How America’s Covid-19 Nightmare Ends
About this episode
Dean of Brown's School of Public Health Ashish Jha makes the case for Covid optimism: cases are falling, vaccinations top two million shots a day, and feared variants like B.1.1.7 have not reversed progress even where dominant. He predicts nearly all high-risk Americans will be vaccinated by late April, when life can begin reopening — though he cautions governors lifting restrictions prematurely risk squandering that lead. Jha argues vaccine comparisons are misleading: J&J's lower efficacy numbers reflect trials in Brazil and South Africa, while all shots effectively eliminate hospitalizations and deaths. Looking ahead, he foresees vaccine surplus by mid-2021, with persuasion — and employer mandates — tackling hesitancy. His alarm shifts global: with 90 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries likely unvaccinated through 2021, new variants could endanger everyone, so he calls for U.S. leadership to expand supply, including domestic manufacturing deals like Merck's J&J partnership.