Westmoreland commissioners to host 2nd info session on covid-19 vaccine

Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners are hosting an information session this week about covid-19 vaccines.

The goal of the session, hosted by Commissioners Doug Chew and Sean Kertes, is to help residents understand vaccine development. Scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the event will feature Dr. Sharon Riddler, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Riddler, a specialist in infectious disease, has more than 20 years of experience in clinical research, including local trials focused on immune-based therapies for chronic HIV infections, according to her biography on the University of Pittsburgh website. Other interests include protocol development, implementation and analysis of results from trials.

Tuesday’s event, not an official Westmoreland County effort, is the second session hosted by the commissioners. The first, which took place last week, featured Dr. Jeremy Berg, who serves as associate senior vice chancellor for science strategy and planning, health sciences, and professor of computational and systems biology in Pitt’s School of Medicine.

The virtual event had about 70 people registered for it, Kertes said at the time.

Chew and Kertes announced their intention to host the sessions earlier this month to allow residents to make a more informed decision about whether they will join the ongoing immunity effort. Chew said the goal is to provide a meaningful discussion about the vaccines and describe how they were made and work, as well as information about their safety.

The event, which will be moderated, is free and open to the public. Questions can be submitted in advance through an online registration form. A confirmation email from the registration form will contain information about joining the meeting. More information can also be found on Chew’s Facebook page, Chew 4 You.