2023

January April July October
February May August November
March June September December

January 11, 2023
Virtual VLC

Focus: Public Health
Attendance: 675

Live Long and Prosper:
The Dawn of the Antibodies-as-Vaccines Era

James E Crowe, Jr., MD

Director, Vanderbilt Vaccine Center
Professor, Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Ann Scott Carell Chair

Clubhouse Location:
A Zoom screen near you
Agenda: (all times Eastern time zone)
6:25pm — Grab a beer, soda, or a glass of wine from the fridge and get online
6:30pm — Meeting called to order in the usual way (ear muffs optional)
6:40pm — This is the part where some really excellent science is presented
7:30pm — Q & A
7:45pm — Adjourn, already dreaming of next month's program

Dear Vaccineers,
Happy New Year!

First, THANK YOU to everyone who suggested topics for the Spring 2023 season of the VDC. Because of y'all we now have the following programs scheduled: January (see above), March (the currently ongoing, flu-caused avian genocide), April (WHO plans for a Pandemic Treaty so we can all do it Better Next Time), and May (how to save tiny tot lives on a global scale by vaccinating microhumans for rubella and diptheria). This leaves only February unaccounted for so far. Fingers crossed for February!!

But first ... JANUARY!

Since this is the traditional "out with the old, in with the new," time of year, VDC member-in-good-standing Kelsey Coy suggested that I start the year off by asking Dr. James Crowe -- who previously presented to us in February 2019 BC (Before Covid) -- for an AC (After Covid) update on how Lessons Learned from the pandemic may or may not have adjusted his thinking about a novel approach to disease protection. And he said YES!

So, as a reminder ....

Vaccines work because if you give someone a shot/spray/drink of something that is successfully able to imitate a faux invasion of influenza, chickenpox, Diphtheria, covid, etc., their immune system will transition from Defcon 5 (Clueless; lowest level of readiness) to Defcon 4 (Double Take; increased intelligence and strengthened security), and prepare to leap at a moment's notice straight to Defcon 1 (Cocked Pistol; nuclear war imminent) in order to act with Extreme Prejudice when any ACTUAL influenza, chickenpox, Diptheria, SARS-CoV-2, etc. virions attempt a covert or overt attack.

That shot/spray/drink might contain a weakened version of the real deal (e.g. measles, tetanus), a killed version of the real deal (e.g. polio), or just some essential bits and bobs of the real deal (e.g. whooping cough, covid) but, in all cases, the underlying goal is the same … to generate active immunity by using a pretend bad guy to prompt your body into being capable, on very short notice, of gearing up to generate buckets and buckets of antibodies against the real bad guy when it shows up.

But what if, instead of going to all that trouble to create active immunity by prodding a person's body into pumping out oodles of antibodies against Dread Disease du Jour (DDdJ) ... what if you made PASSIVE immunity your goal and simply inject them with oodles of antibodies to DDdJ?

Would that even work?

Well, yes….

Assuming that you ever spent time as a fetus, you know from personal experience that passive immunity works just fine since you yourself were born chock full of antibodies your bio-mom handed you in utero (#bestbirthdaypresentever).

But, per your own neonatal experience, passive immunity only lasts a few weeks/months at best so, in the grown-up world, how often would someone require a top-up of new antibodies to keep passive immunity working?

And how would you even go about growing antibodies in vast enough quantities for the commercial market?

Oh, and if those hurdles are overcome does that mean that passive immunity is getting ready to disrupt vaccine technology and doom the poultry industry*?

Interesting questions all.

If the science needed to address these questions and pursue the answers interests you – and why wouldn't it? – come to the January meeting of the Vaccine Dinner Club and hear more about it from Dr. Crowe!

Hope you'll join us online at the Club on January 11,
-Kimbi
Your friendly neighborhood Vaccine Dinner Club Goddess

*the poultry industry LOVES the vaccine industry because most traditional vaccines are grown in eggs.

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February 8, 2023
Virtual VDC

Focus: Tales from the Front Lines
Attendance: 492

Tales from the Trenches ...
Working Late Procopius?
Untold Stories in Global Immunization

Capt. Frank J. Mahoney

Center for Global Health
Global Immunization Division
CDC

Clubhouse Location:
A Zoom screen near you
Agenda: (all times Eastern time zone)
6:25pm — Grab a beer, soda, or a glass of wine from the fridge and get online
6:30pm — Meeting called to order in the usual way (ear muffs optional)
6:40pm — This is the part where some really excellent science is presented
7:30pm — Q & A
7:45pm — Adjourn, already dreaming of next month's program

Dear Vaccineers,
And Now for Something Completely Different!

First, THANK YOU to everyone* who volunteered to help with finding a February speaker. As it turned out, Anne-Renee Heningburg, the very first Vaccineer to respond to my call for help, suggested a speaker who accepted (a long time later, when he finally got back in-country and saw my invitation).

The other excellent speaker suggestions will NOT be wasted however, and you will be happy to know that many of them will show up on our 2023-2024 calendar. Again, MANY thank yous!!!

As Anne-Renee said in her email to me: "Frank Mahoney at CDC could certainly entertain with a talk about immunization adventures out in the world. He was overseas for years, in Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia and elsewhere and brings a unique perspective to what is needed to make immunization happen."

I leapt on that right away and, when he wrote back to accept, Frank said: "I have a lot of stories about vaccine preventable disease outbreaks in various settings around the world but it would be difficult for me to put together slide sets and a data driven presentation."

I responded: "Forget the slides. Stories are perfect. Most of our VDC talks take a 30,000 foot view of vaccines and efforts to prevent VDP – YOU are our opportunity to hear about what life is like at -- or below -- ground level."

To which Frank replied: "OK then, let's do a VDC Story Hour! Here are some examples.... Do any of these sound good?:

Heck yeah, sign us up for all of those and more!

So register immediately for Tales from the Trenches night at the VDC when Frank Mahoney shares his experiences fighting off bad bugs with a chair, whip, vials of vaccines.

Hope to see you online for dinner at the club on Wednesday, February 8!

-Kimbi
Your friendly neighborhood Vaccine Dinner Club Goddess

*Many, MANY thanks to Vicky Avonzato, Jessica Bernstein, Kathleen Dooling, Reena Doshi, Kyle Ferguson, Yoran Grant-Greene, Hailey Hazard, Anne-Renee Heningburg, Jonathan Hill, Esther Kukielka, Maggie Payne, Brynnan Russ, and Adele Stewart for brokering with prospective speakers. I can't wait to get them signed up for future meetings!

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March 1, 2023

Focus:More Tales from the Front Lines
Attendance: 418

Pandemic Death –
It's Not Just for People Anymore!
The Origin, Historical Migration, and Current Threat to Domestic Poultry from H5N1 Influenza Virus

Steve McCarter, DVM

Senior Veterinarian
Tyson Foods

Clubhouse Location:
A Zoom screen near you
Agenda: (all times Eastern time zone)
6:25pm — Grab a beer, soda, or a glass of wine from the fridge and get online
6:30pm — Meeting called to order in the usual way (ear muffs optional)
6:40pm — This is the part where some really excellent science is presented
7:30pm — Q & A
7:45pm — Adjourn, already dreaming of next month's program

Dear Vaccineers,

When is the last time that you ate chicken* (or, for the vegetarians among us, sat at a table in which someone else was eating chicken)?

I'm guessing that it was ... yesterday maybe?

This is a pretty safe bet because chicken has been a gradually rising staple of the American diet ever since 1928 presidential campaign candidate Herbert Hoover supposedly promised "a chicken in every pot," and, in late 2013, it overtook beef as the most consumed meat in the USA.

Since then things have really started clucking. According to the National Chicken Council, 8 billion chickens are consumed in the USA every year, which translates into 21,917,808 chickens EVERY SINGLE DAY. Whats more, we are on track to eat an average of more than 98 lbs of chicken per person this year.

