Welcome to Episode 17 of “COVID: What comes next,” an exclusive weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast featuring Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and an internationally respected expert on pandemic response

COVID: What comes next - With Dr. Ashish Jha

PROVIDENCE – The seven new coronavirus variants that a team of researchers has recently discovered in the U.S. is reason for concern, pandemic expert Dr. Ashish Jha, Brown University School of Public Health dean, declared on Tuesday.

“The variants are out there, they're real, and they're scary, and the best way to deal with variants is to bring infection numbers way down,” Jha said during the weekly taping of the national “COVID: What Comes Next” podcast, available from The Providence Journal and the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Three questions are key, Jha said: “Are these variants more contagious? Are they more deadly? And are they any more resistant to our vaccines?”

Although these questions remain largely unanswered, Jha said “I would not be surprised if they're more contagious. I also am pretty firmly of the belief that our vaccines are going to work quite effectively against these variants.”

The new discoveries were reported Sunday on the preprint server medRxiv, where researchers often present work for later peer-reviewed publication. The team included scientists from New York City, Pittsburgh, Wyoming, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Switzerland.

Jha also addressed the issue of life after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people wonder if it will ever be “normal” again – will existence return to how it was in 2019.

“The short answer is ‘yes,’ ” Jha said, “but it will look different because pandemics change societies. They have forever. And so there's no reason to think that this pandemic won't, too.”

Many people will continue to work remotely, for example, Jha said.

“But the things that were really important to us we'll be able to do again. So if the question is will we be able to see friends and family? Absolutely. Will we be able to hug each other? Absolutely. Will we be able to do indoor dining? Absolutely.”

Jha weighed in on the development of a so-called pancoronavirus vaccine – one effective against all types of coronaviruses. Some scientists are already at work on such a product.

“I think scientifically it's possible and from a social point of view and health point of view, it is certainly desirable,” Jha said. But he doesn’t see it immediately. “My guess is it’s probably a year or so away,” he said.

On Tuesday, Jha addressed several audience questions, including one from a woman in Massachusetts who asked: “How long after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine will I reach full protection?”

The Brown dean’s answer: “I think two weeks is probably the right time frame to think about. It may be sooner than that.” Clinical trials, he said, suggest it is as soon as ten days.

Jha also fielded a question from a woman in California regarding autoimmune disorders (consult your physician), and another from a person who had heard that vaccine protection wears off after three months (not true).

To hear Jha’s full answers to these questions and to hear more detail about variants, post-COVID life and development of a pancoronavirus vaccine please listen to the full podcast.

This weekly podcast is hosted by G. Wayne Miller, health reporter for The Providence Journal.