Covid-19: How Should We Handle the Schools, and the Challenges of Vaccine Distribution

Decisions about schools have been among the most difficult and controversial in the pandemic. The challenges seem to have grown even more acute recently, as evidence that many schools can be opened safely has collided with surging case counts all over the U.S. In the first segment of this UCSF Covid-19 Grand Rounds, Emily Oster of Brown University, an expert on schools and Covid, and UCSF’s George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and public health authority, will discuss the challenges around school openings.

Now that FDA approval of one or more vaccines appears imminent, in the second segment our focus turns to distribution. While the CDC and FDA will set broad guidelines, much of the heavy lifting will be done closer to home: by states, which will receive vaccine shipments from the manufacturers, and then by local distribution centers, which will need to operationalize the priority list and actually get people vaccinated. Speakers will be Erica Pan, a UCSF pediatric infectious disease faculty member who, as Acting State Health Officer, is leading California’s vaccine distribution effort, Desi Kotis, UCSF Health’s chief pharmacy executive, and George Rutherford. The session is moderated by UCSF Department of Medicine chair Bob Wachter.

Program
Bob Wachter: Introduction
00:05:57-00:16:58 – Pandemic Overview: George Rutherford, UCSF Professor, Dept. of Epidemiology & Biostatistics; Director of the Prevention and Public Health Group
00:16:58-00:28:34 – Schools: Emily Oster, Professor of Economics, Brown University
00:28:34-00:42:10 – Q&A
00:42:10-00:58:33 – Vaccines: Erica Pan, Acting State Health Officer; Deputy Director, Center for Infectious Disease, California Department of Public Health; UCSF Professor, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
00:58:33-01:10:13 – Vaccines: Desi Kotis, UCSF Health’s Chief Pharmacy Executive, Associate Dean, School of Pharmacy
01:10:13-01:23:35 – Q&A
Bob Wachter: Closing

See previous Covid-19 Medical Grand Rounds:
• November 19: Covid-19: Update on Vaccines and Therapeutics
   • Covid-19: Update on Vaccines and Therapeutics  
• November 5: A Conversation with Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ezekiel Emanuel, and Andy Slavitt: The Implications of the Election on the Future of the Pandemic
   • A Conversation w/ Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo,...  
• October 22: The Third Wave, the View from Wisconsin, & Navigating Risk in Covid-19
   • The Third Wave, the View from Wisconsin, &...  
• October 6: President Trump’s Covid-19 Diagnosis: Implications for Transmission, Treatment, and Prognosis
   • President Trump’s Covid-19 Diagnosis: Impl...  

See all UCSF Covid-19 grand rounds, which have been viewed over 1.3M times, here: https://medicine.ucsf.edu/covid-19-ne...