Prognosis: Misconception

Indonesia had planned to prioritize its working-age population for its Covid-19 vaccine. But they recently announced a change of plans: The inoculation program would instead start with healthcare workers, civil servants and the elderly. The government didn’t give a reason for the change, but the shifting procedures show some of the difficulties in coordinating a vaccine rollout for a massive nation spread across a string of islands.

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On today’s special edition of the podcast, we’re revisiting one of our early episodes that took a close look at how the novel coronavirus lived before it entered humans and who it lived in. Bats are almost certainly the source of this pandemic, but these flying mammals may also hold the clues to stopping the next one. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale explores how research into bats led to the discovery of what could be the precursor of the novel coronavirus.

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Scientists have long believed the source of the pandemic can be traced back to bats. Pioneering research by an Australian veterinarian named Dr. Hume Field more than 20 years ago showed why bats are an important host of some of humanity's most feared viruses. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale recently caught up with Hume to hear more about how the SARS-CoV-2 virus got from bats to people.

Mentioned in this podcast:

China Is Making It Harder to Solve the Mystery of How Covid Began

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The approved COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna and the Pfizer and BioNTech partnership use genetic material called messenger RNA to effectively transform the body’s own cells into vaccine factories. This approach is a first for vaccines. It relies on decades of clinical research into whether messenger RNA technology can be used to treat a broad range of ailments, from cancer to the seasonal flu. Naomi Kresge explores whether the validation of this breakthrough technology during COVID-19 could bring about a whole new field of medicine.

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The U.S. has begun a massive vaccination campaign to fight the coronavirus. But the effort will have plenty of challenges, including convincing people to get immunized. It’s not the first time the country has rolled out this kind of public health initiative. John Lauerman spoke with infectious-disease specialist William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University to learn more.

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U.S. companies are taking some of the first concrete steps to prepare for the unprecedented and complex task of distributing hundreds of millions of doses to the American workforce. That means, for some: procuring deep-freezers to store vaccines or setting up health clinics at their facilities. Others are weighing whether to require vaccination for employees returning to in-person work. And, as Ryan Beene reports, several industries are lobbying to get their workers near the front of the line after the first doses go to health-care workers and nursing home residents.

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Just one month ago, Iowa experienced its worst Covid-19 surge yet. Coronavirus cases began soaring there in early November, as they have throughout the United States. By the middle of the month, Iowa was recording about 4,000 new cases every day. But this week, staff at a University of Iowa Health Care system finally had reason to celebrate. The first doses of Pfizer’s vaccine arrived at the Iowa City location Monday morning, in tiny vials packed in dry ice. Angelica Lavito spoke to healthcare workers there just after they became some of the first Americans outside of clinical trials to get immunized against the deadly disease.

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As the first shots of the Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. are administered, one of many big hurdles has yet to be cleared: States must transport and distribute the massive orders to the millions who need it. The state of Louisiana has been thinking about this problem for months. In November, they decided to test their vaccination strategy, using the flu vaccine. Angelica Lavito went to Shreveport as the project was unfolding, to find out what a mass vaccination looks like during a pandemic.

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At the center of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s program to accelerate the development of Covid treatments and vaccines, is a man named Moncef Slaoui. Dr. Slaoui is chief scientific adviser for the Operation, and is trying to leverage decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to secure deals that can help curb the pandemic. Riley Griffin spoke to him about the possibility that his work might accelerate a treatment for the deadliest Covid-19 cases, a critical step in the months before a vaccine is widespread.

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The U.K. began administering the first Covid-19 vaccine this week, and the U.S. may do the same within days. But, the emergence of these vaccines brings tough choices around who gets it first and how it will be distributed. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale spoke with an ethics expert about the thinking behind some of these decisions and how the current vaccines could affect how we develop future ones.

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