The Dose

The Omicron variant is sweeping across the United States and the rest of the world, breaking previous records of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. While it may cause milder illness, its transmissibility and ability to evade vaccines make this surge particularly challenging to navigate. On the latest episode of The Dose podcast, host Shanoor Seervai asks Alison Galvani, founding director of the Yale Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, to bring listeners up to speed on this phase of the pandemic. Galvani and her colleagues have found that increasing the number of boosters administered each day could save thousands of lives. Vaccination is relatively inexpensive, particularly compared with the costs associated with hospitalizations and productivity losses, even from mild cases, she says.

A year after adults in the U.S. began getting vaccinated against COVID-19, children ages 5 and up are now eligible for the shot. So far, uptake has been slow – in part because of parents' concerns over vaccine safety. On the latest episode of The Dose, pediatrician and American Academy of Pediatrics board member Michelle Fiscus, M.D., and the Commonwealth Fund's Rachel Nuzum shed light on challenges and opportunities in raising child vaccination rates. One downstream concern is a growing trend of resistance to other childhood vaccines. As Dr. Fiscus says, if "vaccine hesitancy continues to build with the routine childhood vaccines, I am very concerned about the types of outbreaks that we're going to be fighting over the next years."

The U.S. maternal health crisis has been well documented. Black Americans are three times as likely as white Americans to die from pregnancy-related causes. Why do these disparities persist? And what would it take to dismantle structural racism in reproductive health care? On the latest episode of The Dose, Rachel Hardeman, tenured associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, discusses her research exploring ways to center equity in reproductive health care. She says it's a huge priority "to make sure that birthing people, regardless of the setting they're birthing in, have access to culturally centered maternity care." Listen, and then subscribe wherever you find your podcasts. Sign up here to get new episodes of The Dose in your inbox

Vaccines have saved thousands of lives and are an incredible tool in the seemingly endless battle against the coronavirus. But even with COVID surging anew in Europe as winter approaches, the rate at which Americans are getting vaccinated has plateaued. On the latest episode of The Dose, Alison Galvani, founding director of the Yale Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, and Eric Schneider, M.D., senior vice president for policy and research at the Commonwealth Fund, bring listeners up to speed on the state of the pandemic. Galvani and Schneider have been using data to show how effective the vaccines are at preventing deaths and hospitalizations — and how, in the absence of successful vaccination campaigns, we are still losing people to the virus. Increasing vaccine uptake through mandates and administering boosters will help curb this pandemic. But to stave off future threats, it's vital that we also strengthen the public health system and make it easier for all Americans to access health care, they say.

The U.S. housing crisis and health care are inextricably linked. Compared to the general population, people experiencing homelessness have higher rates of illness and mortality. These struggles are even more acute for transgender people, who often face discrimination when they seek both housing and health care. On the latest episode of The Dose, Pam Klein, Manager of Transgender Services at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, talks about how to provide health care to transgender people who lack housing. As public acceptance of transgender people grows, and more and more people who openly identify as trans enter the field of health care, there is hope for the future, she says. Sign up here to get new episodes of The Dose in your inbox.

When the pandemic hit last March, mental health care, which was typically delivered in face-to-face sessions, rapidly moved online. At a time when the need for support was greater than ever, this was a welcome shift. But as we glance – with cautious optimism – toward a return to "normal," will telehealth be the dominant mode of delivering mental health services? On the latest episode, Latoya Thomas, senior director of policy and government affairs at Included Health, and Solome Tibebu, director of the Upswing Fund for Adolescent Mental Health, talk about the future of virtual mental health care, particularly for underserved groups. Sign up here to get new episodes of The Dose in your inbox.

While rich countries are doling out booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, many poor countries have vaccinated less than five percent of their population. And, while many leaders agree that vaccinating the world is the only way out of the pandemic, vaccines are still not moving around the globe in a rapid and equitable manner. This is because "we live in a hierarchy of health," says Priti Krishtel, a health justice lawyer and cofounder of I-MAK, a nonprofit focused on building a more just and equitable medicines system. On the latest episode of The Dose, Krishtel argues that unequal access to vaccines is rooted in a long-standing system of incentives that governs drug development and allocation. She says rethinking the drug patent regime and other incentives — and working together to ensure every country gets a fair allocation of vaccines — is the way to end this and future pandemics.

Even as the Delta variant rages through the U.S., many Americans have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. The reasons are complex, but for Black and Latinx communities, a long history of poor access to health care has been a tall barrier. On the first episode of our brand-new season of The Dose podcast, host Shanoor Seervai talks to Rhea Boyd, M.D., a pediatrician and public health advocate, about what it takes to dismantle the historic racism that has long prevented people of color from getting the health care they need. Black and Latinx health care professionals like Dr. Boyd are answering questions about the COVID-19 vaccine online and in person. If we make it a national priority, she says, we can ensure Black and Latinx people get credible information about the vaccines and easy access to them.

The Dose is the Commonwealth Fund's podcast that asks, What can the U.S. do differently when it comes to health care? Join host Shanoor Seervai every other Friday for conversations with leading and emerging experts. This season we're focusing on new ideas that could strengthen and improve health care for everyone. Get the Dose in your inbox: https://thedose.show/signup Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Many Americans have started to behave as if the pandemic is over, but large numbers of people remain unvaccinated. At the same time, other parts of the world are experiencing their worst COVID-19 surges yet. On the season finale of The Dose, Sandro Galea, physician, epidemiologist, and dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, talks about what it will take to vaccinate the entire world and how we can protect ourselves from future pandemics. He explains that while vaccines may mitigate the crisis in the short run, they cannot be a substitute for long-term investments in the social services that keep people healthy. Please take a minute to fill out our survey and tell us what you think about the podcast: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/themicrodose.