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August 14, 2020
COVID-19 ResponsePublic Health

Follow the Data Podcast: Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions, Answered

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we live – and a vaccine is our best hope to resume normal life.

While studies of possible COVID-19 vaccines continue, questions emerge: How close are we to a vaccine? Should children, pregnant women, and the elderly be included in vaccine trials? How successful does a vaccine have to be in order to be considered effective?

Dr. Ruth Karron is the Director of the Center for Immunization Research and of the Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is considered one of the top vaccine experts in the world.

Dr. Karron sits down with Dr. Josh Sharfstein to tell us more about how COVID-19 vaccine trials are evaluating vaccine safety, why it’s important to have racial and ethnic diversity in vaccine trials, and how we can build trust with communities to allay concerns about the vaccine.

This episode is borrowed from “Public Health on Call,” the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s podcast – hosted by Dr. Josh Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, and a frequent guest on our show.

Read more about the COVID-19 vaccine on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health site here.

You can listen to the podcast and past episodes in the following ways:

For more from our coronavirus series:

  • Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries of London, Justine Simons, sat down with Tracey Knuckles of Bloomberg Associates to discuss how London and cities around the world are responding to COVID-19’s impact on the cultural sector on “How Cities Are Supporting Arts & Culture During COVID-19.”
  • Lisa Cooper of the Director of The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and the Director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute joined the podcast to tell us more about what can be done to reduce the toll of COVID-19 on Black and Latino communities on “Systemic Racism as a Public Health Issue.”
  • Emily Gurley of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health spoke with Kelly Larson from our public health team about what contact tracing really is and what makes a contact tracer effective on “Training an Army of Contact Tracers.”
  • Sarah Burd-Sharps, the Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety, joined the podcast to tell us more about “The Pandemic’s Effect on Gun Violence.”
  • Tom Inglesby, the Director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke with Dr. Kelly Henning, our public health program lead, about how his team uses research, data, and expert analysis to advise decision makers about public health practices to mitigate the effects of epidemics and disasters on “The Data Behind The Pandemic.”
  • On “Food First Responders,” World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook sat down with Bloomberg Philanthropies Senior Advisor Brynne Craig to discuss how World Central Kitchen is helping people across the country that are in need of a meal or groceries.
  • Mayor Jan Vapaavuori of Helsinki, Finland, spoke with Kelly Larson, who works on our public health team, about “How Helsinki, Finland is Responding to COVID-19.”
  • On “Lights, Camera…Action?” Michelle King, the co-creator of “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” Brooke Kennedy, executive producer of “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” actress Christine Baranski, actor Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Joseph Benincasa, President and CEO of The Actors Fund, sat down with Bloomberg Associates’ Katherine Oliver for a conversation around how productions can keep casts and crews safe.
  • On “How Freetown, Sierra Leone is Responding to COVID-19,” Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr joined Dr. Kelly Henning, who leads our public health program, to discuss how global mayors are sharing information during the coronavirus crisis.
  • Steven Kobre, Partner at Kobre + Kim, and Jerry DeLoach, the Head of the Cost Recovery team for the City of Atlanta, sat down with Rose Gill, a principal at Bloomberg Associates, to share advice for city leaders managing COVID-19 federal aid on how to mitigate risks on “The Cost of Recovery for Our Cities, Part 2.”
  • “A Promising Treatment for COVID-19” features Dr. Arturo Casadevall of Johns Hopkins University in conversation with Dr. Jessica Leighton of our public health team about how blood plasma has been used to treat infectious disease outbreaks in the past.
  • On “Slowing the Spread of COVID-19 in Africa,” Amanda McClelland, the Senior Vice President of Prevent Epidemics and Resolve to Save Lives at Vital Strategies, sat down with Dr. Jennifer Ellis, who works on our public health program, to tell us more about why it’s important to prioritize slowing the spread of the coronavirus in low-and middle-income countries.
  • Adam Freed, a principal at Bloomberg Associates, spoke with Natasha Rogers, the Chief Operating Officer of the City of Newark, and Brad Gair, a principal with Witt O’Brien’s, about how cities are using data to drive decision making in response to the pandemic on “The Cost of Recovery for Our Cities, Part One.”
  • Janette Sadik-Khan, a principal at Bloomberg Associates and Chair of NACTO, joined Corinne Kisner, Executive Director of NACTO, and Mark de la Vergne, the Chief of Mobility Innovation for the City of Detroit, to tell us more about creative actions city transportation officials are taking in response to the pandemic on “The Intersection of COVID-19 and Transportation.”
  • On “Behind the Scenes of the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Map,” Dr. Josh Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke with Beth Blauer, executive director of the Centers for Civic Impact at Johns Hopkins, about how the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 interactive map and dashboard originated and what new features have been added. This episode was borrowed from “Public Health on Call,” the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s podcast.
  • Jessica Leighton, who works on our public health team, sat down with Dr. Sharfstein to discuss crisis response for public health practice and what makes COVID-19 different from other recent outbreaks on “Responding to a Pandemic Crisis.”
  • “How to Help Nonprofits Hit Hard By COVID-19” features Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, in conversation with Megan Sheekey, who leads our Strategic Partnership work at Bloomberg Associates, about how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting social service and cultural organizations across New York City.
  • On “‘World War C’ – Us Against the Microbe,” Dr. Kelly Henning, who leads our public health program, spoke with Dr. Tom Frieden, the President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, about how we can keep our cities running and safe.
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