People with appointments wait in line at Philadelphia's first standing city-run COVID-19 vaccination clinic, which opened at the Martin Luther King Jr. Older Adult Center on Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
Emma Lee / WHYY
Smart Talk: COVID questions answered — what is new in the pandemic
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Merideth Bucher
Emma Lee / WHYY
People with appointments wait in line at Philadelphia's first standing city-run COVID-19 vaccination clinic, which opened at the Martin Luther King Jr. Older Adult Center on Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
Listen to Smart Talk every weekday at 9am and 7pm on WITF 89.5 & 93.3. You can also stream WITF radio live on our website or ask your smart speaker to “Play WITF Radio.”
Airdate: Tuesday, March 23, 2021
It has been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. Since that day at the end of February 2020, nearly 30 million people have tested positive for the virus with more half a million dying from the disease. In Pennsylvania, close to one million have tested positive and nearly 24 thousand have died.
We have learned a lot about COVID-19 in the past year; how the virus is spread, who is at risk and the role of face masks and other mitigation tactics. However, many people still have questions about the virus, how to avoid exposure, risk and efficacy of the vaccines, and the impact of gatherings and getting children back to school.
The availability of a vaccine is raising hopes that life might return to normal soon, or at least head in that direction. Is that optimism realistic?
Dr. Eugene Curley, MD., is an infectious disease specialist with WellSpan Health and he joins us on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to answer questions about COVID-19, the vaccine efficacy and continuing to slow the spread.
