CTSI leader named to state COVID-19 panel

UCLA pediatrician and CTSI leader of the Integrating Special Populations Program, Dr. Peter Szilagyi, was named to a new state panel to review FDA-approved coronavirus vaccines. As shared in MyNewsLA on October 21, Szilagyi stated that if COVID-19 mutates into something deadlier, people may be getting vaccinated against the respiratory disease each year—along the lines of seasonal flu inoculations.

“I can picture a scenario where we may need to get a new vaccine each year as with flu, depending on how the virus mutates,” Dr. Peter Szilagyi said. “This year’s (virus) is a little different from last year’s. And scientists will have to estimate what it will look like next year. We know it does mutate, but it hasn’t so far mutated as much as flu does. But the question is, how will it look next year? We just don’t know.”

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom named Szilagyi and 10 other nationally known California physician scientists with expertise in immunization and public health to the state’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup that will independently review the safety and efficacy of any vaccine that receives U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for distribution.

Read the full press release. 

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