COVID-19 vaccination produces a more consistent immune response than a past infection. With the delta variant, the difference in protection may be even greater.
Nicholas Steyn, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Michael Plank, University of Canterbury, dan Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
New Zealand will have to vaccinate 80-85% to reach population immunity. Until then, a blanket border re-opening, even if only for vaccinated people, would pose a high risk of new outbreaks.
New Zealand health authorities were quick to react to the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak and managed to avoid community transmission, but the unique nature of how the virus spreads also played a role.
Pressure is mounting to reopen the Canada-U.S. border, but there are risks. How well those risks are managed may be the difference between pandemic recovery or a fourth wave of COVID-19.
New Zealand has avoided a COVID-19 outbreak, despite a visit by an Australian traveller with the delta variant. But now is clearly the time to introduce mandatory scanning and mask rules.
We recently heard reports of a new and dangerous ‘hybrid’ variant circulating in Vietnam. There is such as a thing as a hybrid viral variant — but this doesn’t appear to be it.
It is unlikely that we will reach full herd immunity for COVID-19. However, we are likely to reach a practical kind of herd immunity through vaccination.
Fiona Russell, The University of Melbourne; John Hart, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, dan Katherine Gibney, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
The COVID-19 variant responsible for Victoria’s latest outbreak is one of three Indian variant sub-types, which spreads more easily than the original strain. Here’s what we know so far.
As the Indian variant becomes more prevalent within our borders, anti-South Asian sentiment is also growing, putting the community at a higher risk of hate crimes.
Despite some public virtue signalling, the Canadian government is not doing all it can to improve global access to COVID-19 vaccines. Canada has yet to announce its position on the WTO patent waiver.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand