Immunocity: Science in a Time of Crisis

Edit: This episode was recorded in May 2021, prior to the spread of Delta. Vaccines remain effective against this variant, but two doses are required for optimal protection, and given the increased transmissibility of this particular variant, mask-wearing is still recommended, even if vaccinated.

Some of us are fully vaccinated with two doses, some of us are partially vaccinated with one dose, and some of us (many of us) are still waiting for a vaccine to become available. For those of us who are lucky enough to be partially vaccinated, what does it mean? What can we do, what can we not do, where do masks fit in all of this, and why is vaccine equity important? Tune in to listen to our fast facts episode this week about all of this and more. 

What is science communications?

Everyone is intelligent, everyone is able to understand things, everyone wants to understand the chaotic world we've lived in for the past year and a bit. Science communications, then, is the translation of science into a message and a language that everyone understands. And that's an important piece of fighting this pandemic. 

Dr. Beth Linas, epidemiologist, and expert science communicator, joins us on this week’s episode to chat about science communications, and helps debunk a couple of COVID myths that have been floating around since the beginning of the pandemic.

OnCanada Project is a volunteer grassroots movement of people whose goal is to harness the combined potential of young people, volunteerism, and social media to broadly disseminate information that is critical, credible, and compassionate. This week, we teamed up with Samanta Krishnapillai, founder of the OnCanada Project to discuss the necessity of advocacy and civic engagement among young people, especially in times of crisis. It's an incredibly powerful conversation you don't want to miss. 

What are lessons to be learned from the Ebola crisis that can be implemented to this current ongoing pandemic? The former Deputy Minister of Health talks to us about his role in managing the Ebola crisis in Liberia, how communications and engaging the community is critical, what responsible citizenship means in these times, and the importance of leadership in crisis response.

Have you ever wondered what type of mask is the best at keeping you safe? Or if it's true that wearing 2 masks helps reduce the spread of the virus (hint, it does!)? To get answers to all this and more, we interview Michael Diaz, epidemiologist and PhD student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Mike helps us answer some essential questions about mask wearing to help us decide what works best for us and how we can think about this essential tool.  

This past year we've become all too familiar with viruses and our immune system - but how do these actually work? We spoke to a virologist - a scientist who specializes in viruses - to get a better understanding of viruses, vaccines, variants, and where our immune system fits in all this. Thank you to Dr. Jasmin Chahal from McGill University for joining us and for helping us better understand all of this science!

Join us for a special crossover episode between 19 to Zero and Immunocity! 19 to Zero is a dedicated coalition of academics, public health experts, behavioural economists, and creative professionals working to understand, engage with, and ultimately shift public perceptions around COVID-19 behaviours and vaccination. Given our mission here at Immnocity to make COVID easier to understand and more accessible, we thought it'd be great to do a crossover episode between our two organizations. For more information, please visit https://www.19tozero.ca/

May 13 2021 Edit: Given the reduced number of cases and hotspot zones in Canada, the country has opted to no longer provide AZ as first shot. And that is because so many of you took AZ when available: thank you! It’s because of you and everyone else who got vaccinated, that we are where we are, where we can vaccine shop (a huge privilege that not many around the world have). The AZ remains an effective vaccine, though there is a rare but serious side effect with signs that you should look out for 4 to 28 days after you get the shot (severe headache, blurry vision, any new symptoms that are popping up). Please speak to your health care provider if you have any concerns!

April 10 2021 Edit: As new data emerges for AZ, we will do an updated episode as necessary. With the data available now, regulators have said that AZ's benefits vastly outweigh risks - especially if you're higher at risk of severe COVID and are in a hotspot zone -  and should be taken when made available to you. Please contact your health provider if you have any questions or concerns specific to your medical needs.

Just when we thought we had started understanding the initial COVID-19 virus, variants of the virus have started emerging. What does that mean in the current context, will the vaccines that we currently have be efficacious against them? What is all the headlines with AstraZeneca vaccine? Tune in to this fast-facts episode with Dr. Taylor Holroyd to quickly get the current state of affairs regarding vaccines and variants. 

Teaching even when there's no pandemic can be overwhelming - but what does this look like in the midst of a global pandemic? How do you do online learning with little kids, especially because digital access varies so much? What does it even mean to teach during these chaotic times? Anisa Amani, a third grade teacher and a Teach Plus Fellow from Sacramento California joins us to give us an inside look into what it means to teach through a pandemic. We talk about vulnerability, the power of empathy, and the multiple hats that educators have had to take this year among other things.

We've seen how inequity has been exposed in so many ways and interweaved in so many systems during this pandemic. Deja Knight, PhD student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, joins us to have a conversation to put equity and inequity in the context of the pandemic - and how to embed and integrate an equitable lens in everything we do - instead of compartmentalizing it. 

