COVID treatment guidelines in India specify higher doses of steroids than other countries, which could be to blame for the rise in mucormycosis or “black fungus”.
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics.
Australia’s current dilemma is that it has achieved local elimination but it is stumbling in the vital follow-up — rapid mass vaccination and quarantine centres.
The Indian government has been keeping an eye out for India’s vaccine producers by not approving any other vaccines, and by letting them charge what they want. It’s the people who are suffering.
Although Australians are generally supportive of closed borders, they are split on whether the pandemic has been a boon for national unity and social cohesion.
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics.
It became clear this week that repatriation flights for Australians stranded in India would have to resume after May 15, whatever the COVID situation in that country.
Indians are now the second-largest group of overseas-born migrants in Australia. Yet, despite their increasing numbers and growing political voice, their concerns are still not being heard.
The official medical advice to the Morrison government recommending “pausing” Australian arrivals from India also contained a blunt warning those stranded risk serious illness and even death.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has declared the government’s travel ban on Australians returning from India, including criminal sanctions, “raises serious human rights concerns”.
Getting the right “balance” is one of the main challenges when framing and executing policies. The difficulties of achieving this are being exposed currently on two fronts – the repatriation of Australians and relations with China.
Pfizer and Moderna are expected to make billions in revenue this year. It’s time all vaccine producers share their IP, data and know-how with the rest of the world.
The emergence of an Indian “double mutant” strain of the coronavirus may explain the country’s tragically soaring infection rates. Genomic testing and monitoring will be crucial in the weeks ahead.
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, The Crawford School of Public Policy & The School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
Director, Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, and Fellow, National Security College’s Futures Council, Australian National University