Why Women Experience COVID and the Vaccines Differently Than Men

It's been one full year into the pandemic and it's clear: women are bearing the brunt of it. And it's not only because women have been forced out of the workplace at disproportionate rates — hitting the lowest level of female participation in the workplace since 1988 — or because more than 75% of those working in the healthcare sector are women. In fact, women appear hardwired to experience COVID-19 and the vaccines differently. Data from the CDC suggests side effects from the vaccines are worse in women; for example, 63 of the total 66 reported cases of anaphylaxis happened in women. Sabra Klein, PhD, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-director of the Center for Women's Health, Sex, and Gender Research, joins us on this week's episode to explain the biological reasons behind the data.