COVID-19 Q&A with Dr. Robert Murphy

👨‍⚕️Dr. Robert L. Murphy is the Executive Director for the Institute for Global Health, as well as head of infectious diseases at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He has been with Northwestern for over 40 years, and when he began his tenure at Northwestern, he saw the first reported AIDs patient in Chicago. He also started one of the first AIDS clinics in Chicago. Dr. Murphy’s main focus on his life’s work has been HIV infection, viral hepatitis, antiviral drug development, and global health research. Dr. Robert Murphy has been the guest expert regarding COVID-19 questions and update on WGN morning news program.

 

→IN THIS EPISODE…Joe asks Dr. Robert Murphy about his involvement and insights regarding the COVID pandemic. Dr. Murphy has been working with infectious diseases for over 40 years and shares his experiences from being a child during the Polio outbreak to his career starting by treating the first reported AIDs case in Chicago. Dr. Murphy digs into the timeline of COVID: how he was getting his information and therefore had offered bad advice early on, and what we did right as a country to prevent the continued spread of the virus. Dr. Murphy also explains the timeline of the vaccine, how it has been able to get distributed to the public so quickly, and what he believes will be the following steps to irradicate the virus. 

 

🔍 Breakdown with Dr. Robert Murphy:

 

Chapter 1 (0:00​) Joe Introduces Dr. Robert Murphy

Dr. Robert Murphy has been in infectious disease for over 40 years. He is also a regular on the WGN morning news show answering your covid questions.

 

Chapter 2 (3:03) Was Covid a shock

No, there have been a few epidemics, so having a virus that came out wasn’t a shock. The extent and how it has lasted is what is shocking. 

 

Chapter 3 (5:34) Early information

When covid first emerged, information was funneled slowly. Most communication was coming from the press.

 

Chapter 5 (8:23) What we got wrong

The public has lost confidence in public health officials, so that disconnect has been devastating for the country.

 

Chapter 6 (12:18) The vaccine timeline and creation

The COVID vaccine came out extremely quickly. This has caused doubt in some, but Dr. Murphy explains how everything aligned to this groundbreaking vaccine out in record time.

 

Chapter 7 (23:34) What Dr. Murphy would have done better 

Our country is one of the poorer performing countries in regards to how we handled the virus. Dr. Murphy unpacks what we could have done better.

 

Chapter 8 (29:34) Our unvaccinated population

Unfortunately, due to the poor communication that had been shared during the early stages of COVID, there are information gaps for people who are not getting vaccinated.

 

Chapter 9 (​34:40) Vaccinating our children

Dr. Murphy explains where we are in terms of timeline and getting vaccines to children. As we are studying the effects of the trial patients who received the first vaccine, it gives insights into understanding how kids will respond to the vaccine.

 

Chapter 10 (39:14) Mask wearing

We have learned a lot about masks through the pandemic. This is one of many coronaviruses, so this will not be the last one we experience. 

 

Chapter 11 (49:00) Covid testing and testing positive after the vaccine

Joe has gotten three covid tests, and all came back negative. He shared his experience with Dr. Murphy. Dr. Murphy also explained data of people getting the vaccine and getting covid.

 

Chapter 12 (52:55) Prediction for 2 years

It will take 3-5 years for global vaccination. Continued testing and understanding of the genetic breakdown of how the vaccine is working and any boosters that may be needed. Long-term consequences of getting covid also have been alarming so far.

 

Chapter 13 (58:13) recommended resources

Dr. Murphy shared resources (listed below) for unbiased information regarding the covid virus and the latest updates. 

 

Chapter 14 (1:01:29) Joe Wraps up the episode

Joe thanks Dr. Murphy for being on the episode and share his key takeaways

 

 COVID Resources:

→https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

→https://covid19.nih.gov/

→https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

→https://www.who.int/

→https://www.globalhealth.northwestern.edu/covaxcen/index.html

→https://www.doh.wa.gov/emergencies/COVID19

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