Virtual VDC
February 8, 2023
- Focus:
- Tales from the Front Lines
- Attendance:
- 492
Tales from the Trenches ...
Working Late Procopius?
Untold Stories in Global Immunization
Capt. Frank J. Mahoney
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?:
- Early days for implementing hep B vaccine in high-risk populations on the Pacific Island, and Asian communities in Louisiana, lower Manhattan, and San Francisco.
- A large outbreak of tetanus among adult injection drug users in Alexandria, Egypt.
- Rabies outbreak due to post-exposure prophylaxis and improperly prepared vaccines.
- Rift valley fever in humans due to spill over from veterinary vaccination programs and inadequately inactivated vaccine.
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!