At a recent Canaan event, Nina Kjellson, Canaan General Partner, spoke with Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, physician, entrepreneur and educator on the policies, realities, and ethics of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. Her tireless work on the front lines with policymakers in reaching for an equitable vaccine distribution is nothing short of inspiring. Who else would have a map of vaccine distributions and a model of bottlenecks (sand supply for making glass vials? Needles for syringes? Freezers for storage?) on her home wall?
Watch the interview below to hear more insights from Dr. Weintraub as she addresses some of the most pressing challenges our healthcare systems and leaders are facing and what viable solutions are needed to vaccinate with speed and equity.
- Why the variance state to state, county to county? (10:26)
- What role does the private sector have in distribution and digital data infrastructure? (11:34)
- What will inequity (in the U.S. and globally) in access mean for immunity? (23:51)
- What can start-ups, funders and citizens do to help increase herd immunity? (37:44)
About Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, MD
Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, MD is an assistant professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Weintraub is the faculty director of the Global Health Delivery Project at Harvard University and leads Better Evidence at Ariadne Labs. She is also a practicing internist and vaccinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
In the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr. Weintraub launched the Vaccine Delivery workstream of Ariadne Labs’ COVID-19 Response. Dr. Weintraub has focused on supporting health officials and decision makers with tools and evidence to ensure that vaccines are distributed efficiently and equitably. These include the COVID-19 Prediction model in collaboration with the Center for Global Development and the Vaccine Allocation Planner with Surgo Ventures. The planner, endorsed by the National Governors Association, has been used in more than 160 countries and has been used by the NYT, WaPo, WSJ, Univision, and others to find your place in the vaccine line.
Learn more about what healthcare systems can do now to accelerate and amplify vaccination efforts. Source: NEJM Catalyst.