diff --git a/episodes/severity-static.Rmd b/episodes/severity-static.Rmd
index 0ce2edad..6fad7fc9 100644
--- a/episodes/severity-static.Rmd
+++ b/episodes/severity-static.Rmd
@@ -42,12 +42,9 @@ This episode requires you to be familiar with:
 
 Install packages if their are not already installed
 
-```{r, eval = FALSE}
-# if {pak} is not installed, run: install.packages("pak")
-pak::pak("cfr")
-pak::pak("epiparameter")
-pak::pak("tidyverse")
-pak::pak("outbreaks")
+```r
+if (!base::require("pak")) install.packages("pak")
+pak::pak(c("cfr", "epiparameter", "tidyverse", "outbreaks"))
 ```
 
 If you have any error message,
diff --git a/episodes/superspreading-estimate.Rmd b/episodes/superspreading-estimate.Rmd
index 9c8f1e35..a89a6b74 100644
--- a/episodes/superspreading-estimate.Rmd
+++ b/episodes/superspreading-estimate.Rmd
@@ -41,13 +41,9 @@ Learners should familiarise themselves with following concept dependencies befor
 
 Install packages if their are not already installed
 
-```{r, eval = FALSE}
-# if {pak} is not installed, run: install.packages("pak")
-pak::pak("epicontacts")
-pak::pak("fitdistrplus")
-pak::pak("superspreading")
-pak::pak("outbreaks")
-pak::pak("tidyverse")
+```r
+if (!base::require("pak")) install.packages("pak")
+pak::pak(c("epicontacts", "fitdistrplus", "superspreading", "outbreaks", "tidyverse"))
 ```
 
 If you have any error message,