The wait is finally over: this week we are very excited to bring you the episode we’ve been teasing for weeks: vaccines! This week and next (you don’t have to wait a full two weeks for the next episode!), we are presenting a two-part series on vaccines. In today’s episode, we dive deep into the biology of vaccines, from how they stimulate your (amazing) immune system to protect you, to how they make you into an almost-superhero, shielding the innocents around you from deadly infections. We take you back hundreds, nay, thousands of years to when something akin to vaccination first began, and then we walk along the long road of vaccine development to see just how massive an impact vaccines have had on the modern world. The best part? We are joined by not one, but two experts from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Gail Rodgers and Dr. Padmini Srikantiah explain the process of vaccine development, highlight the challenges of vaccine deployment, and shine a hopeful light on the future of vaccines. And be sure to tune in next week for part 2 where we’ll focus on vaccine hesitancy and address common misconceptions surrounding vaccines in even more depth.

For more information on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation initiatives, visit: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

For more information on vaccines currently in development, check out: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ and https://www.who.int/immunization/research/vaccine_pipeline_tracker_spreadsheet/en/

And, as always, you can find all of the sources we used in this episode on our website: http://thispodcastwillkillyou.com/episodes/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.