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: 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 [email protected] . 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: [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.
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
Discussed in this episode: The measles outbreak centered in the Texas panhandle has now likely produced three deaths (two confirmed, one still under investigation). That’s as many measles deaths as the US saw in the preceding 24 years, combined. The high death count suggests there may be significant unreported measles in circulation (normally measles in … Continued
Discussed in this episode: A new subvariant detected in South Africa — BA.3.2 — shows more new mutations on the spike protein than any variant since the advent of Omicron variant, which drove a global surge in illness starting in late 2021. Donald Trump has withdrawn his nomination of physician, vaccine critic, and former republican … Continued