Of course a lot of the 2023 total happened already during Superbowl Sunday** when, in a time-honored tradition right up there with betting on the Puppy Bowl, a lot of Americans were grimly determeined to eat their weight in chicken wings. Many of them apparently succeeded since more than 1.25 BILLION wings were consumed that weekend. Which must have made those spelling-challenged, billboard climbing cows VERY happy.

According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the global chicken population in 1990 was 10.62 million; in 2020 it had climbed to over 33 BILLION. Of these, 28% (9.22B) were, like Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA.

You know what all this means, right? .... It means that chickens dramatically outnumber people these days.

And why should that bother you?

Well, aside from the quite natural concern that chickens might organize and rise up against us someday, it matters because they are just as prone to pandemic disease as we are and unless we can get a better handle on the H5N1 influenza epidemic that is currently crushing the domestic poultry population YOU COULD END UP HAVING TO EAT TOFU WHILE WATCHING NEXT YEARS SUPER BOWL. True statement.

Fortunately, most of the bugs that chickens fall prey to (vs. the bugs that chickens prey on) are vaccine preventable. Equally fortunately, the grass-roots movement among upper middle class hens to keep their chicks from getting vaccinated has never really gained traction in this country so adherence to the routine avian vaccination schedule is usually pretty high.

But sometimes that isn't enough and, when it isn't, the situation can get real ugly, real fast ...

Want to hear more about that?

Come to the March 1 meeting of the Vaccine Dinner Club when senior Tyson Foods veterinarian Steve McCarter walks us through the origin, historical migration, and current threat to domestic poultry from H5N1 flu.

Hope to see you online at the Club on March 1,
-- La VDC Goddess

*Top Nine Chicken Cooking Mistakes

**This is my own personal favorite of all time Super Bowl commercial. No chickens involved.

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Tuesday April 11, 2023
Virtual VBC*
*Vaccine BREAKFAST Club (9:00am EST)

Focus: Public Health
Attendance: Unknown

No One is Safe Until Everyone is Safe:
Strengthening Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response

Jaouad Mahjour, PhD

Assistant Director-General
Emergency Preparedness
World Health Organization

Clubhouse Location:
A Zoom screen near you

Dear Vaccineers,
And now for something COMPLETELY different.

First, as suggested above, the date and time that works best for our (Geneva-based) speaker is TUESDAY, April 11 at 9:00am Eastern (UTC -4). Which is pretty atypical.

But wait, there's more.

In late March I caught Covid from my husband while he was testing FALSE NEGATIVE. And while I am hoping to have fully recovered by the time of our next meeting, I have been WAY too sick to go through the myriad of steps needed to set up and open registration for the program. I was able to set up a Zoom link for the meeting but that's as many brain cells and as much stamina as I was able to muster.

So… this once and this once only we are entirely foregoing registration. If you can attend the meeting in real time, please do so. If you can't attend the meeting in real time, no worries. I'll send a link to the recording out to the entire VDC listserv after the fact.

PLEASE ADVERTISE THIS MEETING WIDELY, it is a once in forever opportunity to hear about WHOs efforts to craft an International Pandemic Treaty from one of the architects himself.

Many, MANY thanks to VDC member in good standing Elena Petelos for suggesting this meeting topic and to Roodly Archer and Shalini Desai for making it happen.

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May 3, 2023

Focus:
Attendance:

COVID-CANCELLED

Kimbi still too sick to organize the meeting

Have a Happy Summer Vacation 2023. See you in the Fall!

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June - August, 2023

Summer Vacation
starring
The VDC Membership

Focus: Staying Healthy / Staying Strong
Attendance: 5,323
Clubhouse du jour: Probably an airport, because everyone is ready for a Hot Vax Summer

Its been 3+ years and counting. 'Nuff said.

 

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September 13, 2023

Focus:
Attendance:

TBA

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October 4, 2023

Focus:
Attendance:

TBA

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November 8, 2023

Focus:
Attendance:

TBA

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December 6, 2023

Focus:
Attendance:

TBA

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