What A Day - It's Not Easy Making Vaccine

Episode Date: May 7, 2020

The vaccine race is on, with several companies, governments, and academic labs working on lots of different potential options at once. We dig into the radical ideas to speed things along.Protestors and activist groups in Georgia are calling for the resignation of the district attorney who chose not to arrest the killers of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot while jogging unarmed in that state. A look at the activists and leaders who are speaking out.And in headlines: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos makes things more difficult for college sexual assault victims, Facebook unveils 20 members of its content Supreme Court, and one brave Belgian llama stands up to Covid-19.

It's Thursday, May 7th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we are already pre-gaming with fresh, squeezed orange juice for Mother's Day. Yeah, and I'm on the phone with my mom right now, because it's her birthday. Happy birthday, Marilyn. Happy birthday, Akilah's mom. Hope it's a good one. mom. On today's show, an update on the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the efforts that activists are taking in response, then some headlines. But first, a quick announcement. So we're going to

be taking a day off tomorrow. I hope that you've had a day off since all this has started happening. But that means there's not going to be an episode on Friday. So we will be back in your ears bright and early on Monday. And now it's time for the latest. I'm going to be saying, hey, call your congressman and change these laws that apply to banks. And what the FCC has said is that when the subject matter of the call ranges to the topic, then the call is transformed. Okay, so that was a clip from the Supreme Court oral arguments yesterday. Yeah, that was a toilet flushing. It did flush. You know, I guess the perils of working from home

are real no matter where you work. But in news, President Trump contradicted himself and other members of his administration yesterday when he said that the White House's coronavirus task force will, in fact, carry on. So, like I said, no plan. He also said that Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx would stay on in their current roles, which is great. And then he said that he'd like to see schools reopen in much of the country, undercutting the guidelines of that task force that he just mentioned, which is really shitty. Until we know more on that, we're going to be spending some time today on vaccines, their development, the radical steps being taken to speed up the testing, and preemptive concerns about supply shortages. Yeah, so let's start with a little bit of news we learned this week. Pfizer, along with a German pharmaceutical company,

announced that their potential vaccine candidate began human safety trials in the U.S. on Monday. They're taking this non-traditional approach, which involves messenger RNA, instead of using weakened virus strains. Basically, what you need to know about this is that this is a new technology that is faster to produce, and it can be more stable than traditional vaccines. So the trial participants are going to be divided into groups to test four different variations of the vaccine all at once. That's part of an effort to gather as much data as possible and just speed up the entire process of the testing. Now, something like less than 10% of drugs that enter trials end up getting approved by the FDA. But if this is approved, hypothetically, the companies could

start putting out the first few million doses later this year. To that point, we've heard a lot of different estimates for when these vaccines could be available. Dr. Fauci has said it'll be 12 to 18 months. Any updates on that thinking? Yeah, I mean, a lot of experts have said that the Fauci estimate is unfortunately optimistic, but there is a lot of activity that's going on to make that a potential reality. We've got several companies, governments and academic labs that are all working on many different potential vaccines all at once. Some are skipping steps like animal testing to make this work as fast as possible. And Fauci has also endorsed the idea of companies ramping up production on vaccines even before they've been approved. So the group of scientists that we previously discussed developing a vaccine at

Oxford University said that they're aiming to have a few million doses ready to go by September, which is what Pfizer wants to do too. Does this mean, in a hypothetical situation, that students could go back to college, for instance, being immune? Probably not. Experts say that what would likely happen if something like this could be expedited this quickly, which is a big could, is that people on the front lines of the response to the pandemic would be the people getting the vaccine first. Right. And I hope that they do. And we should emphasize that this is all much, much faster than anything we've ever seen up till now. You know, vaccines typically take something like 10 to 15 years to develop.

So what's happening now is everyone just pulling out all the stops. That's exactly right. And hoping that it works. The record for the development of a new vaccine is four years in the 1960s for the mumps. And the usual limiting factors, though, at least at the start, are funding and research. So the upside, a little bit of good news about where we are in the process right now, is that the funding is there, a lot of it from governments. And there is a bit of a jumpstart on research because prior outbreaks

of SARS and MERS were caused by coronaviruses. So there's some amount of understanding about this. But again, caution from the experts. They say it's much more likely that we get therapeutic drugs to treat COVID-19 before an actual vaccine. Yeah, but we got to talk about the other side of the equation. The supplies needed to vaccinate billions of people across the globe and, you know, how to transport them at below zero temperatures. Yeah, it's a huge, huge hurdle. And there are all these kind of unforeseen parts of it that we don't often think about. For instance, Bill Gates, whose foundation is spending $250 million on vaccine development, has talked about a shortage of medical glass, which would be needed as vials to transport the eventual vaccine.

