The first few months of 2020 were critical to the World Health Organization’s response to COVID-19. But the latest report into what happened wasn’t all damning.
You only have to prevent one case, which could have otherwise led to community spread and lockdown, for such a scheme to pay for itself many times over.
Jennifer Juno, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Adam Wheatley, The University of Melbourne
Vaccination is likely to substantially reduce virus transmission by reducing the pool of people who become infected, and reducing virus levels in people who do get infected.
Many people are unsure if their condition qualifies as an underlying medical condition. They may not realise they’re already eligible for the COVID vaccine.
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.
If you live in an area where virus fragments have been found in wastewater samples, the most important thing to do is follow your state health department’s advice.
It’s quite likely this virus will never be eliminated from the world. But even so, getting vaccinated enormously reduces your risk of severe outcomes like hospitalisation and death.
A serious event such as a blood clot could be caused by an underlying medical condition, a medication the person was taking at the time, or some other factor unrelated to the vaccine.
It’s easy to call Australian Olympians who receive their COVID shot early ‘queue jumpers’. But the argument for them having early access to the vaccine is more nuanced. Here’s why.
Carey Wilson, The University of Melbourne and Thibault Renoir, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Early reports suggested an apparent increase in OCD relapse rates and symptom severity during the pandemic. But a year on, we’re learning this may not be the case.
During the height of the pandemic, people with disability felt they had been forgotten and were not a priority. In the vaccine rollout, the government is repeating its past mistakes.
Peter Alagona, University of California, Santa Barbara
The value that bats provide to humans by pollinating crops and eating insects is far greater than harm from virus transmission – which is mainly caused by human actions.
Parked school buses in Freeport, New York, 18 March 2020. Justin Lane/EPA-EFE
The cornerstone of our adaptive immune system is the ability to remember the various infections we have encountered. Quite literally, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes your immune system stronger.