Maria and Julio get into the science of the coronavirus pandemic with infectious disease epidemiologists Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of NYC Health & Hospitals’ Special Pathogens Program, and Jessica Malaty Rivera, science communication lead for The COVID Tracking Project. They talk about what we have learned about COVID-19 a year into the pandemic, inequities in vaccine distribution, and what preparing for future pandemics must look like. ITT Staff Picks: - "Among the restrictions and shut downs and distancing, we’ve had to acknowledge that the other side of staunch individualism is searing solitude. The other side of boundless privatization is a failing state. And the other side of what some called normal was uncontested white supremacy," writes Dr. Rhea Boyd in The Nation. - ProPublica is reporting on and tracking the barriers to accessing a vaccine as more Americans become eligible, and how inequity is built into the vaccination system.  - "For many, the vaccine's arrival was a reminder of how far behind the island remains after years of crisis," reports Syra Ortiz-Blanes for the Miami Herald about the COVID-19 vaccine in Vieques, an island off of Puerto Rico where devastation from Hurricane Maria continues to leave thousands without access to a hospital. Photo credit: AP Photo/John Minchillo, File  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.