Covid-19: The CDC, the Vaccine Roll-Out, and Ethics and Policy Issues Surrounding Immunity Passports

This past week, the Covid-19 surge reached unprecedented heights. Tragically, we hit 300,000 deaths in the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced his choice for a new director of the CDC, and the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer vaccine. At this week’s special UCSF Covid-19 Grand Rounds, we’ll discuss this dizzying mix of good and bad news with several experts.

We’ll begin with a fireside chat with Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, who began her career at UCSF – doing pioneering research on HIV prevention – and remains on our adjunct faculty. She went on to run the CDC from 2002-2009, during which she led the response to the SARS epidemic, as well as restructuring the agency to deal with bioterrorism threats. After leaving CDC, she had a number of senior leadership roles at Merck, the world’s 5th largest pharmaceutical firm, including as head of vaccine research. She is currently Merck’s Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer.

We’ll then get an update on UCSF’s vaccine distribution program, including the results of the first few days of the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine. Speakers will be Desi Kotis, PharmD, Chief Pharmacy Executive, and Susan Smith, MD, Chief Faculty Practice Officer.

Finally, the rollout of vaccines will, inevitably, raise the question of whether there will – and should – be immunity passports: documentation of immunity that opens certain doors, including to schools, workplaces, stadiums, and travel. We’ll discuss this complex issue with David Studdert, ScD, LLB, MPH, Professor of both Medicine and Law at Stanford. The session is moderated by UCSF Dept of Medicine chair Bob Wachter, MD.

Program
Bob Wachter: Introduction
00:05:30-00:36:39 – Fireside chat with Julie Gerberding, Merck’s Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer
00:36:42-00:54:19 – UCSF Vaccine Distribution Program with Desi Kotis (UCSF Health’s Chief Pharmacy Executive, Associate Dean, School of Pharmacy) and Susan Smith (UCSF Health’s Chief Faculty Practice Officer)
00:54:26-00:58:12 – Q&A
00:58:14-01:10:23 – Immunity Passports: David Studdert, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Law, Stanford University
01:10:26-01:20:56 – Q&A
Bob Wachter: Closing

See previous Covid-19 Medical Grand Rounds:
• December 3: Covid-19: How Should We Handle the Schools, and the Challenges of Vaccine Distribution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgceROGONgE&feature=youtu.be
• November 19: Covid-19: Update on Vaccines and Therapeutics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlM7mHamx1w&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=UCSFSchoolofMedicine
• November 5: A Conversation with Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Andy Slavitt: The Implications of the Election on the Future of the Pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RtOfAiopuE&feature=youtu.be
• October 22: The Third Wave, the View from Wisconsin, & Navigating Risk in Covid-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVZSgLcE3yo&feature=youtu.be
See all UCSF Covid-19 grand rounds, which have been viewed over 1.5M times, here: https://medicine.ucsf.edu/covid-19-news-coverage

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