Dec. 18, 2020
Dear Members of the Baylor College of Medicine Community,
The first vaccines are rolling out as the United States continues to rank first in COVID spread. First is not good, but fortunately the vaccines have arrived. Baylor faculty, staff and trainees began receiving vaccines on Tuesday at our affiliated hospitals. I was honored to demonstrate confidence in the vaccine by getting my vaccination that first day. In this week’s video, you can see me getting the shot, as well as hear more about the vaccines.
Another area covered this week is the prevalence study Baylor conducted with the City of Houston and Rice University. It turns out we have a 13.5 percent prevalence rate, which is lower than I expected. How many people in Houston have had COVID? About five times as many as had been diagnosed through testing. There is still a lot of virus in our community and, vaccinated or not, please continue to wear your mask and practice physical distancing.
I also touch on some of the new point-of-care tests that have been FDA approved, and give a shout out to all of our alumni, across missions, who have played important roles during the pandemic. One of those alums is Dr. William Gruber, who serves as senior vice president of Pfizer Vaccine Clinical Research and Development. Baylor College of Medicine alums are leaders locally, nationally and globally.
Hope you have a safe and relaxing weekend.
Paul Klotman, M.D.
President & CEO
Executive Dean
