Michael Plank, University of Canterbury e Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Today’s announcement sent a clear message to all regions – get to a 90% vaccination rate or face the possibility of a lockdown when COVID-19 inevitably arrives.
Clinical trials demonstrate how effective vaccines are individually, but the real world shows how effective they are at a population level.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, Pool
In light of mounting research showing the serious risks of contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy, the CDC is re-upping its urgency that pregnant women get their shots.
Michelle Wise, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
COVID vaccines have no effect on fertility, do not impact the chance of a miscarriage, and are safe and effective while pregnant. Here’s what the science shows.
People who oppose vaccination won’t be swayed by statistics. To convince them, it is necessary to share real-life experiences and stories with which they will identify.
If COVID-19 becomes endemic, we’ll see multiple local outbreaks. Schools and businesses will close for days because too many people are sick. Local hospitals will be overwhelmed without warning.
As lockdowns ease and those who are double-vaccinated gain extra freedoms, we’re likely to see a greater divide between the rich, who tend to have higher vaccination rates, and the poor.
The first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston, July 18, 1776.
Tichnor Brothers Collection, Boston Public Library via Digital Commonwealth
NSW and Victoria have taken different approaches on allowing unvaccinated people in places of worship, indicating the possibility for conflicting and confusing rules across the country.
The decision not to get the COVID-19 vaccine comes from a complex set of psychological factors.
Several thousand protestors opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine march through the streets of midtown Manhattan in New York on Sept. 18, 2021.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis News via Getty Images
A growing body of research shows that nutrition, sleep, exercise and a host of other lifestyle choices can help optimize the immune system. But they are no substitute for life-saving vaccines.
A vaccination done at a pop-up site in Johannesburg. Not enough South Africans are coming forward to get their shots.
Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Until vaccination rates in the country’s most vulnerable groups are much higher, elimination remains the best way to avoid repeating the mistakes of history.
At the beginning of 2020, most people hadn’t used the word ‘pandemic’ before. Now it’s time to understand the term ‘endemic’ and find out what to expect when COVID changes shape.
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