With several promising COVID-19 vaccines announced in the past few weeks, we spend today’s show learning about vaccine development and distribution with professor Dave O’Connor.

Over the course of the hour, Carousel and Dave field a slew of listener questions about the pandemic and vaccines including medical supply manufacturing, COVID testing, the efficacy of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, whether we’ll need booster shots, and COVID long haulers.

They also cover the issue of public trust surrounding the vaccines, which were developed quickly and will emerge in a politically divided environment. Dave, who is participating in one of the clinical trials with his wife, assures: “We were the first in line because we trust these vaccines; we know they’re safe.”

Dave O’Connor is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the UW Medical Foundation. He leads the O’Connor lab, which focuses on contributing to the global response to viral infections impacting human health, including COVID-19 and HIV.

Cover image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay