After a year of COVID-19, vaccines making life better but it’s not over

Show Me the Science

When we launched this podcast in March 2020, our first guest was a doctor who had spent years planning responses to epidemics, bioterrorism and other disasters. Last March, Steven J. Lawrence, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, told us what he thought might happen as the pandemic progressed. He worried about whether there would be enough ventilators, ICU beds and medical staff to care for those who would become infected with the novel coronavirus. He praised some of the restrictions and measures that prevented the pandemic from becoming even worse. But nowhere in our discussion a year ago did he consider that within 12 months, millions of people already would be vaccinated. As we check in with Lawrence again — a year and more than half a million American deaths later — he evaluates how we’ve adjusted to pandemic life and discusses where things appear to be going from here. Looking to the future, Lawrence speaks not of returning to normal but of creating a new normal to better address the medical and societal problems laid bare by the virus, such as more effective communication and better access to healthcare for all people.

The podcast, “Show Me the Science,” is produced by the Office of Medical Public Affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.