After some good news last week about Pfizer's vaccine candidate, everyone is looking toward the next steps, how to distribute it to the country. There's still plenty of time to work out the kinks, but many states are not ready to get it out, especially in rural areas. The Pfizer vaccine is unusually difficult to ship and store, it must be kept in super cold temperatures and has a short shelf life after being opened. The military will help ship the vaccine to states, but once they get delivered, ...
Nov 16, 2020•10 min
The FDA this week gave the emergency use authorization to Eli Lilly for their monoclonal antibody Covid treatment. It is similar to the treatment that President Trump received when he was sick and is aimed at keeping mild cases from turning more serious. The process of getting this treatment developed and approved was difficult in that the company also had to deal with the pandemic at the same time. They had to trim down their staff, work remotely in some cases, and the chief of the lab had to u...
Nov 13, 2020•9 min
Cases of coronavirus continue to surge across the country and records are being set. Texas jut became the first state to hit one million cases and the country set a record Tuesday for the amount of hospitalizations. That is a particular concerning point especially in rural areas where they have fewer intensive care beds and sometimes have to transfer patients. Melanie Evans, hospital reporter at the WSJ, joins us for record hospitalizations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheart...
Nov 12, 2020•7 min
When it comes to jobs, women have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 2 million women have dropped out of the labor force as of October and one of the big reasons is that virtual schooling is causing moms to quit. Having to make tough decisions about paying for childcare or working, many women with school age children are staying home. Heather Long, economics correspondent at the Washington Post, joins us for how the pandemic has hit working women. Learn more about your ad-choic...
Nov 12, 2020•7 min
How will the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic change now that Joe Biden will come into power? The Biden-Harris campaign has already announced a Covid advisory board, with a plan that includes more of a national strategy. This means more testing, a national mask mandate, and possibility of more lockdowns which no one wants. Biden would also like to see the CDC more involved and repair the relationship with the WHO. Noah Higgins-Dunn, reporter at CNBC, joins us for what the Biden cor...
Nov 11, 2020•10 min
Great news on the vaccine front! Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been shown to be 90% effective in early findings. The Pfizer vaccine is a two-shot protocol given three weeks apart. They are still waiting on more data, but could possibly apply for emergency use authorization before the end of November. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for what to know about the latest vaccine news. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystu...
Nov 10, 2020•6 min
As the weather turns colder, restaurants have had to adapt once again to be able to serve customers and keep the coronavirus from spreading. Enter... Bubble dining. Restaurants are setting up clear plastic domes and pods with tables set inside to keep customers safe and warm, but are they safe? Ventilation and cleanliness must still be maintained inside. Allyson Chiu, wellness reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for the new dining pods. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihear...
Nov 09, 2020•6 min
Doctors are beginning to figure out why some people have long-term symptoms from COVID-19. Called “post-acute Covid” or “chronic Covid” many are continuing to deal with symptoms for weeks or months after they were expected to recover. These symptoms range from severe fatigue and brain fog to digestive problems and erratic heart rates. Sumathi Reddy, WSJ’s “Your Health” columnist, joins us for what could be causing these long-term effects. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpod...
Nov 06, 2020•8 min
Possibly the biggest loser in this election, the polls. Once again many pollsters and poll analysts got it wrong. Coming into Election Day, it looked like a Biden landslide and a democratic flip of the senate, but that didn’t happen. Going forward these polls will need to be re-evaluated and regain the trust of the people. David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins us for why a failure of the polls threatens our ability to understand what others think outside of these elections. Learn mor...
Nov 05, 2020•8 min
The election this year is will also mark the end of an era for the media and things will change no matter what. The media has revolved around the president for the last 4 years and the pandemic has advanced the new landscape digitally by years. There will be a wave of retirements in places like the LA Times, Washington Post, and even the NY Times. Battles over free speech and censorship will also continue when it comes to big social media platforms. Ben Smith, media columnist at the NY Times, jo...
Nov 04, 2020•8 min
As the pandemic began and lockdowns were in place, there were tons of stories of pets being adopted and a boon for the pet-care industry. Now, as the pandemic wears on and we see job losses and reduced wages, we are seeing a growing number of people having to surrender their pets to shelters or sanctuaries. Brent Schrotenboer, reporter at USA Today, tells how it’s getting tougher for some to care for their pets. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystu...
Nov 03, 2020•7 min
One of the numbers that public health experts have not been able to get a handle on, is exactly how many people have recovered from COVID-19. There is no agreed upon standard definition for a coronavirus recovery, so each state counts it a different way and some don't even track the number at all. Sarah Toy, health and science reporter at the WSJ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 02, 2020•6 min
It’s important not to lose sight of our mental health during the pandemic and as daylight saving time ends, the nights get longer and winter approaches, there could be a collision of pandemic depression and seasonal depression. Experts say it’s time to lay the groundwork to help avoid it getting the best of you. Chelsea Cirruzzo, contributor to the Washington Post, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Oct 30, 2020•7 min
A study out of Britain this week said that people with detectable antibodies for the coronavirus fell by about 27% over a period of three months over the summer, calling in to question how long immunity lasts. But health experts say this is not a cause to worry, antibodies tend to wane over time naturally. Apoorva Mandavilli, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for what to know about this antibody study. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/l...
Oct 30, 2020•7 min
As cases of coronavirus surge and hospitalizations also increase, hospitals have to walk a delicate line on whether to cancel elective and non-essential surgeries again. When these surgeries were cancelled early in the pandemic, hospitals lost out on a lot of revenue and patients had to postpone procedures like knee and hip replacements among other things. Melanie Evans, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how hospitals are better prepared to keep these surgeries going. Learn more about your ad-ch...
