Are we ready for the next pandemic?

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast:

USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub looks back at three years of COVID-19 and whether we're ready for another pandemic.

Tech layoffs continue.

Former President Donald Trump has been sanctioned nearly $1 million for his lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others.

Rep. George Santos' college education is a myth. Is he the only one lying?

An Australian toad sets new records.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and this is 5 Things you need to know, Saturday the 21st of January 2023.

Today, are we ready for the next pandemic? Plus, who else in Congress has lied about their education, and layoffs at tech companies continue.

As COVID turns three, experts worry where the next pandemic will come from and if we'll be ready. Public health and national defense experts worry that the next pandemic will come at an even higher price than this one. Producer PJ Elliott spoke with USA Today health reporter Karen Weintraub to find out more.

PJ Elliott: Karen, welcome back to 5 Things.

Karen Weintraub: Thanks for having me.

PJ Elliott: So Saturday marks the third anniversary of the first confirmed COVID case in the United States. Where are we with this? Are we living with the virus properly three years later?

Karen Weintraub: Depends on who you ask. Public health experts would say no, that we're not being cautious enough. In a world created by the public health experts, we would all be triply or quadruply vaccinated at this point. Less than a year since our last vaccine or infection, we would be wearing masks in large public venues so we don't pass on this virus. We would be protecting the people who are the most vulnerable.

PJ Elliott: We've seen the number of deaths drop significantly compared to the first and second year of the pandemic. Is that all because of the vaccine?

Karen Weintraub: So the death rate and the hospitalization rates are way down and that is courtesy both of the vaccine and of infections that we aren't naive to this virus anymore. Our bodies have seen it one way or another. That doesn't mean it can't happen, certainly it can. Particularly for the immunocompromised and very older people.

PJ Elliott: With no new vaccines out recently, could we start to see things spiral out of control again?

Karen Weintraub: So what we don't have is a lot of protection against general infection. I might catch COVID. I probably wouldn't get severely ill again because of my vaccines and because I've had COVID, but I could catch it and could pass it on. What's happening now is a lot of transmission, fewer deaths and hospitalizations, but a lot of transmission. And as long as there is transmission, there's the chance that new variants will develop that will be different, that will evade the protection from vaccines and previous infections, that will be more dangerous. So that's what public health officials are worried about is some new crazy variant. It's happened before. Delta was probably the worst, but it's conceivable that it could happen again.

PJ Elliott: So how do we move forward with this?

Karen Weintraub: The public health perspective is we're as aggressive as possible at stopping this virus, which means vaccination. Vaccines and infections protect for roughly four to six months. I just wrote about a study that shows that if people are vaccinated or infected once a year, three and 10 will still get infected, but if they don't get anything for a year, nine and 10 will get infected.

PJ Elliott: Karen, as always, thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Karen Weintraub: Yeah, happy to be here.

Taylor Wilson: Google announced yesterday that it planned to cut some 12,000 jobs reducing the company's workforce by about 6%. The layoffs follow Microsoft's announcement earlier this week that some 10,000 employees representing about 5% of the company would also be laid off. Facebook parent company Meta cut 13% of its workplace in November. And Amazon said earlier this month, it was cutting 18,000 jobs dating back to last year as part of the largest job cuts in its history. Analysts say that one reason for the tech cutbacks right now is that companies actually overhired during pandemic lockdowns. That's when consumers shifted their spending away from things like travel and restaurants to companies like Amazon and Peloton. Now, consumers are going back to pre pandemic spending patterns and higher interest rates are also playing a role. While certain industries like tech and media have seen a wave of layoffs, the broader labor market has remained sturdy. The unemployment rate last month fell from 3.7 to 3.5% matching a 50-year low.

A federal judge in Florida has ordered former President Donald Trump to pay nearly a $1,000,000 in sanctions for a lawsuit he filed against Hillary Clinton and others over his false claims that the 2016 presidential election was rigged. In his order, US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said this week that Trump's case should never have been brought and that it was intended for a political purpose. The suit had named as defendants Clinton and some of her top advisors, along with former FBI director James Comey, the same judge throughout the suit in September calling it a political manifesto.

Long Island New York Republican Congressman George Santos says he has degrees from Baruch College and New York University. There's only one problem. Neither school has a record of him earning a degree. But is he the only one lying about his education? As it turns out, almost. USA Today reviewed his fellow freshman members of Congress and found that 91 of the 93 other educational background checks held up, and both discrepancies were minor compared with Santos.

One was Democratic Congresswoman Mary Sattler Peltola from Alaska. She claimed to have attended the University of Northern Colorado from 1991 to 1994. The university said she only attended until 1993, though her spokesperson said last week that she never claimed to earn a degree. The other Democratic Congressman Troy Carter from Louisiana, he said he earned a Master of Business Administration. The University of Holy Cross says he actually earned a Master of Science and Management. That degree typically takes less time to complete than an MBA.

A giant toad found by park rangers in Australia has been given the title Toadzilla, and may be the world's biggest. Believed to be female, Toadzilla was found deep inside Conway National Park rainforest in Australia's northeast. Rangers weighed the amphibian and it came in at six pounds breaking the previous record by a Swedish pet toad in 1991 according to Guinness World Records. But sadly, Toadzilla was euthanized. Like most toads in Australia, she's an invasive species that poses a threat to the country's ecosystem. Her body was donated to the Queensland Museum for research.

And before we go today, James Brown is back as always with the Sunday edition of 5 Things tomorrow, looking at a potential end to testing drugs on animals. Here's a look ahead.

Audio: A mouse doesn't get autism, for instance. So a drug tested for basic aspects of autism, it's very hard to know whether that's effective or not.

Taylor Wilson: Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning right here, wherever you're listening right now. And if you have a chance, please drop us a rating and review. I'm back Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are we ready for the next pandemic?