To say this year has been challenging would be an understatement.
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, the medical director of the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center, said the development and distribution of the coronavirus vaccines were a highlight of 2020.
But she said the biggest lesson learned from this pandemic is testing.
"By the time we got around to having enough testing for even hospitalized patients, we had lost sight of the fact that there was already community transmission in most states on the coast," Bhadelia said. "We have now evidence that we had probably community transmission early in January in this country, and it was still in March that we were only testing people with travel history. If we were to face this again, one of the big things I hope we (would) improve is that ability to have eyes on the ground and early testing capacity to pick up new threats."
We also reflected on 2020 with Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Turley said that while she and other homeless and housing advocates are pleased that those experiencing homelessness will be included in the first wave of vaccination in Massachusetts, there's still a lot more work to be done to help these communities during the pandemic.
Click on the audio player above to listen to the full episode.
Segments:
Kelly Turley - 1:40
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia - 11:26
