GHC3 Talks

“I think healthcare is a right; everyone should have options”

In this episode of GHC3 Talks, Kathy McNamara, Associate Vice President of Clinical Affairs for the National Association of Community Health Centers joins our hosts, Dr. Rob Breiman (Spike) and Ken Berta (Surge), on the podcast.

They talk about how the community health centers have responded to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the burnout faced by dedicated staff who have been on the frontline since March.

In discussing the preparations needed to distribute a vaccine, Kathy highlights the importance of moving from macro to micro planning at the community level and the critical need for tailored messaging to be delivered by trusted members of the community.

Takeaways:

• 03:57 — COVID-19 did not change the needs of patients, but the care delivery models had to.
• 06:27 — Concerned about serving communities but also about taking care of the compassionate care chain who has been on the front line since March
• 07:11 — Trust is key and health centers have been building relationships with families over several generations.
• 11:42 — They have seen a lot of macro planning, but the focus needs to turn to micro planning at the community level.
• 16:26 — Communication is key, and it needs to be tailored to the audience and be delivered by trusted sources
• 19:52 — Some of these communities are more worried about their own socioeconomic issues than they are COVID and vaccination.
• 28:50 — Introducing GHC3’s Priority-based use of Allocated Vaccines Estimator (PAVE). A tool intended to aid health professionals with immunization program planning and vaccine distribution.

Special guests:
Kathy McNamara, Associate Vice President of Clinical Affairs of the National Association of Community Health Centers

References:
NACHC
GHC3’s Priority-based use of Allocated Vaccines Estimator (PAVE)

“Investing in communications research is important. We need to understand who is hesitant, why they’re hesitant, whom do they trust as messengers, and what is it they really want to hear that would convince them it’s worth taking the vaccine.”

While the world watches and waits for a COVID vaccine to be reviewed and approved, Dr. Rob Breiman and Ken Berta, otherwise known as Spike and Surge, sit down with Dr. Walt Orenstein, Associate Director of the Emory Vaccine Center and Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Public Health and Epidemiology at Emory University and former Director of the U.S. National Immunization Program. They talk about what we should be looking for in the vaccine trial data and, perhaps more importantly, how we can persuade people to trust it.

• 03:00 — The focus for the first round of vaccination. Where will you be in line?
• 09:48 — A vaccine that stays in the vial is 0% effective.
• 10:40 — Papers not press releases – what should we be looking for in the vaccine trial data?
• 14:16 — Communication is key to combatting vaccine hesitancy. 
• 16:49 — A one-size-fits-all approach to messaging simply won’t work.
• 18:30 — The COVID-19 vaccine shows the incredible technological advance in vaccine development. We aren’t cutting corners, we’re just getting better at what we do.
• 23:05 — What are the challenges in trying to immunize the whole world, and how can we combat them?
• 31:12 — Global vaccination will benefit poorer countries, and richer ones too.

Special Guest:
Walter A. Orenstein, MD (emory.edu)

References:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (fda.gov)
VRBPAC – CDC Vaccine and related biological products advisory committee 
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) | CDC

In this episode of GHC3 Talks, Dr. Rob Breiman and Ken Berta are joined by Dr. Dan Salmon of John Hopkins University School of Public Health. In the wake of recent vaccine press releases, they discuss how to build trust in the COVID-19 vaccines, why that is important, and the crucial role that messaging will play.

"It’s much easier to help form views through information and knowledge and science than it is to change them once they’re existing. So we need to be a part of teaching people, educating people and creating the mindset. "

Takeaways:

• 02:14 — Vaccines are a victim of their own success.
• 04:18 — Vaccine acceptance will move at the speed of trust.
• 13:55 — Educating amidst a world of misinformation is a challenge, so messaging is key.
• 14:41 — People’s trust in the vaccines is just as important as the vaccines’ effectiveness.
• 19:03 — Thorough regulatory review is critical to the safety, acceptance and trust in these vaccines.
• 22:45 — Vulnerable populations who need the vaccine may be reluctant to be first in line due to historic mistreatment and exploitation.
• 25:25 — Mass vaccination programs are in danger of being undermined by safety scares.
• 28:10 — Studies need to be credible, but more importantly believed by the public.

Special Guests:
Dr. Dan Salmon, Professor and Director, Institute for Vaccine Safety, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health

References from this episode:
Dr. Helene Gayle
Food & Drug Administration Agency (FDA)
Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)

Welcome to the GHC3 podcast, we are excited you found us. In each episode you will hear our hosts explore crises affecting humanity and the planet. They will discuss, with assorted guests,  how what we learn when dealing with challenges teaches us how to be more smart, resilient, resourceful, and ethically evolved as a species … in short, how we can become stronger as a civilization.

In this, the inaugural episode of the GHC3 podcast, our hosts Ken Berta and Dr. Rob Breiman discuss the complex and multifaceted issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccination. To help tackle this topic, they are joined by two special guests: Jim Lavery, Professor of Global Health Ethics at Emory University and Dr. Theresa Cullen, Director of Pima County Public Health Department.

Jim shines a light on the role ethics could, and should, play in the prioritization of vaccine allocation, while Dr. Theresa Cullen underlines the need for community collaboration and data-driven decisions.

Takeaways:

• 01:54 — The WHO is still the leading voice – and that voice says a vaccine is not a silver bullet.
• 07:55 — Production of a safe and effective vaccine may turn out to be the easy part.
• 12:42 — How ethics can help us understand the problems we face.
• 16:50 — Vaccine allocation models: the WHO model versus the Fair Priority Model.
• 19:40 — The last mile of distribution will determine how vaccine equity is perceived.
• 25:05 — What are the ethical goals in equitable distribution?
• 28:14 — Technology is producing vaccine at an unprecedented rate, but its only worth it if people receive a shot in the arm.
• 31:20 —  We have to approach this pandemic as an opportunity and recognize the solution lies in collaboration: our success depends upon each other.
• 38:05 — The haunting question is who will get what and how will we decide?
• 43:22 —  The ultimate public health goal? Data-driven decisions that guide integrated health and human services.
• 47:04 — Just who are Spike and Surge?

Our hosts:
Ken Berta, Executive Director, GHC3
Dr. Rob Breiman, Epidemiologist and Chief Scientist, GHC3, and Professor, Global Health, Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases, Emory University

Special Guests:
Jim Lavery, Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Global Health Ethics, Emory University
Dr. Theresa Cullen, Director of Pima County Public Health Department

References from this episode:
Emory University, Center for Ethics
Pima County Health Department
WHO
GAVI
The Fair Priority Model