BONUS: COVID-19 Update No. 7: Clinical Trials and Emergency Care

Borne the Battle

Doctors Molly Klote and Chad Kessler join this bonus episode of Borne the Battle to discuss the various ways VA is helping with the national effort to combat COVID-19. The two doctors are fighting it in very different, but equally important ways.

Dr. Klote, VA’s director of Office Research Protections, Policy, and Education, oversees all the research VA conducts, including many of the vaccine trials for COVID-19. She goes into specifics on the following topics:

• In what ways VA is helping with developing a vaccine
• Types of treatments the public might expect to be used to treat COVID-19
• What happens when a vaccine is approved by the FDA

Dr. Klote also calls for anyone able to participate in a COVID-19 clinical trial to think about signing up. She particularly encourages Black and Hispanic populations to volunteer. A strong minority turnout to vaccine trials ensures the vaccine gets the broadest exposure possible, increasing the likelihood that a finalized product can be successfully used among all groups of people to treat COVID-19.

Dr. Kessler fights against COVID-19 through the emergency department. As VA’s national director for Emergency Care, he oversees 141 emergency departments and urgent care centers. He goes in depth about the successful procedure emergency departments adopted to sort COVID-19 patients and mitigate the possibility of transmission.

During the earlier months of the pandemic, Dr. Kessler noticed VA medical centers across the country needed to quickly communicate with one another about successful treatments and therapeutics.

He solved the communication problem in a unique way. He began hosting livestreams in a series he called COVID in 20. The series was a resounding success among frontline workers and medical staff. Dr. Kessler also talked about the different strategies he used to add a bit of fun and humanity to his livestreams because he knew how stressed frontline workers were.

Though coming from different parts of the pandemic battle, the two doctors stressed the importance of getting a flu shot. In the episode, they explain how a flu shot would not only protect the recipient, but also help them along with their COVID-19 work.

Additional Links:

• Research is always voluntary. The Army will never force anyone to participate.
• More reading on the steps researchers must take to protect clinical trial volunteers.
• VA’s digital COVID-19 screening tool to streamline Veteran access to medical care.