StarTalk Podcast: Cosmic Queries -- COVID-19 Vaccines

Is a COVID-19 vaccine likely in the near future? On this episode of StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Paul Mecurio answer your fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about vaccines for COVID-19 with the help of their guest, Dr. Paul Offit, MD, Director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

We start with the big question: What happened? How did an outbreak like this occur in modern times? Paul sheds light on how, if we would’ve known about the outbreak sooner, we could’ve gotten ahead of the virus. We discuss how to navigate dealing with anti-vaxxers and those who don’t want to wear masks. Paul shares his thoughts on the hardest part of vaccine education.

For a quick refresher on Vaccines 101, Dr. Offit tells us how vaccines work. You’ll learn about the “typical” procedure used to create and distribute a new vaccine and why a vaccine for COVID-19 can be extremely accelerated. We also ponder whether a vaccine might reduce the number of anti-vaxxers? Dr. Paul explains the difference between being a vaccine skeptic vs. being a vaccine cynic.

Once a vaccine exists, who will get vaccinated first? We discuss strategies in place for when the day comes. We also discuss if COVID-19 will linger around like the flu or if we can remove it from the face of the Earth. You’ll also find out the role young people play with spreading the virus.

We investigate possible timelines for a COVID-19 vaccine. Paul shares his thoughts on what makes something a “bad” side effect. All that, plus, Neil wonders why medicinal procedures have yet to capitalize on computer simulations to test vaccines on human physiology.

Thanks to our Patrons Jennifer Sell-Knapp, Chris Reynolds, Rusty Faircloth, Jaclyn Mishak, Jeremy Scott, Alejandra Salinas, Tom Bock, and Marcus Richardson for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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[potentiallyunfunnyguy]

Commenting to make sure Youtube knows I'm engaged with this content and will hopefully recommend it to others. Reliable sources and inquiries like these are invaluable.

[pilot]

As a service electrician. Someone who enters your home, I adopted the mask early. To be clear, Its about keeping my neighbor (client) safe! Humanity folks. It doesn't cost anything.

[ronch]

Neil is the coolest scientist ever. He's kinda like Peter Venkman.

[MD-nfrr]

Neil, this content is amazing, your channel is amazing. This world has no idea how badly it needs people like you right now... I can't say enough about how much of an inspiration you are, thanks brother.

[IxodesPersulcatus]

I deeply appreciate the shared knowledge and insight.

[nkhasselriis]

“You cannot reason someone out of something he or she was not reasoned into." -Jonathan Swift

[hellaswagga]

This was a GREAT one, Paul was great. I don't know about others, but I still miss Chuck

[wormnail]

who else is watching this after trump got covid

[captaindavidjones]

Fell asleep while listening to StarTalk last night and had a dream Neil was my HS science teacher. As usual I fell asleep in class, woke up 15 minutes before the end, and took horrible notes. He caught some kids eating Pop Tarts while he was reviewing for a test and gave a 5 minute mini-lecture on examples of how eating Pop Tarts could potentially doom the planet just to be smug and waist time. It was BRILLIANT 😂

[barbaralachance]

Oh my, these are my 2 science heros!! Dr Paul Offit's books are so well written and easy to read I highly recommend them.

[judemoralesU]

At the end they speak of severe side effects. Now we know that there have been some bad effects on many people. Tragic.

[abderrezeq]

Am having a blast listening to this in my car everyday

[sherrylennondewitt]

My favorite astrophysicist in the Entire Universe

[TrainsandRockets]

Did you know?
The first use of vaccines was in India, where the Vaidya (doctor) used to give small dosage of a infectious disease by poking a healthy patient with the tip of a needle...
This saved millions of people from many plagues...
This method was observed and learned by the Europeans who visited India for trade in 17-18th century...
Later it was formally called Vaccine. 😃

[tatoverde]

Second question: show me any serious scientific paper that states that vaccines are 100% safe in short and long term adverse effects.

[shroomdark]

On a more uplifting note my cat just farted and scared herself fell of the table 😂

[Jay-omgr]

Thank you DR O for talking about the negative effects of the lockdown 🙏

[SupaFly-]

You guys misunderstood a question 25:38 : They wanted to know whether the vaccine could be more harmful for young people then COVID-19 could be, given how the young are not affected all that much.

[MikeJamesMedia]

Thank you for another dose of both common sense and science!

[tatoverde]

It is very easy to be on the side of big coorporations.