Little things like that are also things that delay all of this happening. And one thing that's of concern right now is that various lockdowns could be diminishing production in countries around the world. So there's some urgency for the federal government to start prepping a supply chain right now in order to be able to scale up when and if a vaccine becomes available. The private sector is already working on this to a degree. For example, Johnson & Johnson has partnered with a manufacturing company, and they're promising a billion doses by the end of next year of what exactly we'll have to see, given the timeline. Yeah. All right. Well, one of the other tactics that has been talked about in order to speed things along are so-called challenge trials.

So this is where volunteers are injected with a potential vaccine and then exposed to the coronavirus on purpose. It's dangerous and ethically problematic, to say the least. And I mean, it's science fiction, you know, like it is something that has never really been looked at as a great option, but it's something that's now on the table. And so while everyone is racing on this stuff, too, there's obviously a big desire for countries to start with their own populations first. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And we talked earlier this week about how the U.S. skipped out on a couple multinational

meetings on vaccines. But we are not exactly alone in possibly trying to end up going it alone. China has its own trials and a top science executive in India said most of its potential vaccine would have to go to citizens in that country before anyone else. And it's understandable that countries would want to do this, of course. But the hope is that when something gets developed and approved, there's enough to go around and that the most vulnerable people are able to get it first. All right, that's a look at what could be our future. But Akilah, what else do we need to go over today? Okay, so we have a sort of tangential follow up to a story that we've reported on. The Staten Island Amazon warehouse that made news after Christian Smalls was fired

after he staged a walkout over a lack of PPE and thorough sanitization of the facility is making news again. An individual who worked at that location has died of COVID-19. Their last reported day there was April 5th, and they passed away on April 11th. Amazon has not publicly commented on how many of their employees have died in this crisis, but this death isn't the first or most recent. In fact, just yesterday, an employee at a warehouse in Northeast Illinois died. There are employee Reddit groups that are trying to figure out

just how many of their coworkers have been infected nationwide. And Amazon claims that their expected $4 billion in profits in the second quarter will be put towards their coronavirus response, but time is gonna tell what that means for the people working in those warehouses day in and day out. Yeah, it's a serious situation and definitely far from over.

So that's what's happening in coronavirus related news. But let's talk about what else is going on right now. Yeah, so we have another follow up on the case of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25 year old black man who was followed and shot by a white father and son in Georgia. The video of the modern day lynching went viral this week. Demonstrations continued yesterday and the Georgia NAACP and protesters are calling for the resignation of Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson, saying she should have arrested the McMichaels, that's the father and son, for murder. McMichaels is a former police officer who resigned as an investigator in the local DA office just last year. Georgia's attorney

general reassigned the case this week to an outside prosecutor. Charges have still not been brought, but the new prosecutor is at least putting the trial before a grand jury. From every angle, this looks really bad. And activists have really been the ones to make that point. You know, earlier this week, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams tweeted in part, quote, our systems of law enforcement and justice must be held to the highest standards, full investigation, appropriate charges and an unbiased prosecution. And the Southern Poverty Law Center called for a federal investigation and said in a statement, quote, that these people have not been charged or held to account in any way speaks volumes about the level of respect that law enforcement in Glynn County have for Black lives. Preach. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and celebrities like LeBron James have also now called for swift justice. Georgia Governor, who just found out that coronavirus could be

asymptomatic, Brian Kemp, tweeted earlier in the week that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation would be investigating the case. But that was quickly debunked when the GBI tweeted that they were actually tasked with investigating threats against police officers because of the case and how the video was leaked. This is America. Don't look away. And that's the latest. It's Thursday, WOD Squad. We're chugging along, thinking about the universe, and, you know, we aren't the only ones doing that. So, Giddy, let's check in. Tom Cruise reportedly is in talks with NASA

because he wants to make an action movie in outer space on the International Space Station. Is this nuts? Yeah, of course it's nuts. Does that mean it's bad? I don't know. I love it. I think it's great. I'm TC all the way as much as I think he's a scary, crazy man in his personal life.

But his movies are awesome and yeah Space and Tom Cruise I'm there no question wow are you serious right now I can't believe this there's a reason they haven't done it is how I feel like if it was easy to do if it was even

possible to do wouldn't they have done it by now that is a great question and a great point but my theory about Tom Cruise is that he's been upping the level of the stunts every year or so to get to a point where he actually gets killed by one of these movies. And if he has a death wish in all of this, and he wants to go out by trying to make it into space, honestly, God love you, sir. Good luck on your quest.

