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 [email protected] .
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.
Discussed in this episode: Jay Bhattacharya, who heads the National Institutes of Health for the Trump administration, kept the CDC from publishing data showing getting an updated COVID shot drastically reduced the need for emergency care and hospitalization. To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected] Tune in live Monday … Continued
Discussed in this episode: A growing share of US COVID samples that get genetically-sequenced are the subvariant nicknamed Cicada (BA.3.2). There’s no indication the subvariant produces more severe illness, but there is some evidence to suggest it’s more successful at infecting children. To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: … Continued
Discussed in this episode: In a lawsuit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a federal judge has stayed (put on hold) every decision made by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices since RFK Jr. purged and replaced its membership last summer. To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write … Continued
Discussed in this episode: The New York Times got a copy of an internal report by a working group of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It makes outlandlish claims about the prevalence of COVID vaccine injury based in part on second-hand reports a conservative pollster, and suggests internal changes to how the government … Continued
Discussed in this episode: Vinay Prasad, the Trump appointee who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has announced he’s leaving his position at the end of April. The announcement came shortly after he reversed a controversial decision to block FDA review of a new MRNA influenza vaccine from Moderna. To send us … Continued
Discussed in this episode: Moderna’s got a new MRNA vaccine for influenza. It says clinical trials show the vaccine is 26% more effective than the flu vaccine currently in use. But when Moderna asked the FDA to review the new vaccine for approval, the FDA refused. Then, within a week, the FDA reversed itself and … Continued
Discussed in this episode: What it would mean to have a vaccine that targets a broad range of coronaviruses, rather than a few variants of COVID-19. To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected] Tune in live Monday mornings at 7:30am Pacific at kpfa.org. Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed … Continued
Discussed in this episode: Influenza cases may be headed toward a second spike. The increase seems mostly driven by Influenza B, which is more dangerous for children than Influenza A. After the Trump administration pulled the US out of the World Health Organization, governor Gavin Newsom signed California up. To send us a question … Continued
Discussed in this episode: A measles outbreak centered in South Carolina has just topped 700 cases, and spread to at least one person in California. Influenza deaths are topping COVID deaths this season. (Influenza rates *appear* to be starting a decline, but it’s not uncommon for flu season to see a second peak.) Doctor Swartzberg … Continued
Discussed in this episode: RFK Jr. has upended the childhood vaccination schedule To send us a question in advance of next week’s show, write to: [email protected] 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.
