tom Smith, PhDAssociate Professor, Practice of Finance, Emory Goizueta Business School

Smith is an expert in the areas of labor economics, pricing, sports economics and finance, the economics of the entertainment industry, the economics of the health care industry and film finance. He has been on national media talking about the effects of the pandemic on workplaces. Sample clip.

This press release was produced by Emory University Press Releases. The views expressed here are the author’s own.