While COVID-19 showed all the ways the health care and public health systems in the US are broken, the pandemic has also led to innovative problem solving and fixes for the future. Health economist Dr. Melinda Buntin talks with Stephanie Desmon about what went wrong, what went right, what changes she hopes will stay, and what comes next for health care and public health.

KEYWORDS: telemedicine; health infrastructure

Physicians play a crucial role in educating patients, who have lots of questions about COVID-19 vaccines. Drs. Jay Bhatt and Hussein Lalani are part of a digital campaign called This Is Our Shot that aims to drive out misinformation and elevate personal stories from physicians about getting COVID-19 vaccines. They talk with Stephanie Desmon about their work and how it's "drawing on the very best of humanity" to end the pandemic. You can learn more at www.thisisourshot.info.

KEYWORDS: health communication; vaccine hesitancy; health equity

This week, the CDC released new guidance for vaccinated people who can resume some lower-risk activities. Dr. Tara Kirk Sell from the Center for Health Security talks with Stephanie Desmon about the impacts of "relaxing the rules," how this might help vaccine uptake, what we might expect next in terms of "Phase 2" guidance, and how we can all help those who are still awaiting their shot(s).

KEYWORDS: vaccine hesitancy; policy; pandemic response

Does taking immunosuppressant drugs put you at higher risk of more serious disease from COVID-19? Dr. Caleb Alexander and PhD candidate Kayte Andersen talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about their new research looking into this question. They also discuss future research to tackle the next set of critical questions for the millions of people who need these medications to stay healthy.

KEYWORDS: immune response

How do you have meaningful conversations around really big, complex problems like climate change or COVID-19? How can we address "climate anxiety?" Dr. Adam Levy—aka ClimateAdam on YouTube—a science journalist and communicator with a degree in atmospheric physics, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about his work trying to creatively "close the gap between research and action."

KEYWORDS: environmental health; policy; misinformation

We know that having diabetes is a risk factor for more serious COVID-19 disease, but is being seriously ill from COVID-19 a risk factor for diabetes? Hopkins endocrinologist Dr. Mihail Zilbermint talks with Stephanie Desmon about what we know—and don't know—about the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes.

KEYWORDS: chronic disease; health equity

Dr. David Relman, a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his view that more investigation is needed into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Dr. Relman also explains why stronger controls on research that involves pathogens with pandemic potential are urgently needed.

KEYWORDS: zoonotic virus; policy

With a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the focus has been on getting the most vulnerable vaccinated first. But to reach the kind of population-level immunity needed to truly curb the pandemic, children will also need to be vaccinated. Dr. Kawsar Talaat, who led one of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine trials in adults, talks with Stephanie Desmon about when and how vaccines will be authorized for children.

KEYWORDS: child health; vaccine authorization; vaccine trial

Morale is up and case numbers are down at Johns Hopkins Hospital, but infection prevention expert Dr. Lisa Maragakis says vaccines are in a race against variants and we shouldn't let our guard down. Dr. Maragakis talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about "watching evolution in real time" with mutations of SARS-CoV-2, staying the course with infection prevention, and when things could really take a turn for the better if we resist the urge to relax too much, too quickly.

KEYWORDS: viral mutation; herd immunity; pandemic response

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi returns to the podcast to talk about why she's so optimistic about COVID-19 vaccines and their ability to free us from the pandemic. Dr. Gandhi talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the great results from clinical trials, why she is hopeful the vaccines will work against variants, some guidance for the newly-vaccinated about returning to "normal" life, and her latest insights on masks.

KEYWORDS: vaccine trial; vaccine authorization; immune response