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Listen to “VEC Vaccine Notes,” a video and podcast series presented by the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Each episode offers vaccine information in a convenient format, so families have the answers they need to make informed decisions, including details and context that addresses what they may have heard in the news or in conversation with others.
This podcast is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not to be considered as professional medical advice for your personal health or for your family's personal health. You should not use it to replace any relationship with a physician or other qualified healthcare professional. For medical concerns, including decisions about vaccinations, medications and other treatments, you should always consult your physician or, in serious cases, seek immediate assistance from emergency personnel. Clinicians must rely on their own informed clinical judgment in making recommendations to their patients. ©2026 The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Learn about our new podcast and video series, called “VEC Vaccine Notes.” Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, will host each episode. In this series trailer, Charlotte discusses why we felt the time was right for this series, what information will be covered, and when new episodes will drop.
Check out the series webpage at https://vaccine.chop.edu/parents.
Check out the series playlist on YouTube https://bit.ly/vaccine-notes-playlist.
Episodes

Nov 5, 2025
Nov 5, 2025
16 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis and the vaccines that protect against them. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of these diseases and the vaccines.
Find out:
- The historical nicknames for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis
- What toxins and toxoids are and why they are relevant to these bacteria
- The nature and number of coughing episodes caused by pertussis
- Why cases of pertussis are usually undercounted
- The differences between DTaP, Tdap and Td
- The significance of the lowercase “a” in these vaccine names
- Side effects caused by these vaccines, including descriptions of hypotonic-hyporesponsive syndrome and febrile seizures
To learn more about diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis and the vaccines that prevent these infections, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-dtp.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Oct 29, 2025
Oct 29, 2025
11 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and the vaccine that protects against it. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of the disease and vaccine.
Find out:
- What family of viruses TBE belongs to
- The number of cases in the U.S. over two decades
- What a “dead-end” host is
- How TBE infections of large mammals can cause issues for people
- About the two phases of symptoms that people can experience
- Where people who need the TBE vaccine may be able to get it
- How to protect babies too young to get the vaccine
To learn more about TBE and the tools to prevent it, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-tbe.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Oct 22, 2025
Oct 22, 2025
14 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about polio and the polio vaccine. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of polio disease and the vaccine.
Find out:
- Who is likely the most famous person to have had polio
- The four possible outcomes of a polio infection
- What condition related to previous polio infection occurs during adulthood
- About how the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV) work differently and why that mattered for polio elimination efforts
- What VAPP is and when it happens
To learn more about polio and the vaccines, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-polio.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Oct 15, 2025
Oct 15, 2025
26 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about hepatitis B and the vaccines that protect against it. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of the disease and vaccines.
Find out:
- Why hepatitis B is called the “silent epidemic”
- How many people die annually from hepatitis B
- Two factors at the heart of spread of this virus
- Ways people have been exposed to hepatitis B that are not commonly considered
- Why targeting high-risk groups didn’t work to stop this virus
- What makes hepatitis B more infectious than HIV
- What percent of people don’t know they have a chronic hepatitis B infection
- The history of the two vaccine platforms used to make hepatitis B vaccine
- Whether an extra dose of hepatitis B vaccine is harmful
- What is recommended when people do not respond to the vaccine
- Why current antiviral medications are only so effective against this infection
To learn more about hepatitis B and the vaccines that prevent these infections, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-hepb.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Oct 8, 2025
Oct 8, 2025
34 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about COVID-19 and the vaccines that protect against it. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of the disease and vaccines.
Find out:
- Why we still need to talk about COVID-19
- How COVID-19 vaccines were made so quickly
- Why getting to the bottom of the origins of the virus is important
- About three complications of COVID-19
- Why it’s still fair to say COVID-19 vaccines work even though we can be reinfected
- What’s happened to rates of myocarditis from the vaccine in the last three years
- The different considerations for vaccinated and unvaccinated people wondering whether they should get the vaccine
- Considerations related to COVID-19 vaccines for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
To learn more about COVID-19 and the vaccines to prevent it, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-covid19.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Oct 1, 2025
Oct 1, 2025
23 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the tools available to protect against it. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of this disease and the interventions available.
Find out:
- How many people, including young children, die from RSV each year
- What other vaccine-preventable viruses are in the same family as RSV
- Why symptoms can vary among different people
- How babies and elderly adults are protected differently against RSV and the tools available to protect them
- Two different options for protecting babies and considerations related to each
- About two different safety concerns during clinical trials and which one was found to be a true association with vaccination
- If a monoclonal antibody is a vaccine
To learn more about RSV and the tools to prevent it, please visit https://bit.ly/vec-rsv.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Sep 24, 2025
Sep 24, 2025
27 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about measles, mumps and rubella and the vaccine that protects against them, known as MMR. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of these diseases and the vaccine.
Find out:
- What makes measles the most contagious disease we know
- What to do if you think your child has measles
- Two little-known effects measles has on a person’s immune system
- Why the mumps vaccine virus is called the Jeryl Lynn strain
- How scientists can use cells isolated in the 1960s to make vaccine today
- Whether the rash that some people get from the vaccine is contagious
- What to consider when deciding about early measles vaccination for infants
- How the patterns of MMR vaccination and rates of autism provide evidence that autism is not caused by MMR vaccine
To learn more about these diseases and the MMR vaccine, please visit https://bit.ly/mmr-vax.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form, https://bit.ly/contact-vec-vaccine-notes.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter, https://bit.ly/3KfLUoO.

Sep 17, 2025
Sep 17, 2025
30 min
Charlotte Moser, Co-Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, talks about influenza (flu), and the vaccines that protect against it. She addresses common questions and discusses the relative risks and benefits of this disease and the vaccines.
Find out:
- Why the nickname “flu” can cause confusion
- How other pathogens take advantage of a person with influenza
- The role of other animals in causing influenza pandemics
- When people should get the flu vaccine What people with egg-allergies should know about getting the flu vaccine
- What people with a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) should know about getting the flu vaccine
- About the four different types of influenza vaccines, plus a new at-home option
- Why someone’s “flu” isn’t always caused by influenza with a dive into the many other viruses that cause similar symptoms
- Why people who got the vaccine may still have “the flu”
- About emergency symptoms to watch for in infants, children and adults
- What might happen when people seek healthcare for influenza and what treatments are available
- About the discussions around mercury in influenza vaccines
To learn more about influenza and the vaccines, please visit http://bit.ly/vec-flu-vax.
Questions? Submit the VEC Vaccine Notes form.
For other vaccines, diseases or general questions about vaccines, check out https://vaccine.chop.edu.
Subscribe to our Parents PACK newsletter.