Oct 29, 2020•7 min
COVID-19 vaccine trials are currently underway and we hope to hear news soon about how safe they are, but what is it like participating in one of those trials? Beyond that, what is it like participating with your whole family. Jackie Hajdenberg, investigative reporter with Columbia Journalism Investigations, is currently enrolled in the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial with both her parents, her sister, teenage brother, and 80 year-old grandma. Jackie joins us to tell us how it’s going so far and w...
Oct 28, 2020•11 min
Looking ahead to Thanksgiving… there could be a glut of big turkeys this year. Farmers had to try and predict the demand and processing schedule for the bird during a pandemic and fear that there might not be enough small turkeys. Driving the worry, family gatherings could be smaller and people may be looking for protein alternatives. Laura Reiley, business of food reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for too many fat turkeys. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnet...
Oct 27, 2020•7 min
As we prepare for a vaccine to be approved, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are ramping up their security and storing coronavirus vaccines in undisclosed locations, deploying GPS trackers to monitor shipments, and even setting up fake shipments with dummy trucks to throw criminals off. The Department of Health and Human Services is even arranging for U.S. Marshals to accompany shipments. Jared Hopkins, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the tight vaccine security. Learn more about y...
Oct 26, 2020•8 min
Movie theaters across the country are struggling to survive as the pandemic has slowed down the entertainment industry. Many cinemas have been allowed to reopen, but they must operate at limited capacity and many people are choosing not to go in part because Hollywood is postponing big movie releases. But for small family-owned theaters, the problems are worse. They are playing classic movies and even renting out the entire theater for showings. Alexander Gladstone, reporter at the WSJ, joins us...
Oct 23, 2020•8 min
We are getting some mixed results on a rheumatoid arthritis drug that was showing some promise in treating patients with COVID-19. In a large study, the drug showed promise in reducing deaths of people who were admitted to the ICU. In some smaller studies, the drug showed no benefit. Still the drug has been added to a growing list of possible therapeutics. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Se...
Oct 22, 2020•6 min
We take a look into the future of office work. Things are changing because of the pandemic and it’s not just more working from home. There are considerations going into long awaited innovations in office design, how to restructure the work week and hours in the day, and even company perks could be changing. Eleanor Cummins, contributor to Popular Science, joins us for how the office will never be the same. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.co...
Oct 22, 2020•8 min
Some initial results from coronavirus testing in New York City schools is showing a surprisingly small number of positive cases. About half of the city’s students have opted for hybrid learning, which is helping them keep class sizes small and allow for more social distancing between desks. David Goodman, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for the testing plan aiming to test 10-20% of the school population at least once a month. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwor...
Oct 21, 2020•7 min
Coronavirus case counts continue to rise in many places as the country fights to contain the spread, but throughout the pandemic, there have been some bright spots in states’ responses. President Trump gave states the opportunity to call their own shots and some have been more successful than others. Speaking to public health experts and officials, Politico has a list of which states had the best pandemic response whether it is fighting the virus, managing the economic fallout, or getting kids b...
Oct 20, 2020•13 min
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a need for more plastic. Demand for everything from face shields, gloves, takeaway food containers, and even bubble wrap for online shopping has gone up, and with that demand it has severely set back the effort to recycle. This is happening as big oil companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars to create new plastic. Companies that have made pledges to use more recyclable materials are even in a tough spot as new plastics are far cheaper than usin...
Oct 19, 2020•11 min
Scientists are looking into what is becoming known as Covid brain fog. These are lingering symptoms of memory loss, difficulty focusing, dizziness and even grasping for everyday words. Some Covid survivors say that it’s impacting their ability to work and function normally. Pam Belluck, health and science writer at the NY Times, joins us for what to know about Covid brain fog. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Oct 16, 2020•7 min
There was a time early in the pandemic where employers thought they would be relying on rapid response tests to get employees back to work safely. But as we have seen with recent events, testing alone won’t stop the spread of COVID-19. These tests were not designed to be used this way and is only one part of a full response plan. Aarian Marshall, staff writer at Wired, joins us for how and when tests should be used for returning to work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodc...
Oct 15, 2020•7 min
Calling into question how long people are immune after being infected with COVID-19, we have a 25-year-old man that is the first American confirmed to have been infected twice with coronavirus. We know this is a reinfection because the virus was genetically different the second time around and his symptoms were also worse. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for what we know about this reinfection. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See o...
Oct 14, 2020•7 min
When will theme parks come back to California? Disney and the city of Anaheim is in a battle with the state to reopen Disneyland and get back to normal. Full guidelines on reopening have not been released, but we do know some of the requirements. The park would be limited to 25% capacity and restricted to visitors that live within 120 miles. The park is a huge economic driver for local businesses, but a balance must be struck in protecting the health of the public and employees. Tarpley Hitt, re...
Oct 13, 2020•8 min
To survive the pandemic, the restaurant industry has had to adjust and reinvent itself. While many can’t wait to get back into a buzzing restaurant, the reality is that it might still be far off. So restaurants are focusing on outdoor patio dining, takeout options, keeping menus smaller, and being creative in how to retain their customer base. At least 100,000 restaurants have closed in the past six months and the industry is on track to lose $240 billion. Tom Sietsema, food critic at the Washin...
Oct 12, 2020•10 min
The spooky season is here and Halloween is on a Saturday, meaning that in a normal year we would see parties and a lot of trick-or-treaters. But this is not a normal year and many parents are wondering whether they want to risk sending their kids out at all. Rudri Patel, contributor to The Washington Post, spoke to the experts and shares their advice on how to assess the risk of trick-or-treating. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listene...
Oct 09, 2020•7 min
