The Big Issues

COVID-19 Vaccine Facts and Myths

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Antigua and Barbuda has received at least five thousand doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine as part of a consignment of vaccines coming into the Caribbean from India – a world pharmaceutical manufacturing powerhouse. With so much myth surrounding COVID-19 and vaccination, what are true facts and the hard science behind the jab? We invite a medical doctor who already received the jab, a professor trained in immunology, and a BBC Reality Check journalist, to talk about the facts and the lies of vaccines. The host is Kieron Murdoch.


The guests are:

  1. Dr. Jerrol Thompson, a medical doctor from St. Vincent and Grenadines who specializes in allergy, immunology and infectious diseases. He has worked in New York and in St. Vincent as well as in Nigeria and Kenya where he worked to combat HIV and AIDS. He was a member of parliament in St. Vincent for several years and is now works for the government in capacities related to public health.
  2. Professor Clive Landis, the Chairman of the University of the West Indies (UWI) COVID-19 Task Force. He is a Professor of Cardiovascular Research at UWI Cavehill. He is a former director of the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre in Barbados. And he is a past Chairman of the Barbados National HIV and AIDS Commission’s subcommittee on research. Professor Clive Landis was chair of the UWI Regional Task Force on Zika. His PhD is in immunology.
  3. Flora Carmichael, a Senior Journalist at the BBC in London who works with BBC Reality Check. They focus on debunking false and misleading claims circulating in public. She's been debunking disinformation about Covid-19 throughout the pandemic for BBC News.


    4. This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on February 14, 2021.

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    The Big IssuesBy The Big Issues Production Team