Vax Talk

In this episode, hosts Karen Ernst and Dr. Nathan Boonstra break down the biggest vaccine headlines, from the alarming measles outbreak in Texas to the severity of this year’s flu season and the emerging threat of H5N1 bird flu. Special guest Dr. Joe Bresee from the Task Force for Global Health shares expert insights on pandemic preparedness, vaccine innovation, and global immunization efforts. He...

Join us as we sit down with renowned vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit to explore the critical role of school vaccine requirements in protecting public health. Dr. Offit shares insights from his decades of experience, discussing how these requirements helped eliminate diseases like measles and rubella from the United States and why their erosion could have serious consequences. The conversation delves...

In this episode of VaxTalk, we dive into the latest on mpox, previously known as monkeypox. Dr. Kritika Kuppali from the University of Texas Southwestern joins us to explain what mpox is, how it's related to smallpox, and why it's become a global public health concern. While smallpox was eradicated in 1980, mpox has been on the rise, particularly in Central and West Africa. Dr. Kuppali discusses t...

Please support this episode by being a donor: https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/donate/ For the first time in 25 years, a child in Gaza has come down with a case of paralytic polio. This situation was serious enough to produce a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to deliver vaccines to hundreds of thousands of children. But why is one case of polio so serious? And how do you deliver vaccines to a...

Karen recently attended a conference where one of her favorite vaccine champions, Dr. Michele Fiscus, medical director at the Association of Immunization Managers, asked her when she could come on the podcast to talk about minor consent laws. Karen did not wait long before inviting her to a conversation about that and so much more, including the politicization of vaccines and ways to heal our divi...

As of April 11, the U.S. has seen 121 cases of measles this year. Patsy Stinchfield, President of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, takes us back in time to previous outbreaks and our efforts to eliminate measles--all to help us understand why even one case of measles in a community is cause for concern. Links from the episode: New study shows that COVID vaccination does not lead to...

What caused SARS-CoV-2? Are vaccine mandates necessary? Is COVID here to stay? How can we protect ourselves in this new world? These are just some of the questions Dr. Paul Offit tackles in his new book Tell Me When It's Over: An Insider's Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739432/tell-me-when-its-over-by-paul-a-offit-m...

Last fall, NBC News journalist Brandy Zadrozny took a hike with Robert F Kennedy Jr and published her interview with him. She has written extensively about him and the anti-vaccine movement, so we felt like she was an important person to give us insights into this person whose star seems to be rising. Please note: We disagree with him. Do not listen to this episode expecting a glowing analysis of...

Each month, our Vax Ambassadors meet to learn something new about vaccines. This December, we came together to test the vaccine and vaccine-related knowledge of three good friends: Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Dan Wilson from Debunk the Funk, and Heather Simpson from Back to the Vax. We also called on three of our Ambassadors to answer some questions, and the stakes could not have been lower! Listen in and...

The pandemic caused a lot of pain, from the loss of lives to COVID itself to the burnout and moral injury of people working on the front lines. Our world is more polarized and works on the presumption of fewer common facts. How do we heal? Scott Hamilton Kennedy, an award-nominated documentary filmmaker, went searching for these answers in 2019. His film, Shot in the Arm, became so much more than...

In this episode, we break down vaccine communication, from the days of "Let the Science Speak for Itself" to the political partisanship of the pandemic. To assist us, we invited Glen Nowack, former CDC comms chief and Mass Communication Expert! Get your updated COVID vaccine! https://www.vaccines.gov/ Download and share the latest VFV video! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MQMmlLrg5lhEpNwc1KeOSWh...

Lately, Twitter has become a cesspool of the worst humans spreading the worst misinformation. Except for one bright spot: The Real Truther. We invited The Real Truther to our podcast to discuss his noble pursuit of The Real Truth and to talk with RFK Jr. (or a proxy for RFK Jr.) Links from the episode: Dr. Alfredo Victoria: https://www.elimparcial.com/mexico/Muere-el-Dr.-Alfredo-Victoria-reconocid...

