herd immunity

Here’s why it’s important to call the Johnson & Johnson vaccine review phase a ‘pause’

Public health authorities find themselves in a delicate position when it comes to the messaging about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines to the United States public, two Northeastern scholars of public health law and communications say. “I think regulators have to thread a very fine needle, and they’re doing so in a moment that is very fraught,” says law professor Wendy Parmet.

by Molly Callahan April 16, 2021

Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss., Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. AP Photo by Paul Sancya, Pool

Here’s a 4-step plan to rescue the US vaccination program

The U.S. must create a national system for delivering and administering COVID-19 vaccinations, says Nada Sanders, distinguished professor of supply chain management at Northeastern.

by Ian Thomsen January 28, 2021

‘A network is crucial to describe how infectious disease spreads, and this is what we do’

On Thursday, Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern, joined Alessandro Vespignani, who directs the Network Science Institute, to discuss where we are now in the COVID-19 crisis, where we’re headed, and what policymakers can do to prepare for the next pandemic.

by Laura Castañón May 14, 2020

People waiting queue to take a sample for a covid-19 test, on April 23, 2020, in Prague, Czech Republic. Photo by Katerina Sulova CTK via AP Images

Herd immunity won’t come anytime soon for COVID-19

Herd immunity is the idea that a disease can’t spread through a population once a large enough percentage is immune, either because they’ve recovered from an infection or received a vaccine. But that won’t work with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, said Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor who runs the Emergent Epidemics lab at Northeastern.

by Laura Castañón April 23, 2020

Washington is in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in the state in more than 20 years. Photo by iStock.

A lesson from the US measles outbreak: Vaccines don’t just protect you—they protect everyone around you

“Most healthy people can tolerate the measles,” says Brandon Dionne, who studies infectious diseases at Northeastern. “The real risk is the groups of people who can’t, either because they have compromised immune systems or medical conditions that would otherwise prevent them from being immunized.”

by Molly Callahan February 13, 2019

Here’s why it’s important to call the Johnson & Johnson vaccine review phase a ‘pause’

Here’s a 4-step plan to rescue the US vaccination program

‘A network is crucial to describe how infectious disease spreads, and this is what we do’

Herd immunity won’t come anytime soon for COVID-19

A lesson from the US measles outbreak: Vaccines don’t just protect you—they protect everyone around you

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