SUDBURY -- Science North and Laurentian University continue their online series week focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week's edition of 'Let's Talk About COVID-19' focuses on the vaccines and what they mean for the pandemic. The series is an interactive series on Facebook.
Wednesday's edition features Alain Simard, an associate professor of immunology at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
"It can be very difficult to know exactly what the science really says and what's backed up by strong data if you are not a scientist," Simard said. "So we do have to be very careful as to where we get our information."
Science North staff scientist Bruce Doran will host the French-language session on the COVID-19 vaccine. Doran said people might be anxious about the vaccine because it was developed so quickly.
"Really, some of that has to do with the fact that this vaccine has also been made and approved within one year and most vaccines take several years," Doran said. "So hopefully during this panel discussion, we will explain why this is the case."
Some people are worried
Simard agreed and said the fact the vaccines were developed so quickly have some people worried.
"Ideally, we would have had two years a data accumulated by this point, but so far the data shows that the vaccines are safe with very limited and minor side-effects," he said. "Usually fatigue that kind of thing. So overall I think we can consider them safe but time will tell for sure."
The series is designed to get people talking about the pandemic.
"It's a very timely topic because we are hearing a lot about the vaccines," Doran said. "Now we hear about the rollout of the vaccine, hopefully starting even next week, obviously with Health Canada approval."
The talks will be interactive on the Science North and Laurentian Facebook pages, with the audience having the opportunity to ask questions.
The English session is set for 9 a.m. and the French session is at 1 p.m.
If you miss them, the panel discussions will also be available anytime to view.
