How to end COVID-19 as a public health threat, with Jeffrey V. Lazarus, Ayman El-Mohandes & Diana Romero (Episode 11)

Is the COVID-19 pandemic really over? How many vaccines and boosters we will need, and how often? Should we continue wearing masks? In this special episode of the Making Public Health Personal Podcast, host Laura Meoli-Ferrigon speaks with three experts from CUNY SPH who are part of the global panel responsible for a new study synthesizing the best ideas on how we move forward from the pandemic. A consensus was reached among almost four hundred experts to provide specific recommendations to end COVID-19 as a public health threat, and published in Nature, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal. It features specific actions unanimously recommended by a panel of public health experts from 112 countries and territories. We’ll discuss the process for coordinating this type of study, the major areas it addresses, and the practical tips that you can take to protect yourself from COVID-19, no matter where you live in the world.

This episode’s guest speakers include:

Panel leader and CUNY SPH Senior Scholar, Jeffrey V. Lazarus. He is the head of the Health Systems Research Group and co-director of the Viral & Bacterial Infections Programme at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, and an Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. His decade-long career as a health systems, HIV and viral hepatitis expert at WHO’s Regional Office for Europe was followed by three years at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria. He currently serves as co-chair of the HIV Outcomes Beyond Viral Suppression coalition, and as a member of several other public health committees worldwide.

Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes is the Dean of CUNY SPH and co-chair of the panel. He is a pediatrician, public health academic and researcher with a commitment to public service and community engagement. He is Chairman of the board for the Association for Schools & Programs in Public Health (US), and Co-lead of the NYC pandemic response institute. Dr. El-Mohandes has been actively engaged in the response to Covid-19 here in NYC and around the world through an ongoing tracking survey monitoring the experiences and perspectives of NYC residents. He is also collaborating with an international consortium to assess and respond to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide.

Diana Romero is the study methodologist & co-author. She is a Professor in the Department of Community Health & Social Sciences and she directs CUNY SPH's specialization on Maternal, Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health. Dr. Romero’s research has focused on reproductive and sexual health, social policies related to the health of poor and low-income populations, and health care access among underserved populations, employing mixed-method study designs. She recently led the COVID and Pregnancy (CAP) survey study examining the impact of the early period of the pandemic on women in NY.

Episode Links:

Find out more about the Delphi study and read it for yourself at cunysph.me/nature

Contact & find out more about Jeffrey V. Lazarus

Contact & find out more about Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes

Contact & find out more about Dr. Diana Romero

Download a transcript of this episode here