Ask The Doctors: Answering Listener Questions About Vaccines And Variants

A big announcement Wednesday from Governor Charlie Baker: Patriot's Day, April 19, is when the general public can start getting vaccinations in the Commonwealth.

And Phase 4 of reopening — next Monday — is now the same day that essential workers and people age 60 and older can be vaccinated. True signs of a new normal.

Still, new variants continue to pop up here in Massachusetts and overseas, and there are questions about the health impact of the European AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not available here in the states.

With all this news, we take listener question during another edition of "Ask The Doctors." We speak with Dr. Christopher Gill, an infectious disease clinician and researcher who focuses on vaccines and the epidemiology of respiratory diseases at Boston University and an Associate Professor at the BU School of Public Health. And Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and infectious disease specialist at Boston Medical Center.