Pfizer Pneumonia Vaccine 'Prevnar13' Marks 13 Years of Approval... Donates 10 Million Won to Cholera Eradication

Pfizer Korea’s Vaccine Division announced on the 23rd that it successfully completed the ‘2nd Firefly Donation Campaign’ to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) ‘Prevnar 13’ approval and donated 10 million KRW to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

At the donation ceremony of the "2nd Firefly Donation Campaign" held at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, Hee-jin Kim, Executive Director of the Vaccine Business Division at Pfizer Korea (right), is presenting a donation to Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI.
[Photo by Pfizer Korea]

The donation ceremony held at IVI in Seoul was attended by Hee-jin Kim, Executive Director of Pfizer Korea’s Vaccine Division, Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, and Se-eun Park, Principal Researcher (Ph.D.) in charge of the cholera vaccine support project in Ethiopia, among other officials.

In 2020, Pfizer Korea supported IVI with donations from the ‘High Five Campaign with Ilsam-i’ to jointly support cholera vaccination in vulnerable areas of Ethiopia. This year, through the Firefly Donation Campaign, the company conducted a campaign for about three months from August 17 to November 30 with domestic children, adolescents, and healthcare professionals. The campaign raised funds by accumulating donations each time healthcare professionals visited the 2023 Firefly Campaign site and clicked on the screen where the character ‘Ilsam-i’ and fireflies appeared, achieving the goal of raising a total of 10 million KRW.

Pfizer Korea stated that the purpose of the donation was to reflect on its 13 years of contribution to public health by preventing pneumococcal diseases in children and adolescents and to support projects for children in developing countries facing harsh conditions due to infectious diseases.

The accumulated donations will be used through IVI to purchase and support cholera rapid diagnostic kits, laboratory diagnostic supplies, and other necessary items for cholera vaccination and prevention projects targeting vulnerable populations in Ethiopia. This project involves conducting cholera and diarrheal disease surveillance for approximately 320,000 people and supporting cholera vaccination for about 60,000 people. The goal is to support comprehensive cholera prevention policies in vulnerable areas of Ethiopia with poor public health and personal hygiene and ultimately reduce cholera outbreaks and mortality rates.

Hee-jin Kim, Executive Director of Pfizer Korea, said, “Pfizer Korea has been striving for the past 13 years to reduce the disease burden caused by pneumococcal diseases in children and adolescents both domestically and internationally. Since half of the Prevnar 13 supply (One out of every two doses) has been provided to developing countries, we will continue various social contribution activities so that more children worldwide can be protected from infectious diseases.”

Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, also said, “We sincerely thank Pfizer Korea and domestic pediatric and adolescent healthcare professionals for their support in IVI’s activities. IVI will do its best to ensure a healthy life for children in developing countries suffering from infectious diseases.”