Using a Bunch of Mousetraps to Explain How Pandemics Work (feat. @theslowmoguys)

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Thanks to Gates Notes for Supporting PBS.

Since the start of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the term “herd immunity” has been all over the news. But what does it really mean? One thing most people don’t realize about vaccines is that they aren’t just to protect the person who gets the shot. They also protect the population as a whole… even people who didn’t get the shot. In this video, we use lots and lots of mousetraps and ping-pong balls to show you how that works. #coronavirus #vaccines

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[besmart]

I hope you'll get a vaccine when and if you can. Thanks for watching! A few of my fingers were harmed in the making of this video 🤓
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram and let me know what you think of the video: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart

[orchdork]

It's important to note that for this to work, the vaccines need to be evenly distributed among the popupation. We really need to make sure poor communities (and countries) are just as vaccinated as richer areas to avoid hot spots that manage to get things started again. If that happens, then the virus could mutate enough to start spreading to people who got vaccinated, and then we gotta do everything all over again.

[fireaza]

That mouse trap that bounced off and landed in the center, setting of a bunch of others is like one of those douches that take a flight even when they know they tested positive.

[GenericaQwerty]

"and this... is a Slow Mo Guy"
*Missing Dan intensifies*

[BraveRock]

I did not expect the “subzero” mortal kombat animation. That gave me a chuckle.

[CED]

The other thing with vaccines is, with less people being infected there is less chance of random mutations. If there is a 1 in a million chance of the virus mutating into a novel varient (South African, Brazilian, English) reducing the number of patients reduces the risk of a novel resistant version occurring.

[mattdeblassmusic]

I wonder how many ping pong balls are sold each year to science communicators/educators vs actual table tennis players.

[rogerszmodis]

1000 isn’t impossible. Just insanely hard. Me and another student set one up in high school for physics. Visual aid for a nuclear chain reaction. It took 26 hours over 2 days and like 30 restarts.

[snowman]

"a slow mo guy" like, as if there were a whole population of them and u just happened to meet one and bring it home

[Ohm_mega]

I was born the same year as the Salk Vaccine, which I was given shortly before starting school. That means that I predate most of the vaccines now available. Yes, I got through my childhood unscathed, but not everybody that started school in Miss McCarthy's class were around to graduate and either go to University or get a job, and not all of the survivors were as healthy as they had been.
One thing I noticed as a teenager was that while there were several people older than myself who wore calipers on their legs, there were none younger. Thank you Jonas Salk.
I had the Polio, Smallpox, Yellow fever, BCG, and Tetanus shots as a child, and attended countless "spot parties" without ever bringing a present home. I still haven't had Measles, Rubella, Chicken Pox, Mumps etc so I guess I am extremely lucky in having an amazing immune system. Yet despite my belief that I have a superhuman immune system I will still keep myself isolated as much as practically possible, and wear a mask when in public. After all, I wear a seatbelt while driving, even though I have never had and don't plan to have, a high speed car crash, *just in case things change.*

[BlueFrenzy]

Just one clarification. In virology there is a concept that is named "overshoot" that represents the part of the population who gets infected after reaching the herd immunity. That is because having a R0 of 1.0 doesn't mean that the illness stops, but that the current infected will infect on average another person. When the pathogen is not within the population a R0 under 1.0 means that the pathogen cannot grow exponentially until eventually dies. That's why the herd is immune. But when you have 100.000 people infected, even if you reach the immunity threshold it means those 100k will infect on average another 100k, and those another 100k until the R0 decreases even further and the illness dies. The standard model shows that a pathogen with a R0 of 2.5 and a threshold of 60% without control it can infect almost 80% of the population. The variant who seems to have an R0 of 3.5 would have a threshold of 72%, but the overshoot would reach the 90%. The strategy of reaching herd immunity by letting the people to get infected still requires of quarantines to reduce the number of infected to almost 0 before reaching the herd immunity. That strategy is nuts.

[pwnedyouwithpurple]

“I miss boring”
WHAT. A. MOOD.
I can’t wait to be a white ping pong ball as soon as I’m eligible. :3

[RudyG]

Scientists back then: We put a man on the moon guys!
Scientists now: FFS Vaccines do work Karen!

[unematrix]

"I can't get a mousetrap in the face. I'm not sure i'm insured for that"

Saddest part of the whole video :(

[Rubrickety]

“I was going to the bathroom and I heard the worst sound I’ve ever heard in my life.” —Contender for most disturbing sentence in YouTube history

[TerminusTartaros]

"Vaccines are the best thing since toilets and clean water"
Soap: "Am I a joke to you?"

[SciencewithSteph]

The herd threshold is vitally important because there are people in *every* group of people that medically can't get vaccinated (because of existing heath conditions, allergies etc). Therefore it's our responsibility to get vaccinated for those people who would want to, but can't!

[NickRoman]

Imagine a world where every person old enough to understand sees this and understands.

[joshualieberman]

Thank you for bringing up rinderpest as a vet it is nice to hear a shoutout to that disease. nobody realises it was eradicated in just 2008.

[piplupcola]

This is a collab I never expected but definitely super excited about!!!! Need more Joe and Gavshwa!!!