Ep 131 Understanding the COVID-19 Vaccines & their Safety | Professor Nigel Crawford

Episode 131 hosts Professor Nigel Crawford (Vaccine-specialist based in Melbourne, Australia) Professor Crawford acts in a number of key positions for vaccine safety including: - Member of ATAGI (Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) & Chair of the COVID-19 Working Group - Medical Head of Immunisation Services at The Royal Childrens Hospital, Melbourne - Director of SAEFVIC (Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination in the Community) - Director of the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre In this special episode we cover the entire spectrum of how and why COVID-19 vaccinations are being used in the fight against the ongoing pandemic. We explore: - which ones are available in Australia and how the mechanism of these differs? - what exactly an mRNA vaccine is vs more traditional vaccinations and are these safe? - what a spike protein is exactly and whether it's dangerous to deliberately make these within our cells? - how multiple different vaccines were developed in several countries so quickly and whether there are any safety concerns to be worried about? - the side effects with COVID-19 vaccines and also find out more about the rare risk of atypical unusual clots ('TTS') with the Astra Zenica vaccination - why Australia has been slower to vaccinate, vaccine hesitancy and the 'anti-vax' perspective -  are the vaccinations are safe in pregnant women, can they cause infertility or even auto-immune disease? - what the future holds for Australia and how we might end the current lock downs 00:00 Introduction 01:04 Meet Professor Nigel Crawford and Vaccine Leadership Role   05:59 What Vaccines Are and How They Work   10:56 Why Vaccine Hesitancy Exists and Public Concerns   18:27 How COVID Vaccines Were Developed So Quickly   26:25 Common Side Effects and Monitoring Vaccine Safety   33:29 Rare Complications and Understanding Risk Levels   41:37 mRNA Technology Explained and DNA Myths Addressed   48:53 Vaccine Dosing Intervals and Changing Guidelines   52:09 Variants Including Delta and Why They Spread Faster   61:45 Lockdowns, Public Health Decisions and Risk Balance   68:49 Vaccine Protection Levels and Path to Reopening   76:38 Booster Shots and Future Vaccine Strategies   80:09 Vaccination in Children and Pregnant Patients   86:34 Final Advice on Safety, Confidence and Moving Forward ALL IA LINKS & CONTACT INFORMATION