Healthy Communities Online

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and colleagues will soon review data for the new bivalent booster shot for COVID; she says it relates to very small changes in the mRNA sequence and that “shouldn’t impact safety at all…if we wait for those data to emerge in human data…not just mice data but human data…we would be using what I would consider to be a potentially outdated vaccine…it’s best to use a vaccine that’s tailored to the variant we have right…

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Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Tom Frieden shares his thoughts about the news Dr. Anthony Fauci will soon leave government service. Frieden explains how the next director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will need to be realistic that he or she will have big shoes to fill. Frieden, who now leads the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives, also tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that he endorses an independent commission to…

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Dr. Atul Gawande, Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), joins us to share how countries are responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. He says, “There have been some instances of concern about a possible chilling effect…I’ve been in touch to address questions and meet with our partners…the United States is the largest supporter of family planning around the world…we are the leading experts in how to ensure modernized…

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Renowned epidemiologist and innovator Dr. Larry Brilliant says we’ve entered an “age of pandemics” as the Biden administration declares the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. Dr. Brilliant is the chair of the advisory board of Ending Pandemics, a nonprofit working to find outbreaks faster around the world. His expertise is a result of his success in helping the World Health Organization eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. He also discusses with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter the limits of…

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U.S. health officials now estimate 7–23 million Americans have developed Long COVID, which can last weeks or months. Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, joins “Conversations on Health Care” to push back against Long COVID doubters. She says, “We don’t know exactly what is causing Long COVID, it might not be one thing, but Long COVID is real and those patients need support and they need treatment. We want to…

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The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, overturning a constitutional right to abortion, has led to abortion services ending at West Alabama Women’s Center, Inc., in Tuscaloosa. The clinic’s director, Robin Marty, explains that the states making abortion illegal are also the ones blocking Medicaid expansion. She says their idea appears to be that “It’s too expensive to give people health care but you can force them to give birth against their will.” Amanda Allen is senior counsel and…

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