Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 19, 2022

On todays episode of The Confluence: We talk about the widening availability of COVID-19 vaccines that target certain variants of the virus; and a conversation with an organizer and speaker for the second annual Eradicate Hate Summit, which is convening nearly 300 experts in Pittsburgh to talk about solutions to a rise in hate crimes and hateful rhetoric.

Todays guests include: Dr. Amesh Adalja, infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Laura Ellsworth, partner-in-charge of global community service initiatives at Jones Day and co-chair of the summit, and Julie Platt, board chair of the Jewish Federations of North America.

New COVID-19 boosters will target the original virus and new variants(0:00 - 8:36)

Earlier this month, the CDC recommended an updated COVID-19 booster shot, called the bivalent vaccine. It was formulated to better target newer variants of the virus. As the weather gets colder and seasonal illnesses return, what can we expect from the updated booster as we head into a new season?

It better reformulates the material in the vaccine to target BA.4 and BA.5, so that when your antibodies are formed against this new vaccine, they form against BA.4 and BA.5 versus the original version of this virus, says Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

There is no efficacy data for the new vaccines because they werent tested in humans, but data from mice show the antibody levels are predicted to be protective, says Adalja.

As COVID-19 becomes a seasonal disease, Adalja says the main concern is that hospitals are able to manage the flow of severely affected patients.

We've got to get less focus on cases and just really celebrate the fact that this is now an outpatient illness, says Adalja.

The second Eradicate Hate Summit is convening this week in Pittsburgh(8:48 - 22:30)

In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League tracked a 34% increase in antisemitic attacks, compared to 2020. Other attacks tied to extremism also increased last year.

A global summit is convening in Pittsburgh this week with nearly 300 experts and others motivated to reduce, and perhaps eliminate completely, incidents tied to hate.

Last year, we were very deliberately broad. We went very broad so everyone could see the full landscape, says Laura Ellsworth, co-chair of the summer and partner-in-charge of global community service initiatives at Jones Day. This year, we're going deep, so we have seven tracks that are focused on specific issues of particular interest, which include things like [the] rise of hate among young people.

Julie Platt, board chair of the Jewish Federations of North America and will be giving a keynote at the conference.

What I hope will go forward from this summit is partnerships that grow and that see it and that identify it, says Platt. If we can address it as partners, understanding that hate, sadly, has a lot of recipients, and if we can join together to look at what causes it and how we might address it, won't that be better for all of us?

The summit begins today and ends Wednesday.

The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESAs daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.

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New COVID-19 vaccine will help reduce infection from specific variants - 90.5 WESA

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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