Masked by LASA Ezine

MASKED EZINE SPRING 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from The Editors The Team

Meet the Editors The Team

What Hobby Should I Pick Up By Ronak Regan

A Whole New World By Ronak Regan

Big Tech

By Stone Lucksinger

Ghoul School By Stone Lucksinger

Safety First

By Advika Sharma

Frontline COVID Fighters By Advika Sharma

Texas Covid Stats By Mailys Schuppe

Before, During, And After By Mailys Schuppe

Acknowledgements The Team

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Letter From The Editors Dear Reader, Over the past year, the Coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone’s life. It’s something that many people can relate to no matter its impact. While billions of people have had to endure the boredom and distress that came with quarantines due to the deadly virus, we hope that it can unite us. Through this magazine, we want to bring people together to educate them on the many important topics related to the virus and its effects. As students, we interviewed various experts in their respective fields, and were able to broaden our own understanding of the pandemic and its effects. Through his magazine, we hope you can too. We aim to do this by documenting the impact of COVID-19 on doctors, businesses, technology, and scientific fields. We’ve made it our primary objective to give you the same inside look we got from these interviews, presented in a simple and concise format. As students this year, we’ve all had to endure the burden caused by the virus. By developing this magazine, we want to not only share our gained knowledge, but prove to our readers that, while getting through this is hard, we can succeed. However you have been affected by the pandemic, we hope this magazine gives you something more to relate to, and expands your knowledge not only of the pandemic, but also of the day to day lives of the people living in it.

And, most importantly, we hope you enjoy reading it.

Stone Advika Mailys Ronak

Hi, I’m Ronak Regan, and I am a freshman at LASA. I was born in Arizona but moved to Austin when I was a few years old. I love reading, tennis, and playing video games. I’m the middle child in my family, in between an older sister and a younger brother. I really enjoyed making graphics in the magazine.

Hey, my name is Stone Lucksinger. I’m a freshman at LASA High and I’ve lived in Austin all my life. I’m super interested in robotics, and have built my own 3D printer. I also love building rocket planes, when they don’t blow up! Some of my favorite things to do are hiking, gaming, and problem solving (most of the time). I had a blast doing graphics for this magazine, though I still have no idea how I got into this group! My brother’s the graphics editor for the LASA Liberator, so I’ve got some big shoes to fill on this one!

Hi, my name is Advika Sharma and I am a freshman at LASA high school. My family is from India but I have lived in Austin my whole life. I enjoy cooking, bullet journaling, and dancing. I learn an Indian classical dance form, called Bharatanatayam, as well as Bollywood dance. I also really enjoy doing Taekwondo and have continued it since the age of five. I am the oldest sibling in my family and own one dog named Snickers. I had lots of fun writing and designing this magazine and working with my groupmates!

Hello! My name is Mailys Schuppe and I am currently a freshman at LASA. I was born in France, but I moved to Austin when I was 13-months-old. Some of my favorite things to do are Mixed Martial Arts, baking, and reading. I am the oldest of two little sisters and I have no pets. I really liked working and designing this with my group and can’t wait for you to read our magazine!

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What

HOBBY

To pick up

Engaging

By Ronak Regan

Many people are ﬁnding themselves with extra free time during the quarantine. A lot of these people have found a hobby to pick up, to keep themselves busy. This is a quiz, showing a good hobby that ﬁts you.

Calming or Engaging

Inside

Calming

Inside or Outside

Outside

Active

Active or Inactive

Inactive

Electronic

Electronic or Nonelectronic

Are You Artistic

What Do You Want To Exercise

Nonelectronic

Board Games

Yes

Calligraphy

Partly

Origami

Upper Body

Whole Body

Lower Body

Interact

Interact or Appreciate Nature

Video Games

Appreciate

Yoga

Archery

Tennis

Biking

Gardening

Bird Watching MASKED | 9

A Whole New World The coronavirus completely transforms lives By Ronak Regan

The gym is almost completely empty. This is the result of the lockdown. Photo by Gina Lin.

