The Antigen

In the last episode of The Antigen’s #COVID19 mini-series, we examine the teamwork & collaboration across communities in the fight against coronavirus. How are companies working together to develop potential vaccines for COVID-19? How has the global health community at large been helpful in responding to the pandemic?

Host Lindsey Dietschi speaks with two guests — Elsie Soto, Vice President of Emerging Markets for Pfizer’s Global Supply & Dr. Frank Mahoney, Senior Immunization Officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

For the latest updates, visit pfizer.com/coronavirus.

In this episode, we talk about what public health experts are focused on now to help minimize the impact of COVID-19. We’ll cover how routine health programs are being impacted and what is being done to plan for recovery. And we’ll discuss what we can do now that's working & what we can improve.

Host Lindsey Dietschi speaks with Shanelle Hall, Founder Member of The Yellow House & AI Advisory Council Member for the World Economic Forum. Prior to her current roles, she worked at UNICEF for over 20 years, most recently as the Assistant Secretary General.

Episode references:

• All Hands on Deck as Scientists Revive SARS Protease Inhibitor to Attempt to Fight COVID-19
• Pfizer Advances Battle Against COVID-19 on Multiple Fronts
• The Yellow House

The Antigen is back with a special mini-series focused on COVID-19. In this first episode, we’ll share what we’ve discovered from past global health emergencies. What did we learn from Ebola, MERS, cholera, and how does it compare to the current coronavirus? How do we recover? We’ll also wrap up with the latest headlines on Pfizer's response to the crisis.

New host Lindsey Dietschi speaks with Dr. David Swerdlow, Clinical Epidemiology Lead for Pfizer Vaccines and infectious disease expert. Prior to Pfizer, David worked at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for 25 years.

Episode references:

• CDC Modeling Efforts in Response to a Potential Public Health Emergency: Influenza A(H7N9) as an Example

In this final episode, we’ll examine the potential of vaccines to help fight emerging global health threats, like anti-microbial resistance & new diseases like COVID-19, as well as what the medical community—and the rest of the world—is doing about it. We'll also wrap up the series by understanding how vaccines may help us lead healthier lives, from the moment we’re born to older age.

Host Yasmeen Agosti speaks to Anna Mouser of Wellcome Trust, Prof. David Salisbury of Chatham House, Prof. Kevin Outterson of Boston University’s CARB-X Foundation, Jane Barratt of IFA, and Dr. Carol J. Baker of University of Texas Health Science Center.

Episode references:

• World Health Organization
  • Disease X
  • Aging
• Centers for Disease Control
  • Coronavirus
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Adult Immunization
  • Maternal Immunization
• CARB-X

Episode credits: BBC News (opening audio)

Innovation can mean different things to different people. When it comes to vaccine innovation, we’re really talking about two things: creating new vaccines that we need or improving something about the ones we currently have. In this episode, we’ll cover a few examples of vaccine innovation, from vaccine design to delivery. Host Yasmeen Agosti speaks to Anna Mouser of Wellcome Trust, Naa Adorkor Yawson of Zipline, Alison Witkoff of the IRC, Prof. David Salisbury of Chatham House , Dr. Peter Palese of Mount Sinai, and Dr. James Gulley of the NIH.

Episode references:

• Centers for Disease Control
• Wellcome Trust
• Zipline
• International Rescue Committee