The 21st Show

Answering your COVID questions

Produced by Erica Scalise
 
A child arrives with her parent to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11-years-old at London Middle School in Wheeling, Ill., Nov. 17, 2021. As of Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, just over 17% of children in the U.S. ages 5 to 11 were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots for them became available.

A child arrives with her parent to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11-years-old at London Middle School in Wheeling, Ill., Nov. 17, 2021. As of Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, just over 17% of children in the U.S. ages 5 to 11 were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots for them became available. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File

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The new federal government website, COVIDTests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to order four tests per residential address, to be delivered by the Postal Service.

When looking at the virus long term, Dr. Anthony Fauci, top medical advisor to President Biden, recently said we’re still in the first of what he considered to be five phases in the pandemic. This first phase is the “truly pandemic phase” followed by deceleration, control, elimination and eradication. Though the coronavirus, like many other infectious diseases, will never be truly gone, it could one day be considered endemic like rhinovirus or other upper respiratory infections. Until then, the large majority of Americans are exercising some form of caution against the infection and many questions remain, especially regarding vaccines, long COVID and the future of the virus.

We invited back two virologists to update us on what scientists now know and help answer more of your COVID-19 questions.

GUESTS:

Edward M. Campbell, PhD 

Virologist and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago

 

Deepak Shukla, PhD 

Professor of Virology at University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine who has authored many articles on SARS CoV-2 including vaccine and antiviral development

 

 

Prepared for web by Owen Henderson

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