Professor Philip Nolan explains the numbers we hear on the news and virologist Dr Gerald Barry answers your questions on vaccines.

News coverage of the pandemic is full of numbers and statistics. Daily figures of new COVID19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths are provided alongside other numbers like 7-day average case number, incidence of disease per hundred thousand, positivity rate and growth rate. Where do these figures come from and what can they tell us?

In this episode Dick talks to Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group to NPHET about the work being done behind the scenes to bring us the most accurate and up-to-date numbers and projections and Dick asks him whether mathematical models can be used to predict when vaccination will allow life to get back to normal. UCD based virologist Dr Gerald Barry answers your questions on vaccines; how well they halt transmission, how long they are effective for, and are they as affective in people with comprised immune systems.

This series is organised by the Life and Medical Sciences Committee in partnership with the Health Research Board