It’s March 11, everyone is beginning to panic about the coronavirus. About a month ago the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Few cases have been reported in the United States, but worry is beginning to spread. A cruise along the coast of California is rumored to be full of passengers infected with the virus. In mere weeks the entire country will be shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The quarantine has caused almost everyone across the globe to live a much more secluded, quiet life. By the end of March, 2020, the United States is on lockdown in order to decrease the spread of the coronavirus. This has changed lives in many ways including working, shopping, and much more. Brian Kelly is one of the many people who went into lockdown when COVID-19 grew out of control. He agrees that the quarantine greatly affected his daily routine, and his overall life. “It’s been a lot different,” Kelly said. “The quarantine has changed my work and home life a ton.” The coronavirus made it unsafe to be inside with other people, making offices a hazardous work environment. Many businesses have had to quickly adjust to working online to stay afloat in the economy. Kelly said that this was a big change to get used to.

Many are reluctant to travel in airports due to COVID-19. Most airports around the world are next to empty. Photo by Ellen Jeni.

“Once we started opening up our gyms again, we started going into work on a limited basis,” Kelly said. “On a normal day, I would get up and go to work. Quarantine [has] obviously changed that, in that we closed down our offices for a long time.” The quarantine has caused many businesses to struggle. The stock market plummeted at the beginning of the lockdown and took a long time to recover. Several companies went bankrupt due to the virus, including large corporations like J. Crew and J. C. Penny. Kelly’s workplace also felt the repercussions of the pandemic in a major way.

“We operate gyms... and we had to close our gyms in some cases for up to three months and not let anybody come in,” Kelly said. “So that was hard to manage, having to close things down and not earning any money during that time.” The lockdown has caused many negative changes to people’s lives like staying away from other people. Despite the many negative effects, Kelly believes that it has also brought some benefits.

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As vaccinations begin to quickly spread throughout the United States, coronavirus cases are quickly decreasing. After a large percent of the population gets the vaccine, things will quickly start to open up. “[I think] once everybody’s vaccinated things will change,” Kelly said. “Things will come back to normal pretty quickly, I think a lot of the closures and restrictions and things will go away.” Many restrictions are beginning to be lifted as the coronavirus settles down. The past year will be an unforgettable experience for everyone affected by it. The quarantine will be completely cleared within the next year, and a few years from now there may be no remaining evidence of the pandemic in society.

“I like not having to drive to work,” Kelly said. “Not having to spend, even 15 to 20 minutes in the car [is] a real nice element.” The coronavirus shut down airports and borders all over the world, greatly prohibiting travel. Across the globe, tons of work trips and vacations were canceled. Kelly both benefited and was bummed out by the travel restrictions. “I used to have to travel a lot [for work] and people would come visit us and all of that stopped,” said Kelly. “[My family] always goes to Canada every summer to be at [our] cottage there, but the Canadian border closed down so we can’t cross over.” With the absence of going to work, numerous people have extra freetime. Lots of people have been trying to keep themselves busy, by participating in different hobbies and activities. Kelly talked about how keeping yourself busy can help keep your mind occupied. “Mary-Alis, [his wife], and I have gotten really good at crossword puzzles,” said Kelly. “We do the New York Times crossword puzzle almost every day. We’ve gotten [to] the point now, where we can do the big Sunday crossword puzzle in just about 30 minutes. So we feel pretty good about that exercise.”

A man stays at home wroking on the crossword hoping to beat his personal best. Photo by Alexaandra Lowenthal.

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TECH

BIG By Stone Lucksinger

Throughout the turmoil and economic hardships of the past year for the stock market and economy, one important victor has emerged, big tech. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have had a wildly exciting tun for their money, as they’ve been put into an enviroment that guranteed their success. Lets take a look on how these companies fared over the past year.

On February 20th, the S&P 500 began a rapid downward trend, eventually landing itself at more than 34% down. Big tech is only just doing better, with Facebook being down 29%, and Google being down 21%. The least affected was Amazon, with a 9% decrease.

Big tech stocks have been on the rise for a while now, and tech companies have been dominating the s&p 500, a well renouned stock market that contains 500 of the worlds most profitable companies. Apple is having particular success with it’s new iphone, selling over sixteen million units, a new record. Information Gathered From: CNBC - Big tech went from growth stocks to Wall Street’s Treasury Bond Substitute The New York Times - Big tech Could Emerge From Coronavirus Stronger Than Ever Investors.com - This Chart Shows How All 5 Big tech Stocks Compare Visualcapitalist.com - Big tech’s Might in Five Charts

From March to June 2020, Microsoft Teams, an application similar to Zoom, gained a 894% growth rate, and reached a user level of more than 75 million. Microsoft teams has generated $6.8 billion more dollars for the company.

“Ok Google”

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GHOUL SCHOOL Chronicling students’ transition online. By Stone Lucksinger

Students in the media lab at the University of Texas celebrate before the pandemic Photo Credit Cindy Royal

s online learning has dragged through its first anniversary, students and teachers have undergone a massive metamorphosis in order to survive the harsh environment placed upon them by the Coronavirus pandemic. While its effects are still unknown, for many this will be a life-changing experience. Since March 2020, almost everybody involved in the education industry has had to react to the shifting tides of the pandemic, and not all have made it through unscathed. For millions of students, the transition and continued exposure to online learning has made a significant, and in some cases negative impact on their education. Students shifted to screens in the masses, though in the beginning, it didn’t seem as if any of their teachers were prepared enough for what was to come. To fully understand the extended period of online schooling students have undertaken, it’s important to go back to the beginning. For students in the Austin Independent School District, the transition happened on March 13, 2020. At that time, students and teachers were not planning on long term remote learning, and had little to no time to make the shift online. University of Texas Clinical Assistant Professor Sangeeta Kamdar agrees. She’s been teaching online ever since the pandemic hit. “It’s just very time consuming because we just had no time to prepare,” Kamdar said. “When students first transitioned online, many teachers had to figure out ways to alter their curriculum in order to fit the requirements of an entirely different digital environment.” By the end of the year, with the pandemic having no end in sight, many students were feeling the harsh effects of living their lives online. For Kamdar, students are reaching out about their increased mental challenges associated with this type of learning. “Some of them have talked to me about mental health issues, feelings of social isolation and depression,” Kamdar said, who was teaching Audiology at the time. By the time summer came along, many students were relieved that the end of the school year had come. However, as the months of quarantine dragged out, it became increasingly apparent that online learning was here to stay. In a proactive effort by the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), some teachers were paid over the summer to create a MASKED | 17

curriculum specially designed for remote learning. However, this didn’t happen for all schools, or universities. Kamdar recalls the time in which her school switched over to online learning. “All of a sudden things were online, and so we had to work really hard to switch our curriculum over.” After the start of the new school year and the de velopment or transitioning of the new curriculums, school life online became part of the normal routine. Interestingly, the effects of an overly flexible schedule, lack of enforcement, and isolation didn’t all have bad consequences. Cindy Royal, renowned journalism and mass communication professor at Texas State University, and the first academic in fifty years to win the Knight Journalism Fellowship award, has noticed some interesting changes in her students’ routine, as well as her own. “In some cases, I think they’re learning more, because of the different exposure that they’re getting,” Royal said. She noticed that, miraculously, more of her students are getting work turned in on time! She explains this change in student behavior by observing that her students are less distracted by their social life, and therefore make more progress in their studies. “They’re probably not going out to bars and going to fraternity parties as much as they used to,” Royal said. In certain cases, the lack of social interaction makes students better at working. However, as many students will tell you, not everything is going well with schooling over the pandemic. “Everybody is really feeling the stress and the additional workload of this environment,” Royal said. She also said that freshmen transitioning into college have had a harder time adjusting themselves to a different environment because of the lack of in-person help and social cues. In the long term, this could lead to students feeling less connected to their schools. Professors are also worried about a completely different class of college students, the

Cindy Royal, Prof at Texas State Photo Credit Cindy Royal

graduates. Kamdar thinks that being online has made it harder for people in medical fields to get clinical experience, which is essential to their jobs as doctors. Royal is also worried about how learning online might affect students’ ability to work and communicate in teams. “I hope that it doesn’t isolate people to the point where they don’t know how to reach out for help,” Royal said. There is also a bright side to this story. The impacts of the extended period of online learning aren’t all bad, and if students and teachers are willing and able to overcome the challenges and roadblocks posed by their learning system, students may be able to come out better than before. Royal thinks that students’ aquainting themselves with more technology could benefit them in their future careers, as workplaces begin to utilise more and more technology. This gives the students some experience operating in high-tech workplaces that they might work at in the future.

“Students didn’t sign up for this, right?” “They’re all going to be much better at solving problems with technology,” Royal said, who, before teaching students online, spent some of her time helping students in a computer lab.

However, it seems like the tumultuous era of online learning is coming to an end. Both Royal and Kamdar agree that their students want to go back to “real school.” With summer in sight, and vaccine distribution well under way, online schooling could soon be over.

The skills students learn during online learning vastly differ from that of in-person school. For now, it’s up to the students to decide what kind of learning system they prefer. For most students however, they just want to go back to their schools, though few have taken the risk involved with that.

In the end, the students will have had the chance to learn valuable technical skills that could set them apart from other generations.

Welcome To Class!

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SAFETY FIRST A guide to staying safe during the pandemic

By Advika Sharma Being in the middle of a global pandemic can be scary, especially with the danger of a deadly virus. Luckily, there are a few simple steps you and your family can take to prevent yourself and others from catching COVID-19.

LIMIT GATHERINGS

At the moment, it’s better to hold off on big in-person gatherings. If neccessary, meet others outside. The virus has less chance of spreading if you’re out in the open, and the less people of meet, the safer you are.

STAY HOME

Try to stay at home as much as you can to prevent exposure to COVID-19. Even though lockdown is no longer required it is still helpful to not go out any more than absolutely neccessary.

STAY AWAY

With COVID-19 spreading through the air, your best bet is to stay away from others by socially distancing. You can do this by staying at least six feet away from others, especially those not part of your household.

NO TOUCHING Always keep your hands off of other things and people. Since the virus spreads through physical contact as well as through the air, not touching random objects and people can keep you safe.

14 DAY RULE If you or someone around you tests positive for COVID-19, self quarantine for at least two weeks. This period acts like an observation period in which you can check yourself for symptoms, and prevent spreading the virus.

WEAR A MASK Cover your nose and mouth with a face mask, even after getting the vaccine. You can wear the standard medical mask, an N-95 mask, or even a fashionable cloth mask of your choice. Information provided by Ready MASKED | 21

FRONTLINE

By Advika Sharma

COVID FIGHTERS How the pandemic has affected doctors’ careers

s you walk into the doctor’s office, you slip your mask on, looping it around your ears and making sure it fully covers your nose and mouth. The nurse arrives to ask you a few screening questions, and then takes you to your doctor. You expect to see the smiling face you’ve always seen at your wellness check ups, but this time their face is unrecognizable, covered by not only a mask, but a face shield and goggles as well. The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has caused a global pandemic over the last year, forcing everyone to lock down in their houses. This sudden outburst of an unknown disease has changed the way many people work, including doctors. Treating patients is not something they are able to do from home, so unlike many people working while quarantining, doctors are obligated to continue their job in person, while taking all the necessary precautions.

“All patients should wear masks, [and] we allow only the patients to come into the office,” Cadambi said. “ When they come we ask questions like have they been exposed to somebody with COVID recently, is there any chance they could be having an infection? Or currently are they running a temperature, are they running a fever and have a temperature?” The screening questions allow the doctors to treat the patients accordingly. Madhurima Gupta, a pediatrician working at a private clinic, said they have a special way of seeing their patients after screening. “There is a tremendous, tremendous rise in the use of telemedicine,” Gupta said. “So what

“All patients should wear

Kalpana Cadambi masks, and we allow only is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist working the patients to come into at a clinic and at the the office.” hospital. Both her clinic and the hospital are taking precautions against COVID-19 by setting requirements for we are doing in our clinic, if the kid all staff and patients. needs immunizations a healthy

Madhurima Gupta, MD, provides curbside treatment to sick patients at her clinic. They take risky appointments outside to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19. Photo by Madhurima Gupta.

parent comes with the kid to get the immunizations, and the rest we do on a phone call. We see immunizations in the morning and all the other patients in the afternoon. Either we go to the parking lot and see them, or if it’s a rash, [and] we know that it cannot be COVID, then they can come inside the clinic. It’s called triage.” Gupta said that telemedicine was something she was able to introduce to her clinic because of COVID. She said at first, government insurance would not cover it, so the clinic wouldn’t get paid for over the phone treatment. “I was the one who brought telemedicine to the clinic.” Gupta said. “We called our insurance

companies to tell them now it’s time to start covering it. So they started to cover telemedicine [and] we now have full fledged telemedicine in our practice.” On the other hand, Cadambi’s clinic and the hospital she works at have both offered telemedicine since before the Coronavirus pandemic. Cadambi says that her and other doctors have been trying to minimize the frequency of patients’ visits through over-the-phone treatments. “Patients we see every year come in for their checkup and they have certain medications,” Cadambi said. “[Now], we try to give them three, four months extra time without getting seen, just asking them questions on the phone, and then taking care of refills for prescription over the phone so that they don’t have to come into the clinic.”

Although all doctors are trying their best to keep everyone safe in the most convenient way possible, there have been some difficulties. During the first wave of the virus, a big challenge for clinics was a shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE. “We didn’t have adequate PPE,” Gupta said. “And it was very, very tedious to do anything when you’re wearing masks, a protective shield, and goggles, so it was very, very hard to communicate with the patients.” However, Cadambi said that PPE shortages were not a problem in her clinic and hospital. “Starting in April or May, some of the medical societies and the Texas Medical Association started providing the masks for doctors to the doctors offices,” Cadambi said. “And we try to be

conservative about how we use the supplies. So we were okay.”

“It was very, very Tedious to do anything when you’re wearing masks, a protective shield, and goggles, so it was very, very hard to communitcate with the patients.” According to Cadambi, another big problem with patients was people not masking properly. “Some patients may refuse to wear their mask, and we have to tell them to. I actually tell the patient it is very important for them to protect themselves, because I’m

This graphic shows the rise of online treatments, such as telemedicine, in the medical industry. Telemedicine has proven helpful in preventing the spread of the Coronavirus while still being able to offer treatment to those in need. Graphic by Advika Sharma. This graphic puts emphasis on the importance of washing your hands. During the pandemic, keeping your hands clean and away from others is as important, if not more, than wearing masks and social distancing. Graphic by Advika Sharma.

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seeing a lot of patients. I might have been exposed, so she should not get

Gupta said that at first, getting patients to even come to the clinic was a challenge.

“I see people wear masks and they don’t put it really where it should be. Their nose will be exposed, and I’m like, no, it needs to go on the nose, pull it up!”

“The thing was that people were really okay to go on vacation, but they were actually scared, very reluctant to come to the physician’s office, or the ER, because they were concerned that they’ll get exposed to the Coronavirus if they come to our clinic,” Gupta said. “...so we had to call the patients, tell them that it’s actually very safe if you’re visiting a doctor’s office, it is safer than visiting a grocery store, or going to a beach or going to a national park.”

something from me,” Cadambi said. “And I see people wear masks [and] they don’t put it really where it should be. Their nose will be exposed, and I’m like, no, it needs to go on the nose, pull it up!”

Although it can be hard to keep up with all the precautions needed, and still properly take care of patients, Gupta agreed that there were definitely some positive

outcomes because of the lockdown and required precautions. “The flu used to be everywhere during this time of the season, [and] every other kid who came to our clinic had [the] flu,” Gupta said. “...this flu season, we are not seeing any flu cases at all. So [there’s] a decrease in the prevalence of flu cases, strep cases, strep infections, and throat infections.” Along with less people contracting the flu, doctors are able to get some time off. Cadambi used to see around 15 to 20 patients a day, all in person, work at the hospital, and then separately take patients’ calls. With less people coming into the clinic, she’s been able to reduce her hours and get a little break.

Madhurima Gupta, MD, works in her office at work decked out in her personal protective equipment. Every employee working at the clinic is required to wear a fask mask and shield. Photos by Madhurima Gupta.

“The main way [COVID] has affected us is patient wise,” Cadambi said. “Of course we are busy, we’re still seeing patients, but not as busy as before.” Gupta has always balanced her work life and personal life by doing less hours at the clinic even before COVID. Because of this, the pandemic did not affect her in the same way as it did the others that worked at her clinic. “So everybody [is now] working as much as I was before COVID, cutting the number of hours because we are not seeing as many patients,” Gupta said. Cadambi said that one main positive outcome of the lockdown and precautions at the clinic is how effective they’ve been. “I think wearing a mask and shield, washing hands frequently, and keeping track of what you’re touching [are effective]. So far, I haven’t gotten sick,” Cadambi said. “I’ve seen many patients that are COVID positive, which we didn’t know at the time of the visit, and later come to find out

People get tested for COVID-19 by providing a sample of their mucus or saliva through a nose or throat swab. It is collected in test tubes where health care workers are able to detect testing results. Photo provided by Pixabay.

they had COVID or been exposed to COVID. So I’m pretty sure wearing the mask and the shield in addition protected me personally.” The COVID-19 pandemic agitated many people and they are eager for things to get back to normal, though that might not be easy. Doctors and many others

are doing the best they can to help society while taking adequate precautions, and though they definitely have paid off, there is still a lot more to come before life goes back to normal.

This graphic shows how the entire world has been affeccted by the Coronavirus. The disease has spread across oceans and landmasses, and controlling its spread is proving to be harder than ever. Graphic provided by Pixabay.

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MONTHLY AVERAGE COVID CASES APRIL 2020 - MARCH 2021 (THOUSANDS) 0

APR. MAY. JUN. JUL. AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR.

S A X E T

d i v o c T A ST

By MAILYS SCHUPPE

SURVIVAL RATE

65%

25%

Over the age of 60

With medical conditions

VACCINE

10%

PRIORITIES

Others

Information provided by; U S A FAC T S , W I N K N E W S , a n d STAT I STA

S T

It is important for people over the age of 60 to have vaccine priority

37%

59% 75+

because, although covid has a 99% survival rate, the people mostly likely to pass

50-74

away due to covid are older than 60. Due to the amazing people that have contributed to the creation of the vaccine it has started

0.5%

0-29

being distributed, and since then covid cases have shot down.

COVID DEATHS AGE RANGE

3.5% 30-49

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BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER The science behind the solution to the global pandemic. By Mailys Schuppe

Lisa Maragakis in the John Hopkins Medicine Incident Comand Center in April 2020. Photo Courtesy of John Hopkins

t’s Friday, March 13, 2020, and you’re sitting at your desk in class when your teacher tells you to take impoartant things home today because of a virus spreading. Once home, you tell your parents the exciting news; you might get an extra day of spring break, all for a small, puny virus! Little did you know the “small” virus wasn’t actually that small and the break was going to be much longer than expected. The Coronavirus or SARSCoV-2, has spread like wildfire throughout the states, killing one in every 100 people it infected. Schools were closed for the remaining sachool year and were made remote during the end of 2020 and the majority of 2021. Shops closed down due to loss of business, wearing masks became a habit, and people went from seeing many people daily to only their family members. The world was thrown into chaos due to the unpredictability of the virus. SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe breathing malfunctions that result in death for some, while others experience little to no symptoms. This meant they could go about their lives while unknowingly contaminating dozens of people. This resulted in a worldwide pandemic in which everyone had to quarantine for months on end. Soon, all anyone could do was hope that scientists would create a vaccine, fast. While most vaccines take over a decade to develop the

Coronavirus vaccine was developed, surprisingly, in under a year. Barney Graham, the Deputy Director of the Vaccine Research Center and Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, explains the reason for the quick creation of

respiratory virus. “Once the droplets enter the body, they trick your cell into laetting it inside, and once inside they replicate continuously until the cell breaks down,” Maragakis said. “The COVID-19 vaccine is composed of a biological

Dr, Cucina (left), Dr. Wachter (middle), Dr. Raven (right), Dr. Sehgal (bottom left), and Dr. Rutherfor (bottom right) at the April 6, 2020 COVID-19 virtual Grand Rounds. Courtesy of USCF.

the vaccine was because it wasn’t their first encounter with the virus. “We’ve been working on respiratory virus vaccines for a long time,” Graham said, “ With the Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV, we figured out how to keep the anatomical structure of the virus in the shape of functional proteins. Later when we came upon the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, we used our encounter with RSV to help us create a similar vaccine. Being able to recognize the similarities in the viruses helped us quickly manufacture the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.” Lisa Maragakis is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins as well as an expert in infectious diseases. She said the vaccine is transmitted from person to person through the air because it is a

substance, called mRNA, in our cells that helps our bodies function. What the vaccine does is it instructs the body to create spike protein which causes the body to recognize the unwanted virus and create the antibodies to fight it off.” The next step was testing the vaccines. Graham said the vaccines were tested in five different stages. “First we tested it in mice to see if it was creating the desired immune response,” Graham said, “Next monkeys and then a small number of humans, we did what we call a phase 1 study. Which is initially 45 people. Then we went to a stage 2 study with 600 people

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and then 30,000 people, phase 3. In the 30,000 we gave half of the people vaccines and the other half placebo, saltwater. Only the statisticians know whether or not the vaccine was given to ensure a true assessment of what happens.” Once the vaccine was deemed safe and effective, it was time to distribute it. Robert Wachter, Chairman of the department of medicine at the University of California, says vaccine distribution was much more complicated than just simply giving out vaccines to anyone nearby. “Vaccine production

is a complicated and timeconsuming process,” Wachter said, “At first we didn’t have the capacity to mass-produce vaccines or enough doctors, pharmacists, computer systems, and vaccination sites set up. Once that was put in place, we needed to get 250 million people vaccinated. There is more risk in getting sick and dying the older you are, so I feel like the best system is the one that gets the vaccine into high-risk people and people with medical conditions the fastest. I think it’s reasonable to give healthcare workers and teachers early access because if they are sick other people will get sick as well. Now with about 2 million people vaccinated per day we can probably reach the majority of the population by the end of this summer.” Graham said three out of 1

Lisa Maragakis and other John Hopkins experts briefed Capitol Hill officials on the Coronavirus in March 2020. Photo by Will Kirk. Courtesy of John Hopkins University

million people could have an allergic reaction to the vaccine. “It’s possible to have a reaction,” Graham said, “Someone with a history of bad allergies could have something called an anaphylactoid reaction, which can be life-threatening. I only know of one death out of over 60 million vaccines which happened because someone didn’t wait 30 minutes before leaving the clinic after taking the vaccine. It’s a treatable problem but can turn serious if it’s not taken care of, and is not nearly as common as dying from infection.” Maragakis said that when the virus spreads from person to person it has an opportunity to mutate which can lead to

more dangerous versions of COVID-19. “In some cases, virus variants can escape our treatments and our vaccine,” Maragakis said, “Right now we’re in a race with the virus to try to interrupt transmission and vaccinate everyone as quickly as possible so that we can stop the virus from mutating before we get, you know too many of these new variants around that will cause us to need to make new vaccines and have new clusters of disease

transmission.” Graham said that currently, the Coronavirus vaccine works much better than the influenza vaccine, and it doesn’t mutate as much, this helps prevent scientists from having us take multiple COVID-19 shots every year. “There is always the possibility of having to take the SARS- CoV2 vaccine multiple times due to

variants,” Graham said, “We hope that by keeping the number of infections down the virus won’t change as much as the flu and that we won’t have to take a

supplies, testing kits. I found it really shocking and disappointing. Due to the SARSCoV-2 outbreak, we’ve been wearing masks everywhere for a long time, and although the governor of Texas recently removed mandatory masks, Graham said that he thinks we’ll be wearing them awhile. “I would listen to Dr. Fauci,” Graham said, “ I’m hoping it’s sooner than what he said recently, but he thinks we will be wearing masks until 2022.”

Barney Graham explaining the Coronavirus The coronavirus Spike Protein to one of the visitors at the pandemic isn’t over Vaccine Research Center. yet, and there are more Courtesy of the VRC problems to come

shot yearly, but we’re not 100% sure.” The coronavirus came with many surprises. Maragakis said that one of the biggest surprises was having to fight COVID-19 without the supplies. “I never would have thought that we would have been in the position for months trying to fight an infectious disease without enough personal protective equipment,” Maragakis said, “Or enough hand sanitizer, lab

and to solve. What we’ve gone through has been hard and

unpredictable, but scientists are working together to defeat the virus, and taking the vaccine has little to no disadvantages. Think about it, would you rather be immune to infection by taking a small shot, or would you want to go through the disease itself?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lisa Maragakis - Dr. Lisa Maragakis explained how COVID-19 spread from person to person, and how it affects your body. Thank you for taking the time to contribute.

Barney Graham - Thank you, Dr. Barney Graham for providing information on the testing process and the history of the coronavirus.

Robert Wachter - Thank you, Dr. Robert Wachter for giving us beneficial input about the production of the vaccine. We appreciate your help.

Madhurima Gupta - Dr. Gupta has provided us with valuable information to craft our articles, as well as provide pictures. Thank you for your contribution!

Kate McGuire - Ms. McGuire has guided us throughout the year during the process of designing this magazine. Thank you for making our job much easier!

Kalpana Cadambi - Thank you Dr. Cadambi for taking some time out of your day to talk to one of us and provide your input for a story. Your thoughtful responses helped shape this magazine.

Brian Kelly - Thank you Brian Kelly for the story of your quarantine experience. You were great to talk to, thank you for your help!

Cindy Royal - Thank you for the most engaging conversation I’ve had in a while, and a great insight into the world of online teaching.

Sangeeta Kamdar - Thank you for doing a remote interview, and representing the countless university students struggling right now. MASKED | 33

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Articles inside

Meet the Editors

A Whole New World

Letter from The Editors