Pfizer is working to help spread education around COVID-19, and it's enlisted Chief Medical Officer Mace Rothenberg to do it. He stars in a new series of short social media videos that launched Saturday.
The #KnowtheFacts about COVID-19 campaign, as hashtagged on Twitter, features Rothenberg offering levelheaded facts and personal tips for dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. In the first video, he explains what the virus is, how it’s transmitted, what its symptoms are and who members of the high-risk populations are.
The latest video, posted Monday, specifically tackles best practices regarding travel by airplane, train and other public transportation, along with advice to check with local authorities for the most current restrictions. As for what will be addressed next, a Pfizer spokesperson said the pharma is considering other relevant topics and experts at Pfizer.
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“We started this video series recently to help our colleagues understand and address the current COVID-19 situation with fact-based, scientific information supported by the CDC and WHO,” a Pfizer spokesperson said in an email to FiercePharma. “We realized that this information may be helpful and relevant to people and patients around the world and chose to share them externally.”
Along with Pfizer, which also created and directs to a “What to know” webpage about COVID-19, some other pharma companies are doing similar informational postings on social media and their websites.
Merck, for instance, created a podcast hosted by Merck director of communications Patrick Ryan that involves him talking to chief patient officer Julie Gerberding, M.D., and BIO infectious disease expert Phyllis Arthur about COVID-19, past outbreaks and insight into what’s happening now based on both executives' experience. Other pharmas, such Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Sanofi, have outlined their individual companies' responses and efforts concerning COVID-19 on their websites.