I mean, it is pretty iconic i guess yeah so you would not shoot a movie in space zero percent the reality is like i i didn't even realize that space was a big fear of mine until i saw gravity uh full disclosure i was a little stoned it was like 2012 or something and 2013 maybe. And the idea of floating away in space yelling for help and no one can hear you is gotta be like the worst case scenario. Yeah. I hate it. I hate the idea of it. And honestly, I don't think I'd be able to focus on work. Like, I already have a hard time focusing on work. Now I'm in space. Now I have to like survive and stay with the group in space.

It couldn't be me either, but I will offer a parting thought, which is, in the debate between space and deep sea, deep sea is worse to me. It's all the same to me. What's the difference? You're weightless both places and it's dark

and everything's going to kill you. It sucks. That's fair. I would advise against both. That's the thing. Well, that was an uplifting note to end on. But guess what? We've made it to the final temperature check of the week. Hope that gravity remains on your side and that space doesn't add to the anxiety of our times. And we will check your temperature next week. Let's wrap up with some headlines.

Headlines. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced changes yesterday to how schools should handle allegations of sexual assault. The new rules narrow the definition of sexual harassment, require colleges to cross examine the perpetrator and the victim, and limit which complaints schools are required to investigate. Critics say the new rules give student perpetrators more protection while diminishing victims and potentially discouraging them from coming forward. Last month, 18 state attorneys general and three senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand, wrote DeVos a letter asking her to delay the changes and to focus on helping students navigate the pandemic

instead. Sensible. Advocates for sexual assault victims say they are already prepared to fight the new regulations in court. Oh man, Betsy is the worst. All right, well, Facebook has revealed the first 20 members of an independent oversight board that will help direct content moderation on the site. Board members come from a variety of backgrounds and include the former Danish prime minister, the vice president of a libertarian think tank, and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first brought up the idea of this group two years ago when he was getting heavy criticism for not doing enough to keep hate and misinformation off Facebook.

Zuck has referred to this board as a Supreme Court users can appeal to if they feel that their content was removed from Facebook platforms unfairly. We'll definitely need to talk to them about my official unofficial Women for Max Goof fan site that got deleted immediately. I don't understand. There was no misinformation there. He's hot. All right. Well, decisions made by the board will be final and it will begin hearing cases later this year. They will not stop Max Goof and his women fans. In Belgium, one brave llama wants to crush COVID-19 under a single pointy hoof. That's that llama's name is Winter. She's four years old, and for most of her life, she's been participating in a study that aims to find antibodies

that can fight many different kinds of coronavirus. Llamas produce antibodies that are smaller than ours. The size of those antibodies allows them to inhibit the proteins that allow viruses to enter cells in a way that our antibodies simply can't. After Winter was given MERS and SARS, that's sad, and hopefully a lot of very tasty llama ginger ale and soup afterwards, scientists found that antibodies she developed did work on those viruses, and they've since shown to inhibit COVID-19 in cell cultures as well.

There's still a long way to go before Winter's antibodies could be used in humans, but researchers are making progress. Honestly, when I have any problem whatsoever, the first thing I do is consult with the llamas. They always know. All right. A New York Times poll published on Wednesday revealed an interesting disparity in the remote classrooms of the pandemic. In the survey, nearly half of the men polled said they spend more time homeschooling than their partner does, while only 3% of women said their partner handles the bulk of the homeschooling. If you're the parent who's in charge of the math curriculum in your house, you'll notice these numbers don't add up at all.

According to the poll, wives in heterosexual marriages are still doing more housework and childcare than their husbands, even if both are working from home. So on top of everything else, this pandemic seems to be reinforcing traditional gender roles. I'm looking at my girl Winter, the llama, to get us out of this. To up this sexist virus with your big llama incisors.

Go off, Winter. We love you. We love you, Winter. All right, and those are the headlines. Heads up, WAD heads. I didn't, I didn't. We're WAD squad. All right, whatever.

If you haven't checked out Crooked's new pod, Six Feet Apart with Alex Wagner, now is the time. On the newest episode, Alex interviews Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Montana Governor Steve Bullock about the role of state and city governments in the coronavirus crisis. You can find Six Feet Apart wherever you listen to podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review,

have a happy Mother's Day, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just the letters L and R on headphones like me, what if there's also a nightly newsletter? Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And that's why we love the llamas. They're the best.

They're the emperor of Cusco. Of course I love them. What a Day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gillyard and Kashaka.