Hyderabad: Pfizer, Yashoda Hospitals Inaugurate Centre of Excellence for Adult Vaccination

In India, roughly 95% of deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases occur in adults. While adult vaccination is an effective, science-backed solution to improve people’s quality of life, its adoption in the country remains low. The CoE will play an instrumental role in equipping healthcare practitioners with important information on the evidence-based benefits and need for timely adult vaccination, particularly for at-risk individuals, such as those with comorbidities Like Chronic Lung disease (COPD & Asthma), Diabetes, Chronic Heart Disease, Chronic Kidney disease and other immunocompromising conditions. Other risk factors include smoking, pollution, or an advanced age of 50 years or older. This will involve comprehensive training modules and capacity building efforts, paired with access to adult vaccination guidelines and protocol recommendations.

Through the centre, Pfizer India and Yashoda Hospitals also aim to foster patient education and counselling to alleviate patient concerns and highlight the long-term health benefits that public health measures like vaccines can provide.

Dr. Pavan Gorukanti, Director, Yashoda Hospitals and Dr Lingaiah A, Director, Medical Services, Yashoda Group of Hospitals commented, “At Yashoda Hospitals, we strive to be at the forefront of disease prevention and vaccination. Vaccinations are important, not just in childhood, but across the course of an individual’s life, and pose as particularly beneficial for vulnerable groups, including people with chronic diseases and elderly individuals, among others. Setting up our new Centre of Excellence serves as an important step in demonstrating our commitment to delivering quality care for our patients. Through this collaborative endeavour with Pfizer, we remain focused on scaling up the adoption of adult vaccination, while offering the community effective solutions to avoid vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Dr. Santosh Taur, Director Medical Affairs, Pfizer Vaccines said, “With decades of expertise in vaccine science and medical developments, Pfizer is steadfast in our commitment to advance public health and accelerate vaccination as an important, effective tool to safeguard the community from infection. With a focus on spearheading preventive health, our partnership with Yashoda Hospitals reaffirms our vision of expanding access to vaccination for adults to ensure effective protection against prevalent vaccine-preventable diseases especially respiratory diseases. The establishment of this Centre of Excellence serves as a key milestone in our journey to support the nation’s healthcare system and equip both healthcare practitioners and patients with important information to guide healthcare decisions like immunization.”