Talking Shots with Science Sam and �Թϱ�� Professor Christina Guzzo (Part 2)

Published: May 28, 2021

Which COVID-19 vaccine should you get?

“The best vaccine to take is the vaccine that will save your life,” says Christina Guzzo, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough. “If you agree that you just want to save your life, then any [approved] vaccine will do that.”

In the second episode of a three-part series, Samantha Yammine – a neuroscientist, science communicator and �Թϱ�� alumna known as “Science Sam” on social media – talks to Guzzo about “vaccine shopping” and the popular belief that vaccines from certain pharmaceutical companies are better than others.

Guzzo explains that while clinical trials evaluate the efficacy of vaccines in preventing any symptom of COVID-19, including the slightest sniffle, such measures are far less relevant than the fact that all the currently approved vaccines will prevent severe disease and hospitalization.

She compares the pandemic to a sinking ship and the vaccines to a floatation device.

“Are you going to look at that flotation device, think twice about it, analyze how it fits, how it looks, how durable, how long it will last – or will you simply take the flotation device and save your life?”