Immunocity: Science in a Time of Crisis Immunocity

Edit: This episode was recorded in May 2021, prior to the spread of Delta. Vaccines remain effective against this variant, but two doses are required for optimal protection, and given the increased transmissibility of this particular variant, mask-wearing is still recommended, even if vaccinated.

Some of us are fully vaccinated with two doses, some of us are partially vaccinated with one dose, and some of us (many of us) are still waiting for a vaccine to become available. For those of us who are lucky enough to be partially vaccinated, what does it mean? What can we do, what can we not do, where do masks fit in all of this, and why is vaccine equity important? Tune in to listen to our fast facts episode this week about all of this and more. 

What is science communications?

Everyone is intelligent, everyone is able to understand things, everyone wants to understand the chaotic world we've lived in for the past year and a bit. Science communications, then, is the translation of science into a message and a language that everyone understands. And that's an important piece of fighting this pandemic. 

Dr. Beth Linas, epidemiologist, and expert science communicator, joins us on this week’s episode to chat about science communications, and helps debunk a couple of COVID myths that have been floating around since the beginning of the pandemic.

OnCanada Project is a volunteer grassroots movement of people whose goal is to harness the combined potential of young people, volunteerism, and social media to broadly disseminate information that is critical, credible, and compassionate. This week, we teamed up with Samanta Krishnapillai, founder of the OnCanada Project to discuss the necessity of advocacy and civic engagement among young people, especially in times of crisis. It's an incredibly powerful conversation you don't want to miss. 

What are lessons to be learned from the Ebola crisis that can be implemented to this current ongoing pandemic? The former Deputy Minister of Health talks to us about his role in managing the Ebola crisis in Liberia, how communications and engaging the community is critical, what responsible citizenship means in these times, and the importance of leadership in crisis response.

Have you ever wondered what type of mask is the best at keeping you safe? Or if it's true that wearing 2 masks helps reduce the spread of the virus (hint, it does!)? To get answers to all this and more, we interview Michael Diaz, epidemiologist and PhD student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Mike helps us answer some essential questions about mask wearing to help us decide what works best for us and how we can think about this essential tool.  

This past year we've become all too familiar with viruses and our immune system - but how do these actually work? We spoke to a virologist - a scientist who specializes in viruses - to get a better understanding of viruses, vaccines, variants, and where our immune system fits in all this. Thank you to Dr. Jasmin Chahal from McGill University for joining us and for helping us better understand all of this science!