A weekly update on new research and developments concerning COVID-19 (and occasionally other infectious diseases that hit the news).
We take questions via call-in during the live broadcast, Mondays at 7:33am Pacific, streaming via kpfa.org. Podcasts with show notes go up later the same day. Between live shows, we take questions via email at upfront@kpfa.org .
Our guest most weeks is Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Our question-wrangler most weeks is Brian Edwards-Tiekert, host of KPFA’s morning public affairs program, UpFront.
Music: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
Dr. John Swartzberg is off this week; in his stead we speak to Dr. Paul Offit, a teaching pediatrician at the University of Pennsylvania who directs The Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and formerly serviced on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). His most recent book is Tell Me When … Continued
Discussed in this episode: There are growing concerns that a new Omicron subvariant – NB.1.8.1 – may be good enough at spreading to cause a new case surge. The Trump administration appears to have just fired four members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — the council of experts that recommends vaccination policy to … Continued
DIscussed in this episode: On Friday, the Kennedy Food and Drug Administration approved a new Moderna COVID vaccine that targets a smaller section of the COVID-19 spike protein than previous vaccines, but also restricted its use. What’s new: Moderna’s trials showed a higher antibody response than for previous COVID vaccines, and fewer side effects. The … Continued
We take questions via call-in during the live broadcast, Mondays at 7:33am Pacific, streaming via kpfa.org. Podcasts with show notes go up later the same day. Between live shows, we take questions via email at upfront@kpfa.org . Our guest most weeks is Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. … Continued
Discussed in this episode: The Trump FDA has just given regular, non-emergency approval to the Novavax COVID vaccine — which has been in use under an emergency authorization for years. Against the advice of its own scientific advisors, the agency decided to restrict the use of the vaccine to people over the age of 65, … Continued
To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: coronacalls@kpfa.org Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org. Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
Discussed in this episode: As of Friday, the CDC had confirmed 935 measles cases in the US this year. In just under four months, that’s more than triple the number of cases the US recorded in all of 2024. 93% of the cases have been associated with a domestic outbreak (as opposed to travel abroad). … Continued
Discussed in this episode: The Trump FDA is asking COVID vaccine manufacturer Novavax to submit new clinical trial data before it can get authorized to distribute an updated COVID vaccine. Because it takes a while to gather such data, that would make it nearly impossible to Novavax to have shots available this fall. Could the … Continued
Discussed in this episode: The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met last week, and advised making the new vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) available to a broader swath of people. RSV is very deadly in infants, and quite dangerous to elderly people, but data presented at ACIP’s meeting suggested it’s of benefit … Continued
Discussed in this episode: The FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) has had its meetings suspended indefinitely under the Trump presidency. (Normally, it would be meeting about this time issue advices on what variants of influenza and COVID to target with next round of vaccine manufacturing) The FDA’s Advisory Committee on Immunization … Continued
