Just some thoughts...

COVID-19 vaccines

The basic principle of vaccination is to prime the immune system so it is better prepared to meet a pathogen. Historically, the earliest way to accomplish this was to get a mild infection that conferred immunity to a stronger disease; for example, exposure to cowpox to prevent getting the much more deadly smallpox. Modern approaches use weakened or inactivated viruses, or even fragments of a virus, but the principle remains the same: safely expose the immune system to a pathogen so immune cells learn to recognize it and can react quickly and effectively the next time it appears.

In the case of COVID-19, some of the vaccines use a new technique based around messenger RNA (mRNA). In this approach, patients are never exposed to the virus, even in a weakened form. Instead, the vaccine carries mRNA from a key virus gene that makes the spike protein. Once inside cells, the mRNA serves as a template to make the spike protein, and our immune system then learns about it and is ready to fight off the virus. The mRNA template is then quickly degraded by our normal cellular processes.

When enough people are vaccinated, a disease can no longer spread through the population. That’s how vaccination campaigns have helped bring many diseases under control. COVID-19 vaccines have been developed on an accelerated timeline because of the exceptional circumstances, but they nevertheless went through the entire regulatory review and approval process. Though there will be immense logistical challenges in ensuring that everyone has timely access to a vaccine, we are one step closer to a post COVID-19 world.

From my PhD program’s weekly newsletter

It also included links to papers/resources (some are cancer-focused bc that’s our program):

The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science

White Coats for Black Lives

Cancer and Indigenous Populations: Time to End the Disparity

Charting the Future of Cancer Health Disparities Research

Cancer and Hispanic Americans

8 Everyday Ways to Fight Racism

How Higher Ed Can Fight Racism

Most of the medical research was done on white males and their response to medicine. This is why medical books should only serve as a framework but clinical expertise matters more.

Rhokotela’s Intro to ECGs

Mobs of angry white people, protesting for their right to [checks notes] get a haircut—in the middle of a pandemic—yelled at cops, shoved them, threw things at them, and were nowhere near being respectful or peaceful, but for some reason, police officers didn’t mace them, didn’t shoot rubber bullets at them, didn’t tear gas them, and didn’t kneel on their necks and choke them to death. Qwhite interesting how differently white people are treated even when they disrespect the police and even when they riot over things like [checks notes again] their sports team losing or hell, even winning a game.

Link to original tweet thread.

He'd be 91 if he were alive today