KPFA - Corona Calls

By KPFANews Politics

KPFA - Corona Calls episodes

June 30, 2025Corona Calls for 06.30.2025 – the new ACIP
Discussed in this episode:
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices just held its first meeting since HHS Secretary RFK Jr. fired and replaced all 17.
CDC staff presented data showing strong results from last year’s COVID boosters–they significantly reduced the likelihood of severe COVID; the benefits lasted longer before waning than in previous years, and the data shows less evidence of concerning side effects.
Nevertheless, ACIP adjourned without voting on any recommendations regarding fall COVID vaccinations. Vaccine makers are moving ahead with production, but because of separate obstacles created by the Trump administration, they’re using last year’s formula.
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.
The post Corona Calls for 06.30.2025 – the new ACIP appeared first on KPFA.
38 min
June 16, 2025Corona Calls for 06.16.2025 – RFK Jr. just gutted and stacked ACIP
Dr. John Swartzberg is off this week; in his stead we speak to Dr. Paul Offit, a teaching pediatrician at the University of Pennsylvania who directs The Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and formerly serviced on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). His most recent book is Tell Me When It’s over: An insiders guide to deciphering COVID myths and navigating our post-pandemic world
Discussed in this episode:
Last week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The people he’s appointed to replace them include a handful of prominent vaccine critics and skeptics, and a number of people with expertise that has no obvious connection to advising the government on vaccine policy.
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.

The post Corona Calls for 06.16.2025 – RFK Jr. just gutted and stacked ACIP appeared first on KPFA.
25 min
June 09, 2025Corona Calls for 06.09.2025
Discussed in this episode:
There are growing concerns that a new Omicron subvariant – NB.1.8.1 – may be good enough at spreading to cause a new case surge.
The Trump administration appears to have just fired four members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — the council of experts that recommends vaccination policy to the Centers for Disease Control.
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.
The post Corona Calls for 06.09.2025 appeared first on KPFA.
46 min
June 02, 2025Corona Calls for 06.02.2025 – Moderna, restricted
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 new vaccine uses only 1/5 the dose of the previous Moderna vaccine; that means the same manufacturing capacity can get vaccines to more people, faster.
The new vaccine can can be stored for up to 90 days at regular refrigerator temperatures (previous MRNA vaccines required storage at super-cold temperatures, which complicated their distribution).
RFK Jr’s FDA took the unusual step of limiting its approval to ue of the vaccine in people 65 and older, and people 12 and older who have unspecified underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID. (Normally, the CDC would issue guidance on who should get vaccinnated).
Separately, Kennedy announced he had personally ended the CDC’s guidance that children and pregnant people get the COVID vaccine, a move that could have ended insurance coverage for childhood COVID vaccination. After public backlash, his CDC kept COVID vaccination on the childhood vaccination schedule, but in a “shared decision making” status that requires consultation with a medical provider.
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.
The post Corona Calls for 06.02.2025 – Moderna, restricted appeared first on KPFA.
39 min
May 27, 2025 Corona Calls for 05.27.2025 — New Covid Strain; Plus, Restrictions for Covid mRNA Vaccines
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 host today is Jesse Strauss, in for Brian Edwards-Tiekert.
Music: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.
The post Corona Calls for 05.27.2025 — New Covid Strain; Plus, Restrictions for Covid mRNA Vaccines appeared first on KPFA.
38 min
May 19, 2025Corona Calls for 05.19.2025 – Trump’s FDA upends the world of vaccine approvals
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, and people over age 12 with unspecified medical vulnerabilities.
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.

The post Corona Calls for 05.19.2025 – Trump’s FDA upends the world of vaccine approvals appeared first on KPFA.
22 min
May 12, 2025 Corona Calls for 05.12.2025
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.
The post Corona Calls for 05.12.2025 appeared first on KPFA.
28 min
May 05, 2025Corona Calls for 05.05.2025 – Measles keeps spreading like . . . measles
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).
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.
The post Corona Calls for 05.05.2025 – Measles keeps spreading like . . . measles appeared first on KPFA.
39 min
April 28, 2025Corona Calls for 04.28.2025 – a curveball for fall vaccines
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 Trump FDE use similar procedural changes to de-rail other annually-updated vaccines for things like flu and COVID?
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.
The post Corona Calls for 04.28.2025 – a curveball for fall vaccines appeared first on KPFA.
38 min
April 21, 2025Corona Calls for 04.21.2025 – You may be newly eligible for the RSV Vaccine
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 to high-risk people as young as 50. If the CDC Director adopts the recommendation, that means health insurance will start paying for the RSV vaccine in those age cohorts. Currently, however, the CDC has no Director.
Tuberculosis rates are rising just as the US is pulling out of international efforts to treat, and thereby reduce the spread of, the disease.
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.
The post Corona Calls for 04.21.2025 – You may be newly eligible for the RSV Vaccine appeared first on KPFA.
38 min

About KPFA - Corona Calls

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A weekly update on new research and developments concerning COVID-19 (and occasionally other infectious diseases that hit the news).

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KPFA - Corona Calls

KPFA - Corona Calls episodes

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