Introducing: Breakthrough

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

I had no idea that long COVID existed. The family and friends that I would talk to, they had no idea that a smell component was going to be a long-term feature of my illness.

Jason Gale (0:12)

Symptoms like a loss of smell can persist for months in some COVID survivors. Others describe debilitating brain fog and memory problems that turn their life upside down.

SPEAKER_3 (0:24)

Is it ever going to be normal again? Am I ever going to be able to be me again? I don't feel like me.

SPEAKER_4 (0:29)

So I don't want to cry, but I don't feel like me anymore.

Jason Gale (0:35)

It appears long COVID will be with us well beyond the pandemic itself.

It's just one of the ways in which the coronavirus has reshaped our world. On Breakthrough, a new series from the Prognosis podcast, we're exploring the legacy of COVID and the medical mysteries baffling scientists. I'm Jason Gale, a senior editor at Bloomberg News.

Naomi Kresge (0:56)

And I'm Naomi Kresge, a health reporter at Bloomberg. COVID has also reshaped medical science and opened the door to revolutionary technology.

Jason Gale (1:06)

In this series, we'll look at how the pandemic is changing health care, the ways in which experts are preparing for future outbreaks, and what scientists and patients are doing to get answers to medical problems in real time.

SPEAKER_6 (1:19)

If anyone tells you that they know what's going on, they're lying to you. You know, like, don't trust that person.

That's the one person you can't trust, is the person who tells you categorically they know what's going on. And I've certainly seen a lot of clinicians doing that.

Naomi Kresge (1:34)

In the second half of Breakthrough, we'll tell you the story of how messenger RNA vaccines were created, and how they could be used in the future to help treat other diseases like malaria and cancer.

This technology could never have proven itself so quickly outside the crucible of that first pandemic year, 2020 It may well win some researchers a Nobel Prize. It will almost certainly have big implications for the future of medicine. Looking back, it's easy to forget that none of this was a given.

SPEAKER_3 (2:07)

I was worried that the human vaccine might be 50% effective, and we wouldn't know why.

Naomi Kresge (2:16)

You'll hear from the people who raced to make the vaccine, and the moment they found out how well it would work.

SPEAKER_4 (2:22)

This was incredible. This was just breathtaking.

At this moment, we understood that it is a vaccine for mankind.

Naomi Kresge (2:32)

And what it could mean for the future.

SPEAKER_4 (2:35)

Wherever protein is needed, it can be applied. That could be 6,000 genetic diseases.

Naomi Kresge (2:43)

Breakthrough launches on October 19th. Subscribe to Prognosis today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.