Tell Me When It's Over
An Insider's Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
From one of the world's top virologists, the definitive guide to understanding—and navigating—COVID-19.Three years on, COVID is clearly here to stay. So what do we do now? Drawing on his expertise as one of the world's top virologists, Dr. Paul Offit helps weary readers address that crucial question in this brief, definitive guide. As a member of the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee and a former member of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to the CDC, Offit has been in the room for the creation of policies that have affected hundreds of millions of people. In these pages, he marshals the power of hindsight to offer a fascinating frontline look at where we were, where we are, and where we're heading in the now-permanent fight against the disease. Accompanied by a companion website populated with breaking news and relevant commentary, this book contains everything you need to know to navigate COVID going forward. Offit addresses fundamental issues like boosters, immunity induced by natural infection, and what it means to be fully vaccinated. He explores the dueling origin stories of the disease, tracing today's strident anti-vax rhetoric to twelve online sources and tracking the fallout. He breaks down long COVID—what it is, and what the known treatments are. And he looks to the future, revealing whether we can make a better vaccine, whether it should be mandated, and providing a crucial list of fourteen takeaways to eradicate further spread. Filled with pragmatic analysis and sensible advice, TELL ME WHEN IT'S OVER is for anyone interested in finding new solutions to the new normal.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This enlightening explainer from Offit (You Bet Your Life), director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, provides a physician's perspective on the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a q&a format, Offit weighs in on queries related to such topics as vaccine development, misinformation, and flawed messaging from government officials. Answering "how were Covid vaccines made so quickly," Offit tells how in spring 2020, an $11 billion infusion from the federal government allowed pharmaceutical companies to mass produce vaccines that were still in clinical trials because if the vaccines turned out to be ineffective, they could "be thrown away at no financial risk to the companies." Pushing back against the theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab, Offit explains that mutated spike proteins "virtually identical" to the one found in SARS-CoV-2 have been identified in multiple bat coronaviruses, suggesting the modification "was already present in nature" and not the result of human meddling. Looking ahead, Offit notes that even as Covid death rates come to resemble those of the flu, that still means up to 60,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. He advises anyone with respiratory symptoms to stay home until they recover from the virus. Skillfully combining scientific precision with an accessible style, this brings clarity to the uncertainties of the pandemic.
