'Behind the Blue' - Part Two: The Vaccines to Combat a Coronavirus With Brooke Hudspeth and Vincent Venditto
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 8, 2020) – It has been nearly one year since the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus changed the world. With millions of people infected and over a quarter-million dead in the United States, the novel coronavirus continues its pervasive hold on our health and well-being.
After months of stress, frustration and uncertainty, people are itching to travel and visit loved ones during the height of the holiday season, despite increasing cases of COVID-19. As the virus continues to dominate news coverage, people are clinging to the anticipation of promising vaccine trials from Pfizer, Moderna and several other companies. How will these vaccines, and potentially others still to come, change the course of the pandemic? Will we be able to return to normal and how long could that take?
On this episode of Behind the Blue, we speak with Vincent Venditto, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Science, and Brooke Hudspeth, an associate professor and Chief Practice Officer for the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. In part two of our interview with Vince and Brooke, we discuss who exactly takes part in vaccine trials, the issues those trials may run into, when to expect some type of herd immunity and more.
"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.
For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue.
To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.