Webinar 70: COVID-19 Vaccines: Fact v. Fiction

Q&A with Dr. Galit Alter, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, moderated by Vice President of Content & Community Patrick Butler.

COVID-19 vaccines are finally here, and they have arrived on the scene with an explosion of information—some of it good, some of it bad, some of it downright dangerous. Joining us from Harvard Medical School is Dr. Galit Alter, a professor of medicine and a group leader at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, to help journalists—and their audiences—make sense of the infodemic on vaccines and the science behind them.

Alter will provide a primer on COVID-19 vaccines, including what types are on the market and in development, and how they trigger immune protection. She will also demystify the science behind mRNA vaccines, addressing myths and misconceptions about mRNA technology.

In addition, she will tackle questions like:
• What are the hallmarks of safe and effective vaccines, and what do we know about side effects?
• Do vaccines only prevent disease or do they also prevent those vaccinated from transmitting the virus to others?
• What do we know so far and where do we go next when it comes to vaccines and the new SARS-CoV-2 variants?
• What are some of the pitfalls of reporting on COVID-19 vaccines (confusing coincidence for causality, etc.), and what aspects of vaccines are most easily misunderstood and mischaracterized?