Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic for the Week Ending September 24th

Temple University Health System’s preparations for and treatment of patients amidst the coronavirus pandemic continue to be part of the media’s COVID-19 coverage.

•    Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, Clinical Professor and Director of the Postgraduate Year Two Infectious Diseases Residency at the Temple University School of Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in Infectious Diseases at Temple University Hospital, offered USA Today insight about Pfizer and German partner BioNTech’s clinical trial data release this week that showed that their COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11 at one-third of the dose given to adolescents and adults. The USA Today coverage was picked up by Yahoo!
•    Delana Wardlaw, MD, who practices at Temple Physicians, Inc. at Nicetown, spoke with the Philadelphia Tribune about the clinical trial data showing that the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 5 to 11.
•    Daniel A. Salerno, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Thoracic Medicine & Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Director, RICU (Critical Care Services) at Temple University Hospital joined Telemundo62 to discuss how the vast majority of the current COVID hospitalizations at Temple University Hospital are occurring in non-vaccinated patients, and how the healthcare workforce is being pushed by the continuous influx of COVID patients.
•    Dominic Marano, MSN, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner at Temple University Hospital offered insight to CBS3 about the FDA’s decision to reject Pfizer’s booster shot request for the majority of Americans.
•    Lily Nedda Dastmalchi, DO, MA, Cardiology Fellow at Temple University Hospital, and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit wrote an online article for ABC News about COVID-19 hybrid immunity.
•    Temple Health and the Phillies teamed up this week to help students have a safe return to school by offering free “Back to School” COVID-19 vaccinations at the Phillies game on Tuesday. Multiple media outlets, including CBS3, 6ABC and the Trentonian covered the news. Also, NBC Sports Philadelphia interviewed Gerard J. Criner, MD, FACP, FACCP, Chair and Professor of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Director of the Temple Lung Center live during the game’s television broadcast.