This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome famed AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV, which led to the first tests and treatments for AIDS. He is Director of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Co-founder of the Global Virus Network, a non-governmental organization conducting global research through a consortium of 66 virology centers of excellence around the world.
Their network of scientists knew early in the COVID-19 pandemic that mRNA vaccines would be effective, but for a limited time based on proteins driving SARS-CoV-2, and that boosters would be required until the global outbreak is brought under control. The 'veteran virus hunter' says it's 'reasonable, but not proven' that the omicron variant developed in an immune-compromised host, possibly due to untreated HIV, and that it is likely to overwhelm many countries, with its much higher transmissibility.
