5 years after COVID, what did we learn? | Dr. Tim Spector

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The COVID-19 pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, so what did we learn about mask wearing, vaccines and prevention? And how can you stay healthy to face a future pandemic?

Professor Tim Spector, one of the world’s top 100 most cited scientists, looks back on the pandemic and what we learnt about symptoms, transmission and vaccines in the early stages. We’ll reflect on ZOE’s role – collecting data from millions of people on their symptoms, identifying COVID hotspots and shaping public understanding of the virus.

Then we discuss the possibility of the next pandemic, and how we can individually protect ourselves against it. By the end of this episode, listeners feel more equipped to stay safe in the face of another global pandemic.

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Timecodes
00:00 What did we learn from COVID?
01:44 Quickfire questions
04:22 ZOE’s response to the pandemic
10:10 5 crucial days
14:06 How new symptoms were discovered
23:40 Did the virus come from a lab?
28:00 Were face masks worth it?
29:02 The data on lockdowns
36:01 The economic costs
37:50 Effectiveness of vaccines
40:04 Side effects of vaccines
46:10 Is there a cure for Long COVID?
48:39 The role of food choices
51:24 How to fight off infections
52:30 The risks of junk food

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists
The Food For Life Cookbook |
Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati |
Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector |

Free resources from ZOE:
Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition |
Gut Guide – For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks |

Mentioned in today’s episode
The WHO estimates of excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (2022), published in Nature

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations (2023), published in Nature Reviews Microbiology

Benefit-risk assessment of Covid-19 vaccine, MRNA (MRNA-1273) for males age 18–64 years (2023), published in Vaccine: X

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (2023), published in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

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Episode transcripts are available here: