Seth Berkley

Dr. Seth Berkley, the CEO of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, describes how GAVI is working to make the world safe from infectious diseases by coordinating the research, production, and distribution of vaccines. He details the mass production approach to vaccine production and the challenges of getting massive quantities of a vaccine to areas experiencing major outbreaks. Berkley details new methods which all for the storage of vaccines for long periods of time. He reveals the threat if a Super Bug which will be extremely difficult to stop might come in the form of a version of the Flu, which could easily become a pandemic but optimistically predicts scientists eventually will develop a Universal Flu Vaccine. Berkley also explains why it’s good for tots to play in the dirt — and even ingest some! He stresses that the continued underfunding of the World Health Organization poses an immediate danger to the health of millions of citizens in countries with weakened health care structures. Berkley emphasizes how the overuse of antibiotics — including people being given such drugs when they are not even applicable — already has created a serious international health hazard. He counters the Anti-Vaccine Movement by explaining why vaccines are safe and how not getting vaccinated is selfish because it not only endangers the unvaccinated person but threatens the health of innocent people. Berkley also answers Aaron’s question, “What is the number of vaccinations a person can handle without ill effects?”