Well today I'm talking about something very important
for baby boomers out there, me included,
and that's getting vaccines.
They are not just for children.
Now joining me to shed some light
on why we slightly older folks need vaccines,
is my good friend the Chief Medical Officer advisor
Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, so welcome.
(audience applauding) Thank you, thank you.
Dr. Freda, Pfizer has a special campaign
to educate older adults about getting their vaccines.
So tell us about it.
It's called All About Your Boom
and the goal of it is to educate boomers
about the importance of vaccines
particularly the vaccine for pneumococcal pneumonia.
And we think it's really important
to help dispel some of the myths
that older people may hold about vaccines.
And I understand Pfizer's spokesperson
for All About Your Boom
is football legend, actor, NFL analyst
and a good friend of mine, Terry Bradshaw.
And in case you didn't know
Terry was quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers,
won four Super Bowl titles
and was named Super Bowl MVP twice.
He was definitely a force
to be reckoned with on the football field
but now he's a force in this vital campaign
to keep people over 65 healthy, right?
His schedule is so busy being a TV football analyst
but recently I was able to catch up with him in New York
and we had a chance to chat about All About Your Boom.
Well let's take a look.
Thank you so much How you doing?
for joining me.
First of all I just can not believe
that it's been 30 plus years since you retired
from professional football.
I know. And you live
such an active lifestyle.
I'm not ready to start dying
so I live a very active life and I enjoy it.
Now, and you're living an active life
but I know that you've had some health challenges.
You have to stay on top of your health.
How can I live a healthy productive life?
And one of the ways is regular visits to see my doctor.
How did you end up involved with Pfizer
and the All About Your Boom Campaign?
The All About Your Boom Campaign
is to educate adults that are 65 or older
about their increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia.
And the importance of talking to their doctors
about all CDC recommended adult vaccinations.
And so when Pfizer came along
I said absolutely, I'm your guy.
And I hear you're doing it in an interesting way?
Well, kind of.
Hello everyone.
I'm Terry Bradshaw.
(audience applauding)
I'm here to talk to you about my new thing,
you ready for this?
I've got this thing it's called Bradshaw World.
It's funny as all get out.
I got all the paperwork, who's in?
He's lost his mind.
Mm hmm.
Let me just say thank you
for helping to deliver this important health message
to boomers, they really need to hear it.
We gotta make sure we beat it to the punch.
There ya are doc.
This is wonderful. Thank you.
And it will be cherished.
(audience applauding)
Dr. Freda it's clear
Terry's as passionate about educating boomers
on getting their vaccines as you are
but you talked about
pneumococcal pneumonia. Mm hmm.
So tell us exactly what it is.
So pneumococcal pneumonia
is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia.
It's a potentially serious lung disease
that can be passed from one person to another
with coughing or close contact
and in serious cases it can be life threatening.
So how great is the risk
of getting pneumococcal pneumonia?
So many people don't think that healthy adults
are at risk for getting this disease
because as we age our immune system weakens
and this increases our risk for potentially getting
serious infections like pneumoccal pneumonia.
And people over the age of 65
are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized
with this disease than people who are ages 18 to 49.
So what are the symptoms?
So fever and chills, a cough,
difficulty breathing or rapid breathing and chest pain.
Now these symptoms and physical effects
can really impact you for weeks at a time or longer.
Take you out of your routine,
and in serious cases can land you in the hospital.
And the thing about pneumoccal pneumonia is
it can strike anywhere, anytime and with little warning.
When flu season,
I imagine is a good time to get these vaccines.
Absolutely, it is a perfect time
at least to have a conversation
with your doctor and your pharmacist
about staying up to date with the vaccines
that the CDC recommends for older adults.
And that includes the flu vaccine
because the flu can be a serious
and even life threatening disease,
especially for older people.
But also to have a chance to talk about vaccines
for other potentially serious diseases.
And people say, well why do you all keep talking about it?
Well we keep talking about it
because the adult vaccination rate remains low.
According to the CDC less than 19% of adults 65 and older
are fully vaccinated for pneumococcal disease
Seriously? as of 2016.
Seriously?
No, so this is an important issue.
And so if you are 65 or over
or care about someone who is 65 or older
check out the campaign on All About Your Boom
to start a vaccination conversation with your doctor
or with your pharmacist and really get this moving.
And while you're there you could actually see
Terry's entire video on Bradshaw's World
which I have to agree with him, is really funny,
but it's also really informative.
So you can go to allaboutyourboom.com, right?
Yes.
And of course for any health related issues
or issues and questions you gotta also check out
gethealthystayhealthy.com.
And of course while you're there
you can sign up for our monthly newsletter
so the information can come to you.
(audience applauding)
All right I wanna thank all of my guests today
especially Terry Bradshaw and Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall.