Key to the County
Last week I had the distinct pleasure of presenting the Key to the County award to two individuals for their commitment to science and saving lives.
As you may know, the Key to the County is given to a person who makes a special contribution to Rockland for acts of love, acts of kindness, and acts of heroism. This year the key was given to Kathrin U. Jansen, Senior Vice President, and Head of Vaccine Research & Development at Pfizer along with her colleague Steve Bjornson, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vaccine Research & Development for their unprecedented contribution not just to this County – but to the entire world.
When COVID-19 first surfaced it didn’t take long for the virus to reach our shores and Rockland County. The moment it did, it spread like wildfire sparking a wave of fear and uncertainty.
That anxiety was well within reason. Our nation lost a sobering 200,000 lives in just the first six months while the lockdowns to contain the spread were costing us our livelihoods and straining our mental health.
The two people we honored last week played a pivotal role in helping reach a turning point in the global pandemic.
The first person we awarded was Kathrin Jansen, who led Pfizer’s collaboration with BioNTech to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
When COVID-19 hit, Jansen commanded a 650-person team which worked around the clock to develop the very first vaccine granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Even more astonishingly, she accomplished this record development in under a year.
Prior to the pandemic, other major accomplishments of Jansen included developing Merck’s Gardisil vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus and Pfizer’s Prevnar vaccines against Pneumococcus bacteria. Without question, this woman’s tenacious career developing vaccines has impacted billions of lives worldwide.
I commended her for her longtime contribution to public health and wished her well as she is set to retire later this year, which she has more than earned.
The second person from Pfizer we highlighted is Steve Bjornson, who switched the focus of Pfizer’s Vaccine Research and Development Headquarters in Pearl River to developing a vaccine, which is why it was so fitting to hold this ceremony at that site last week.
Steve and his team played an essential role by effectively maintaining a safe and effective environment at the site as the effort to develop the COVID-19 vaccine quickly moved forward.
He played a key role in engaging, on behalf of Pfizer, with regional New York legislative, business, and academic leaders
Both of your combined efforts led to Pfizer accomplishing something that had never been done – in a timeframe never imagined.
Volunteering for a vaccine in its development phase isn’t an easy decision but their hard work, and the work of their colleagues, inspired thousands of people to trust them, trust the science, and volunteer for vaccine trials. I thank every single person who offered to roll up their sleeves to stop the spread.
Fast forward to today, roughly 350 million Pfizer vaccines have been administered in this country alone, more than Moderna and J&J combined. That’s an astonishing accomplishment.
Like law enforcement and politics, public health is often a thankless role. There is so much work this industry does day in and day out for our safety that has gone unnoticed, until now.
Without a doubt these two are heroes who provided a glimmer of hope in one of humanity’s darkest hours and left an indelible mark on Rockland as champions against a global health crisis.
The legacy created by the employees at Pfizer’s facility in Pearl River will outlast us all and that accomplishment is deserving of recognition all on its own.
On behalf of the people of Rockland, I thank you for everything you have done for our county, our country, and the world.
