With BA.5 infecting and reinfecting people around the world, Andy wants to know why some people keep getting COVID while others seemingly never contract the virus. Apart from your daily safety decisions, it may have to do with your genetics, gut microbiome, and defense proteins called interferons. Physician and scientist Eric Topol breaks down these theories for Andy as they discuss BA.5’s severity compared to earlier versions of Omicron and what variant could come next.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt.

Follow Eric Topol on Twitter @EricTopol.

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Read Eric’s Substack article on the three lines of defense against COVID-19 in our immune system: https://erictopol.substack.com/p/its-the-virus-stupid
• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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