COVID-19 has brought a whole era of uncertainty and fear, and in many ways, has lowered people's trust in the scientific process. Dr. Taylor Holroyd joins us to discuss the whys and hows of vaccine hesitancy - and how to have these important conversations with friends and family.

There's a lot of data coming out, and it's coming out quickly. But we're not all equipped to fully understand the nuances of what the data actually means, how it was collected, and what that means in a vaccine context. Join us for a discussion with Doug Arbetter, biostatistician and data-savvy public health practitioner to better make sense of the world of data!

Many people have argued that the impact of this pandemic has been harder on mental health than on physical health. It's so important to keep ourselves physically healthy but also mentally healthy. 

In this episode we discuss the mental health impact of the pandemic and strategies for prioritizing your mental health.

Economist and Epidemiologist, Sasha van Katwyk talks to us about how economy and public health have been pitted against each other - and how that ultimately is a false dichotomy. Join us for a discussion on social trust, communication strategies, and the nuances involved in understanding pandemic challenges from both a public health and an economy lens. 

Ever wondered how our immune system works and where vaccines fit in all this? During this episode, we discuss mRNA, vaccines, and more with Dr. Christophe Toukam, an infectious disease epidemiologist with expertise in immunology. 

8-year old Lincoln joins us from Minnesota to ask all of his questions regarding COVID-19 to Dr. Kuldip Kainth, a pediatrician from North Carolina. Join us for an insightful and adorable conversation between these two special guests!

What are the political and ethical implications surrounding this pandemic? What have we learned from history about our ability to react in the face of crises?  Join us for a conversation with Dr. Kathleen Bachynski, Assistant Professor at Muhlenberg College, regarding the intricacies of navigating a pandemic through a historical, political and ethical lens. 

Wear a mask, don't wear a mask; open schools, keep schools closed - with the arrival of a brand new virus, we've seen how scientific recommendations and public health guidelines have evolved and changed overtime. Joining us is Dr. Anastasia Lambrou to discuss why and how science changes, & how to better understand and navigate a world where certainty seems distant. 

With vaccines in the process of being rolled out across several parts of the world, and the novelty and speed associated with them, we understand that there are a lot of concerns, questions, and even fear. In this episode, we are joined by Ian Brunton and Dr. Taylor Holroyd to have an honest conversation about these concerns.

What is it like to live with COVID-19 even after having "recovered" from it? Greg Rosen walks us through the challenges that many "Longhaulers" face months after recovery.

Given the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine, many are concerned that we don't yet know how the vaccine will affect us in the long term. Join Prativa and I to learn more about how we test for long term effects in vaccines and how we know the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. 

What is mRNA? 

Has it been tested in humans? 

Can it change my genetics? 

Many of our listeners have questions about how the vaccine works and what it does inside our bodies. The Pfizer and Modern vaccines rely on the messenger RNA to operate - not sure what this means? Listen in to find out more. 

The COVID-19 vaccine was developed in record time! This has left many of us feeling uneasy about how quickly things have happened. In this episode, we will walk through the vaccine development process for the COVID-19 vaccines and talk about how scientists, governments, and communities have worked together in a heroic effort to deliver this vaccine... and perhaps bring us one step closer to our new normal.

We have all considered it.... It's been 9 months since the last time we saw friends and the idea of getting tested and getting together seems safe enough considering everything we have given up - but is it actually safe? Listen in to find out more about testing and how you can best use it to protect yourself and your loved ones. 

Considering that many of COVID19  symptoms are flu-like, it's understandable that people are confused about what makes this virus so different. 

In this quick episode, Prativa will walk us through some key aspects to help us understand how the COVID19 virus and the flu are different. 

Preview the podcast Immunocity: science in a time of crisis. 

Hi, We’re Prativa and Dani - and this is Immunocity, a podcast specifically targeting how science - and more specifically immunization -  works in a time of crisis.

We’re currently being overwhelmed with COVID-19 news and most recently, the potential of having vaccines being ready and available for our communities. But there’s a lot of hesitancy there - why was it done so quickly, what type of testing did it go through, what is the role of governments and pharmaceutical companies in the development and production?

Our goal at Immunocity is to directly speak to these concerns, and open up the conversation so that everyone can speak up without being shamed for their questions, perspectives or concerns. Plus, with both us, with our science and non-science backgrounds, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to provide a more insightful and clearer conversation to what’s going on around us.

In a number of episodes we have planned for you, we’ll touch on various different things: virus 101, production and distribution of vaccines, and some more nuanced discussions surrounding balancing public health and economy, balancing mental health and lockdowns, we’ll even have a Q&A Kids edition, because we think it’s important that kids understand what’s going on too!

Throughout all this, you’ll have the opportunity to send your questions, or even be featured in one of our episodes. By bridging the general population with experts who know how to communicate and speak with - instead of - at - you, we hope to ease some of the anxiety you have about what’s happening around us.

Please tune in, share, and subscribe.