Italian vaccine researcher 'phones home' to talk with Mayor
Recently, Dr. Giacomo Gorini, a postdoctoral antibody immunologist at the Jenner Institute, was invited to discuss his work, and living in the time of this current pandemic with the mayor of his hometown, Rimini, in Italy
One of the earliest Italian towns to undergo lockdown on 8 March of this year, Rimini was seeing cases and admissions in ICU grow exponentially. A strict nation-wide lockdown followed a few days later and over two months later Italy was able to incrementally ease its restrictions and Rimini to spend a relatively calm summer as the number of COVID-19 cases were kept under control.
(Left to right) Mayor of Rimini, Andrea Gnassi, and Dr Giacomo Gorini
Rimini’s mayor - Andrea Gnassi – told Giacomo about the increasing uncertainty that students and business owners are facing once again, as the number of cases rise in the country. He then asked Giacomo to launch an appeal to his fellow citizens to respect social distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene indications.
Giacomo then called upon the local political institutions to take the necessary actions to contain COVID-19 in a collaborative spirit, and reminded that although viruses are not organisms that one can negotiate with, individuals have the power to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through their responsible behaviour.
Finally, Mayor Gnassi sent the gratitude of Rimini to Giacomo, his colleagues and senior scientists who throughout this year have been striving to deliver a safe and efficacious COVID vaccine as soon as possible.
