Vaccines have brought us a dose - or two - of hope in an otherwise relentlessly challenging pandemic. But it’s not vaccines that save lives: vaccinations do. And their invisible triumph over disease has made them a victim of their own success.
Join RCIScience for an interactive panel discussion to discover the science behind the COVID-19 vaccines and understand why we have a complicated relationship with vaccines. We’ll answer your questions and discuss how the COVID-19 vaccines were safely developed and approved in record time without compromising safety, how they work, what to expect after you’re vaccinated, and how to combat misinformation and disinformation around vaccinations in your personal networks.
About the Speakers
Moderator: Dr. Samantha Yammine is a Neuroscientist and popular Science Communicator better known as Science Sam. She earned her PhD from the University of Toronto studying how stem cells build and maintain the brain, and then went on to found Science Sam Media, a science-based digital production agency.
She is passionate about empowering people to explore science by making it more familiar, accessible, and inclusive. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she's been sharing the science behind the headlines as @science.sam on Instagram and Tik Tok, garnering millions of views every month to better help people assess risk, spot misinformation, and have informed discussions with their friends and family.
She has been a guest Science Correspondent n a variety of shows on Netflix, TVO Kids, CBC GEM, Discovery UK, CBC Radio, and AsapSCIENCE. She sits on the Board of Trustees for RCIScience and the Editorial Board of the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. Learn more and get in touch at samanthayammine.com.
Dr. Supriya Sharma became Health Canada's Chief Medical Advisor in August 2015, in addition to being the Senior Medical Advisor in the Health Products and Food Branch, a role she has had since March 2013. The Health Products and Food Branch regulates pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biologics, vaccines, natural health products, veterinary medicines and food. Prior to that, Dr. Sharma held a number of positions in Health Canada over the past decade in both the pre- and post-market health product regulatory areas, including most recently Director General of the Therapeutic Products Directorate, which had the regulatory responsibility for pharmaceuticals (prescription and non-prescription) and medical devices. She has also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor as part of the National Pharmaceuticals Strategy in Health Canada. Recently, she has returned to Health Canada following a leave of absence to work in an academic research group focusing on health innovation adoption in the Canadian Health system.
Trained as a pediatrician in both Canada and Australia, Dr. Sharma was a research fellow in hematology focused on clinical research relating to thalassemia and sickle cell disease and has worked on a number of large multi-center clinical studies, including research in collaboration with Oxford University on a project in Sri Lanka. She then went on to complete a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health with a concentration in International Health and an interest in Health Policy.
Dr. Jen Gommerman received her Ph.D. (Immunology) at the University of Toronto in 1998. She went on to do a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and then joined Biogen Inc. as a Staff Scientist in 2000. After 3 years in Industry, she returned to Academia as an Assistant Professor (Immunology) at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 2015, she was promoted to full Professor and in 2020 was awarded a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Tissue Specific Immunity. Jen's basic research focuses on autoimmunity, particularly the disease Multiple Sclerosis. More recently she has been studying the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with COVID-19.
Dr. Lisa Richardson is a mixed blood Anishinaabe physician and clinician-educator in the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She practices General Internal Medicine at the University Health Network. She is the Strategic Advisor in Indigenous Health for the Faculty of Medicine and for Women’s College Hospital where she founded the Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health. She is an Associate Professor and Vice-Chair, Culture and Inclusion, in the Department of Medicine and is also an education researcher at the Wilson Centre. Dr. Richardson is a powerful advocate for Indigenous health equity at both the local and the national level and her contributions have been recognized through numerous local, national and international awards.
Resources
Trusted sources of COVID-19 information:
COVID-19 Resources Canada (Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube)
Lotus STEMM explainer videos in 12 different languages (YouTube)
Maad'ookiing Mshkiki — Sharing Medicine, The Centre for WISE Practices in Indigenous Health, Women’s Health College (Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube)
Volunteer groups helping seniors get vaccinated:
Windsor Essex: Windsor Essex Seniors/High Risk needing necessities
York Region: Pink Cars is a group of volunteers that are helping seniors navigate booking and attending their appointments. They are recruiting volunteers.
For further help with vaccination appointments, please reach out to your local public health provider. You can call the toll-free numbers listed below (have your health card and postal code handy):
Ontario: 1-833-943-3900
Nova Scotia: 1-833-797-7772
British Columbia: 1-888-COVID19
Alberta: 811 for info, 211 for help with getting to vaccination appointments
Saskatchewan: 1-833-SASKVAX (1-833-727-5829)
Manitoba: 1-844-MAN-VACC (1-844-626-8222)
Quebec: 1-877-644-4545
PEI: 1-844-975-3303
New Brunswick: 1-844-975-3303
Newfoundland: 1-833-668-3930 (toll-free)
Northwest Territories
Inuvik Public Health Centre: 867-777-7246
Yellowknife Public Health Clinic: 867-767-9120
Fort Smith Public Health - 24 Hour COVID Phone: 867-621-2233 or 867-872-0562
Yukon: 1-877-374-0425
Nunavut: (867) 975-5700
Information on clotting and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccination