These talks were recorded and available to watch on this page and on Galway International Arts Festival's YouTube channel. All First Thought Talks will be available to listen to on GIAF's First Thought podcast later this year.
Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, has been one of the most influential and recognisable people giving us advice about how to protect ourselves from the Covid 19 virus. An expert in communicable diseases, he has been a crucial part of the global response to the virus, continually emphasising vaccine justice and the need to vaccinate everyone on the planet. His reassuring, if tough, interventions made us all feel we could trust him to tell us the truth about this once in a lifetime threat to the world. He will be interviewed by Paul Cullen, Health Editor for the Irish Times.