In this video for Shot of Prevention, Taryn (aka “The Vaccine Mom“) spoke with COVID-19 vaccine researcher Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) about what she hopes to see with COVID-19 vaccines in the coming year, as well as her experiences working as a woman in science and being a vocal advocate for science-based information on social media.
Dr. Bottazzi’s team is one of dozens from all over the world working on vaccines against COVID-19. Shortly after recording this interview, her team announced their COVID vaccine candidate would start clinical trials in India.
In her chat with Taryn, Dr. Bottazzi talked about the importance of building vaccine confidence and listening to those uncertain about the vaccine. Both will play an important role in ensuring people actually get vaccinated as vaccines become available.
“A vaccine is no vaccine unless vaccinations happen,” Dr. Bottazzi said. “I can make all the preventive measures that I want, but… if people don’t utilize the preventive measures, they’re absolutely useless.”
As a COVID vaccine researcher, she said she understood why some might have concerns about the COVID vaccine — they’ve been developed at a breathtaking pace compared to other kinds of vaccines — but she encouraged those with questions to talk to their doctors and read up about the vaccines from reliable, science-based sources.
Follow Dr. Bottazzi on Twitter, and find out more about COVID-19 vaccines at the links below: