With vegans that are hesitant to take the COVID vaccine due to animal testing, we figured this would be a good time to explore our position on taking vaccines (as well as other medications). We’ll also discuss whether or not ethical veganism being a protected characteristic in the UK should exempt vegans from being required to get vaccinated in order to enter their workplace. This potential exemption has led to some anti-vaxxers to claim they will pretend to vegan to receive said benefit. 

And finally, we’ll cut through the sea of misinformation addressing common concerns and misconceptions about the COVID vaccine with Dr. Priyumvada Naik, a triple board certified physician in Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine. She has additional training and expertise in Lung Transplantation, ECMO, Interstitial Lung Disease, Genetic Lung Disease, Immunology, and Nutrition. 

Find a transcript of the episode here!

Connect with us:

More about Dr. Naik: Instagram / Twitter  – She attended Duke University followed by medical school at The Medical College of Georgia. She did her Internal Medicine Residency, and Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowships at Emory University, the last two years of which she was the Lung Transplant Fellow.

She then spent time in Sydney, Australia doing a Transplant and ECMO fellowship before returning to the US to practice as a Transplant Pulmonologist in Phoenix, at what is now the largest Lung Transplant Center in the world. She has published in the fields of Internal Medicine, Lung Transplantation, and Organ Donor Management, having been the only fellow on the Society for Critical Care Medicine/American College of Chest Physicians consensus committee to craft guidelines on ICU management of the brain dead donor.

She continues to work with local organizations to improve donor procurement rates to decrease recipient waitlist times and deaths. In the intervening years, she has founded an Advanced Lung Disease Program, co-founded a Lung Cancer Screening Program, and served as Medical Director for an Intensive Care Unit.

The Links:

Compulsory workplace vaccination rules cannot apply to vegans(Telegraph, July 29th 2021)

Some anti-vaxxers plan to fake being vegan after finding a loophole that means vaccines are not mandatory for them (Business Insider, August 8th 2021)

Episodes referenced

  • Ep 214 – What The Hell Happened in January (discussing veganism as a protected characteristic) 
  • Ep 228 – Are Vegans More Susceptible To COVID Conspiracies? 

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