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At Home on the Health and Science Beat M�� T������ ’ ��������� �� ��������������� ��� COVID ��������� ��� CNBC WRITTENBY CINDYSC�WEIC� �ANDLER
�hen Meg Tirrell ,
CNBC ’ s senior health and science reporter , first heard about the coronavirus in January 2020 , she wondered whether covering it would be more time-consuming than her work on the �bola virus had been during late 201� .“ My husband was trying to propose at the time , and Ikept getting sent out oftown ,” she recalls . “ He was going insane .”
As it turned out , COVID-19 has proven to be amuch bigger story — perhaps the most important of our era , and one that Tirrell has pursued at the business news channel for more than ayear now . But this time , Tirrell ’ sassignments don ’ t force her to miss family togetherness . Now the mother of atwo-year-old , she reports from a “ full-blown set ” in her Montclair home .
We talked with Tirrell about pandemics past and present , challenges facing the medical community and how living in Montclair helps her meet this particular moment in history .
�RE ����R�M �E� �ER�E�
�RIGI��LL��
Igrew up in Western Massachusetts , and my family moved to Southern California when I was 1� . But my grandmother lived in New Jersey , and we visited a lot . It felt like a family homecoming coming back here . My husband and Isent my dad agiant package of Taylor ham once , and he was delighted by that .
READY TO REPORT CNBC ������� ��� ������ �������� M�� T������ �������� �� ������ ������� �� ��� ������� ������� ����� ����� ���� �� C�������� �� O�� . 201� .
�ERE ����L����I�TERE�TE�
I� ���R��LI�M�
I was always curious about people when I was young . I would write mini biographies of them , and thought this is what Iwanted to do . I worked at the 12-page weekly newspaper when I was at Wellesley College , and went to Northwestern �niversity for graduate school to focus on journalism in the print world . I didn ’ t expect to work in TV . In 200� , Igot a�20-an-hour internship at Bloomberg News , and thought it was ama�ing that you could make money in journalism ! It was a fluke that Iwas put on the Bloomberg health care team in 2009 .
���T�RE ��ME �� T�E M���R �T�RIE� ������ERE� ��R
�L��M�ERG�
My introduction to covering health care and vaccines was during the swine flu ( H1N1 ) pandemic . I also honed in on the biotech industry . This was the time when there were
COURTESY OF HARRIET TAYLOR
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SPRING 2021 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE