Public Health On Call Johns Hopkins University

What accounts for the sluggish rollout of COVID-19 vaccines? Dr. Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the challenges states are facing with vaccine distribution, what’s working and not working well so far, and why there are reasons for hope in the coming months.

Urban areas in Spain have been hard hit by COVID, but the rural northern state of Cantabria has fared much better thanks to a strong public health approach. Dr. Paloma Navas, former director general for public health in the region, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the area’s hard-won successes in lower case counts and deaths.

What caused the variants seen in the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the UK and elsewhere? Why is the UK variant more contagious? Is it more lethal? Will the current vaccines still work against these variants? Is there anything we should be doing differently to protect ourselves?

Expert virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the virus that causes COVID-19 is changing, and what it means for 2021.

The Latino immigrant community has been hard hit by COVID—in Baltimore, there are sustained positivity rates of up to 30%. Dr. Kathleen Page, medical director of the Johns Hopkins The Access Partnership, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how undocumented and low-income immigrants are caught in a “perfect storm” with conditions for lots of transmission and few ways to seek help. They also talk about how unchecked transmission anywhere means the pandemic will continue to rage.

Helping members of the Black community get the information they need in order to trust COVID-19 vaccines is a daunting task. But it’s also an opportunity to invest in the health and wellbeing of Black people. Rev. Dr. Terris King, pastor of Liberty Grace Church of God in Baltimore, and Hopkins immunization policy expert Lois Privor-Dumm, talk with Stephanie Desmon about the opportunities the pandemic has brought forth to build bridges between health institutions and the Black community.

With a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, is it a good idea to give people just one dose now and a second dose later when there is more available? How can the process of rolling out vaccines be sped up? What do we know about potential side effects? Which vaccine should I get? Immunologist Dr. Gigi Gronvall from the Center for Health Security talks with Stephanie Desmon to answer these questions and more about COVID-19 vaccines.