Public Health On Call Series—Vaccines 101
Some basics of vaccines and vaccination, from the molecular level to global policy and everything in between.
There’s a lot of noise surrounding vaccines.
The Public Health On Call podcast looks at the basics of vaccines and vaccination—including how they work, the science behind safety, the systems built to ensure children are immunized against life-threatening diseases, and more.
Additional Vaccines 101 episodes will be added to this page as they are released.
The Basics of Vaccines and Vaccination
What actually are vaccines and how do they work? In this episode, we get back to basics on vaccines and immunology, including a discussion of why we still don’t have a vaccine for HIV.
Guest: Arturo Casadevall, MD, PhD, MS, department chair and professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Read the Q&A adapted from this episode: The Biology of Vaccines
Vaccine Safety Science
Learn what’s unique about vaccine safety compared to the safety of other medical products and how experts tell the difference between an adverse effect that is "causal" and one that is "coincidental."
Guest: Daniel Salmon, PhD ’03, MPH, professor in International Health and director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety
Read the Q&A adapted from this episode: The Science of Vaccine Safety in the U.S.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Serious vaccine injuries are rare, but when they do happen in the U.S., people can bring their claims to a special court. Hear how compensation for most vaccine-related injuries works in the U.S., including how often it’s utilized and what’s needed to help the program improve.
Guest: Gary Golkiewicz, litigator and former Chief Special Master for the United States Court of Federal Claims
The Vaccines For Children Program
The CDC’s Vaccines For Children Program provides recommended vaccines without charge to about half of the nation’s children. Learn about the program’s origins in a terrifying measles outbreak, how the program works, and what the evidence shows about its success.
Guest: Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers
