Two public health nurses vaccinate adults at a polio clinic in Southey, Sask. in 1960.
(Canadian Nurses Association fonds. Library and Archives Canada)
At the height of polio and H1N1, Canadians were keen to get vaccinated, but vaccine enthusiasm waned once the crisis had passed — what does that mean for COVID-19?
Patients with overweight or obesity issues make up more than 70% of the U.S. population.
Peter Dazeley via Getty Images
Americans with excess weight and obesity have been hit hard by COVID-19. Now there is reason to believe they may not get the same protection from the vaccines.
High-income countries have already bought up stocks of the leading COVID-19 vaccines for the foreseeable future.
EPA-EFE
Selfishness was also a problem when the world was developing vaccines for swine flu and bird flu.
Albanian health department workers, wearing protective suits, collect chickens, in the village of Peze Helmes some 20 km from the capital Tirana, 23 March 2006, after the second case of H5N1 bird flu was discovered in Albania.
Gent Shkullaku / AFP
Ever since the 2001 SARS outbreak and H5N1 avian flu in 2003, we’ve developed tools to monitor diseases that transmitted from animals to humans. But what does a large-scale roll-out entail?
How should COVID-19 vaccine be prioritized?
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File
A team of experts argues that after taking care of essential workers, COVID-19 vaccinations should be given to the greatest transmitters of the virus, who are mostly the young.
A new set of swine flu viruses have been discovered that are highly adapted to infecting humans – and they’re already spreading among farm workers in China.
A century ago, the influenza pandemic killed about 50 million people. Today we are battling the coronavirus pandemic. Are we any better off? Two social scientists share five reasons we have to be optimistic.
A security guard checks the body temperature of a motorcyclist as a preventive measure.
Risa Krisadhi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Detecting fever requires measuring core body temperature. Screening measures the body’s surface temperature.
A pandemic from a century ago doesn’t necessarily chart the course of the pandemic happening now.
National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Differences in the viruses’ biology and societal contexts mean there’s no guarantee today’s pandemic will mirror the ‘waves’ of infection a century ago.
The pangolin, one of the most poached animals in the world, could have served as an intermediate host in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans.
Wahyudi/AFP
Covid-19, like other major epidemics, is not unrelated to the biodiversity and climate crisis we are experiencing.
A member of the South African National Defence Force hands out pamphlets informing township residents about COVID-19 in Johannesburg.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE
COVID-19 has a long incubation time, and testing can take days to get results. Don’t let continually rising case numbers make you give up on staying at home.
Social distancing is one of the key ways to keep the coronavirus from spreading.
Getty Images / Maddie Meyer
Modelling highlights the urgent need for strong interventions.
A health-care worker prepares for the opening of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre in Ottawa, during a media tour on March 13, 2020.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)
The government’s “whatever it takes” promise to NHS is all very well, but UK healthcare is a long way from being ready to deal with a major outbreak.
A security guard wears gloves while holding a basketball during halftime of an NBA game in Houston on March 5, 2020. The NBA has told players to avoid high-fiving fans and to avoid taking any item for autographs.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Initial data from the outbreak in China did not reveal as much information as scientists needed to assess the epidemic. Now, more accurate data suggest an epidemic worse than some previously thought.
Commuters jam a Toronto subway platform. Widespread adoption of habits that help prevent infection may boost behavioural herd immunity.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
Large-scale adoption of simple, individual actions — like disinfecting our germ-laden phone screens — can limit the ability of COVID-19 to get a foothold.
Flight attendants check temperatures of passengers aboard an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing on Feb. 4, 2020.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
Directeur de recherche CNRS, systématicien, directeur de l’Institut de systématique, évolution, biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
Visiting Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies, Brown University, USA, and Distinguished Professor, Public Health and Medical Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand