Once vaccines are more widely available, employers may start requiring their workers to be vaccinated. Employment law expert Karla Grossenbacher talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein to break down vaccine mandates, how these work with the Americans With Disabilities Act, Title VII, and other federal laws, and what questions employers are asking before they make a decision to move forward.

In a special two-part episode, we look at the landscape of vaccine hesitancy and what can be done to address it.

In part one, Hopkins vaccine safety expert Dr. Dan Salmon talks with Stephanie Desmon about his new and ongoing research on acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines.

In part two, Dr. Rupali Limaye, a Hopkins expert in vaccine behavior talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about misinformation and why hesitancy around COVID-19 vaccines is different from anti-vax groups like measles.

In a special two-part episode, we look at considerations of ethics and equity in vaccinating a nation.

In part one, Stephanie Desmon talks to Johns Hopkins ethicist Dr. Ruth Faden; and in part two, Dr. Josh Sharfstein speaks with Dr. Chidinma Ibe, an assistant professor of medicine and the associate director for stakeholder engagement of the Center for Health Equity at Johns Hopkins.

Why is it so hard to get vaccines to people who need them? Maine’s CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah talks to Stephanie Desmon about the massive logistical challenges with COVID-19 vaccines: identification of groups, notification to let groups know when it’s their turn, and then actually registering, scheduling, and vaccinating people with two doses—all while not being able to anticipate supply more than one week out.

2021, so far, looks a lot like 2020 in terms of pandemic fatigue. What are signs of burnout and mental exhaustion? What can we do about anger? How can we “just hang on” until the pandemic is under better control? How can we deal with the stigma and shame around getting sick with COVID?

Clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Murray returns to the podcast to talk through these and more questions with Stephanie Desmon.

After the murder of George Floyd, a number of jurisdictions formally declared racism a public health crisis. Dawn Hunter, deputy director of the Southeastern Region for the Network for public health law, is studying these declarations to see how cities, counties, and states actually take action to follow through. Hunter talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what the declarations actually do and why they are important.

Today’s episode is audio from a webcast recorded last week with two members of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board. In a conversation moderated by Global Health NOW’s Brian Simpson, infectious disease and epidemiology expert Dr. Celine Gounder and public health policy expert Loyce Pace talk about the challenges the new administration faces coming into the COVID-19 crisis with millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths.

There are more than 2 million federally-subsidized apartments, units, and homes designated for senior housing. These communities have unique opportunities and challenges. Juliana Bilowich, director of Housing Operations and Policy at Leading Age, and Shanna Dell, the lead infection control adviser on the outbreak team of the Baltimore City Health Department talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about these challenges. https://www.coursera.org/learn/strategies-senior-housing-covid19

What accounts for the sluggish rollout of COVID-19 vaccines? Dr. Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the challenges states are facing with vaccine distribution, what’s working and not working well so far, and why there are reasons for hope in the coming months.

Urban areas in Spain have been hard hit by COVID, but the rural northern state of Cantabria has fared much better thanks to a strong public health approach. Dr. Paloma Navas, former director general for public health in the region, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the area’s hard-won successes in lower case counts and deaths.