Price Policy Forum: COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout The Price of Policy

In December of 2020, the US government began distributing the first approved COVID-19 vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, 2 more vaccines have been approved for use in the U.S., Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The early stages of the vaccine rollout in Los Angeles, were mired with technical roadblocks, equity issues, and vaccine apprehension that public health efforts still face today more than half a year later.
In February of 2021, as part of the 2021 Price Policy Forum Series, moderator (and host) Rit Shukla asked health experts and policy professionals to reflect on the challenges, successes, and strategies that Los Angeles used in its early stages of the vaccine rollout. Rit spoke with the Honorable Nury Martinez, Dr. Neeraj Sood, Dr. Sten Vermund, and Dr. Paula Cannon. Half a year later, many of the panelist ideas to combat distrust, strategies to ensure a more equitable vaccine distribution, and concerns over variants are still relevant.
If you’re interested in learning more about this episode, COVID-19 vaccine resources, or this episode’s contributors, be sure to check out our new website thepriceofpolicy.wixsite.com/thepop and follow us on Instagram @thepriceofpolicy, Twitter @thepopusc and on Facebook at The Price of Policy.
A special thanks to all who participated in making the Price Policy Forum Series happen and for letting us use this audio for the episode.
Contributors to this episode include Rit Shukla, the Price Policy Forum Series team, and Jordy Coutin.
Music by Jonah Chang and Jordy Coutin
Title art by Alexander Sarno.