At the pandemic's beginning, small bands of scientists and doctors devised a plan: what if we got young people sick on purpose? What could possibly go wrong? Dr. Jonathan Howard's new book, _We Want Them Infected_, traces this ill-begotten quest and the inevitable pseudoscience that followed. Listen in to our conversation with him! Links from the pod-- We Want Them Infected: https://redhawkpublica...

It feels like anti-vaxxers are bringing public health to court in droves. Does this spell the doom of people who don't like getting measles and polio? To explain why we shouldn't panic and how this litigiousness works, we invite our friend Dorit Reiss, legal scholar and all-around good person. Please note: this episode was recorded before the Missouri religious exemption decision was handed down....

If you thought 2021 was the Year of the Vaccine, 2022 may have taken you by surprise. In this episode, we review the news stories that show the prominence vaccines still play in our everyday lives. For a list of links to the news stories we cover, visit our website: https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/ep-68-vaccines-year-in-review/

Because vaccines work better when we are all vaccinated, vaccine equity isn't about justice alone. It is also crucial to public health. Enter Julissa Soto, MPH. Fresh off her work with other forms of health equity, she has come onto the scene in Colorado to make sure Latino communities can get vaccinated and feel confident doing so through her Vaccine Sundays program. This episode is about so much...

In many ways, mRNA vaccines are a gamechanger, but not an unexpected one. For this episode, we talked to one of the scientists who has been pursuing mRNA vaccines for years: Melissa Moore, PhD. We discuss how mRNA vaccines have changed so much for us and what the future might hold. Find Dr. Moore's TED talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_j_moore_how_mrna_medicine_will_change_the_world?lan...

A new study seems to connect childhood vaccines to asthma. Or does it? We invited our friend and hero, Dr. Paul Offit, to the show to discuss this study and the other studies from the past investigating vaccines and aluminum adjuvants. Don't miss his take! Link to the study: https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/27/possible-link-aluminum-childhood-vaccines-asthma-risk-caveats/

Remember the old refrain: polio is only a plane ride away? Well, it's hit New York, in the same community that saw a massive measles outbreak in 2019. We invited the excellent Blima Marcus, a nurse practitioner who worked on building vaccine confidence in this community in 2019, to talk to us about this polio outbreak.

Providers working in clinics and hospitals have noticed something: non-COVID respiratory viruses are acting differently. Flu is lingering into June, RSV is messing with kids off-season, and summer is no barrier between us and a cold. To find out what is happening (and okay, it might have to do with COVID) and how vaccines can help, we talked to Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Dr. Bill Schaf...

Vaccine hesitancy can be exhausting for everyone involved. Those who are uncertain may feel badgered by well-meaning friends, and well-meaning friends may feel frustrated by combatting misinformation. But we know that the hesitant can become confident because our two guests have been there. Join this fun conversation about how we can all talk to each other, featuring Lydia Greene and Heather Simps...

In statehouses across the U.S., 1,000 anti-vaccine bills have been filed. From bills that would pave the way to rescinding school entry requirements to bills that would levy fines against employers for requiring proof of vaccination, these bills are a threat to public health and safety. Fortunately, a new organization--SAFE Communities Coalition (https://safecommunitiescoalition.org/)--is working...

Few experts are as well-poised to answer questions about the pandemic we found ourselves in as Dr. Tara Smith--infectious disease epidemiologist who knows all about zoonotic transmission. But even with that expertise, we have found ourselves so divided that those closest to her do not necessarily trust the information she makes available to them. Join us for this conversation with Dr. Smith as we...

Parents have a lot of questions about COVID vaccines and their kids, so we invited those parents to a Zoom chat with nationally-known expert and pediatric nurse practitioner, Patsy Stinchfield. They got a chance to ask their questions, and we all got answers. We begin with a discussion between Nathan and Karen on Dr. Peter Hotez and saving the world through equitable, accessible, and affordable va...

COVID, always up to something, has spun out a new variant: Omicron. There are so many unknowns, and so much anxiety caused by the unknown, that we invited Dr. Katelyn Jetelina (a.k.a. Your Local Epidemiologist) to help us get our facts straight. Links from the show: Myocarditis and COVID: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-real-risk-of-heart-inflammation-to-kids-is-from-covid-1...