COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and the Pandemic
This MIT OpenCourseWare seminar, taught by Professors Richard Young and Facundo Batista in Fall 2021, covers the science behind the COVID-19 pandemic across a full semester of lectures. Guest experts including Anthony Fauci, Rochelle Walensky, Shane Crotty, Bruce Walker, and Dan Barouch present on coronavirus biology, host cell interactions, immunology, epidemiology, clinical disease, and vaccine and therapeutic development. The course was open to MIT students and the public via livestream, with Q&A reserved for registered students. Materials include recorded lectures covering topics from the basic virology of SARS-CoV-2 through the design of mRNA vaccines and public health responses. It offers a snapshot of how leading researchers and clinicians understood the pandemic in real time, combining molecular biology with epidemiological and clinical perspectives. No assignments or certificate are involved, but the lecture set functions as a coherent survey course on a still-unfolding global health event.