Public Health On Call

After public health measures helped stem a massive first wave of infections, fatigue set in, and Brazil is now facing the worst moment of the pandemic so far. Dr. Luana Araujo , a public health consultant in Brazil, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about why Brazil is struggling despite a robust universal health care system. She also makes the case for greater inclusion of Brazil in discussions of g...

Even after the 1918 pandemic supposedly "ended" a significant number of people continued to die from "flu-like illnesses" for years. So do pandemics really "end" or do they fade from the public's consciousness? Medical historians Jeremy Greene and Graham Mooney return to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about how we really mark the "end of a pandemic", why today's vaccine hesitancy is str...

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three COVID-19 research papers: Dr. Sheree Schwartz talks about a preprint study of a healthcare worker who experienced COVID-19 twice; Dr. Nikolas Wada talks about a study of why some people, especially men, may have more serious disease from COVID-19; and Dr. Ashwin Balagopal talked about a clinical trial for an i...

Until 2020, PIVOT, an NGO in Africa, had an operations model that looked much like many organizations of its type: a 200-person team on the ground in Madagascar and a 10-person administrative team in the US. But early in 2020, the organization decided to let the majority of US employees go and shift operations to Madagascar and the communities that PIVOT serves. Executive director and Hopkins alum...

How do I find out where to get vaccinated? How much flexibility in timing is there for the second dose? If I've gotten vaccinated, can I be infected by one of the new variants? Should I get the vaccine if I currently have COVID? Can the vaccine alleviate long-hauler symptoms or long-term loss of taste or smell? Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Stephanie Desmon to answer listener questions about COVI...

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. KEYWORDS: polic...

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 minority communities and the importance of listening to understand hesitancy to help people feel more confident. In part two,...

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 about the ethics of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and choosing who is and who isn't eligible to be vaccinated in the near term. They also talk about what happens when someone jumps the line to get what is, for now, a sca...

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 tha...

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 Steph...

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 wh...

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...

There are more than two million federally-subsidized apartments, units, and homes designated for senior housing. These communities, which tend to serve lower-income racial and ethnic minorities, have unique opportunities and challenges compared to assisted living and nursing care facilities and have been largely overlooked in the COVID-19 response. Juliana Bilowich , director of Housing Operations...

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. KEYWORDS: policy; pandemic response; contact tracing

What caused the variants seen in the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the UK and elsewhere? Why is the UK variant more contagious? Is it more lethal? Will the current vaccines still work against these variants? Is there anything we should be doing differently to protect ourselves? Expert virologist Dr. Andy Pekosz talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the virus that causes COVID-19 is changing, and what it...

The Latino immigrant community has been hard hit by COVID—in Baltimore, there are sustained positivity rates of up to 30%. Dr. Kathleen Page , medical director of the Johns Hopkins The Access Partnership, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how undocumented and low-income immigrants are caught in a "perfect storm" with conditions for lots of transmission and few ways to seek help. They also talk abo...

Helping members of the Black community get the information they need in order to trust COVID-19 vaccines is a daunting task. But it's also an opportunity to invest in the health and wellbeing of Black people. Rev. Dr. Terris King , pastor of Liberty Grace Church of God in Baltimore and former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services minority health director, and Hopkins immunization policy expert...

With a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, is it a good idea to give people just one dose now and a second dose later when there is more available? How can the process of rolling out vaccines be sped up? What do we know about potential side effects? Which vaccine should I get? Immunologist Dr. Gigi Gronvall from the Center for Health Security talks with Stephanie Desmon to answer these questions and mo...

States are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to "high risk groups" but there's a lot of nuance in how "high risk" is defined. Dr. Monica Bharel , health commissioner of Massachusetts, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the state's unique approach, which includes prioritizing communities impacted by institutional racism and those with disproportionately high numbers of COVID infections. Dr. Bharel al...

COVID-19 is having dangerous impacts on mental health in the US with more than 14% of all adults meeting the criteria for serious psychological distress. These numbers are even higher among Latinos with more than 19% of adults experiencing distress. Dr. Margarita Alegria , chief of the Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Hopkins mental health and policy researcher Dr....

Assisted living facilities are small, congregate settings that make infection control measures harder to implement. These facilities also care for a large proportion of residents with Alzheimer's disease—a challenge for enforcing guidance like mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing. Dr. Morgan Katz , a Hopkins geriatrician and infectious disease specialist, and Shanna Dell , lead infect...

Communicating evidence-based COVID-19 prevention measures like mask-wearing and hand washing has been a challenge. What's further complicated buy-in are public health officials and politicians creating policies that are not backed in science like closing parks in Spain or banning the sale of open-toed shoes in South Africa. Science journalist Roxanne Khamsi talks with Stephanie Desmon about the ha...

What goes into Public Health On Call? Had you ever hosted a podcast before? Who would you most want to interview? Have there been any "oops" moments? Public Health On Call, which has been downloaded more than 3 million times since March, receives a lot of questions from our dedicated listeners. For this special bonus episode—and our last of 2020—producer Lindsay Smith Rogers asks co-hosts Josh Sha...

Why do COVID-19 vaccines require two doses? Will I still have to wear a mask and social distance once I get the vaccine? If my friends and I had COVID, can we get together for the holidays? Are people who wear a face covering with their nose exposed at higher risk of getting COVID? Dr. Josh Sharfstein and Dr. Caitlin Rivers answered frequently asked questions about COVID-19 and vaccines sent to  p...