While it may be deflating, events like the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are best watched from home this year. Here, the Harold the Fireman balloon lies face down as he readied for the parade on Nov. 27, 2019.
Gary Hershorn via Getty Images
Inaction over the next few months could cost tens of thousands of lives. Here are things you should do now to stay safe and to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Early data shows that vaccines work for older people who are more at risk of severe COVID-19.
A volunteer gets an injection of Moderna’s possible COVID-19 vaccine on July 27, 2020. Moderna announced Nov. 16 that its vaccine is proving highly effective in a major trial.
(AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Two pharma companies have announced early COVID-19 vaccine trial results with over 90 per cent effectiveness. What does that mean for getting back to normal?
Asking these four questions can help us identify good news when we see it, be more critical of news reports, or delay our judgement until we have more information.
Moderna’s new mRNA vaccine is almost 94.5% effective in large-scale trials.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
There are two new COVID-19 vaccines that appear to be more than 90% effective. But what are these vaccines, and how are they different from those used previously?
Moderna’s shot is far easier to store and distribute than Pfizer’s. But there are concerns neither vaccine performs particularly well for older people.
There’s no guarantee future COVID-19 vaccines will work in the elderly. So we can consider vaccinating the young first to protect them. Here’s what we need to work out first.
The UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer has urged his own mother to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it’s released.
Facundo Arrizabalaga
Liz Minchin, The Conversation and Molly Glassey, The Conversation
Watch two of Australia and New Zealand’s top vaccine and virus experts answering questions about COVID-19. This was filmed at a Conversation reader event with Avid Reader bookshop.
Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Side agreements signed by some wealthy nations threaten to undercut global efforts to ensure a fairly equitable worldwide vaccination effort.
The TRIPS waiver enables WTO member states to manufacture and distribute COVID-19 drugs and medical supplies that would normally be protected by patents.
(Pixabay)
Ronald Labonte, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Mira Johri, Université de Montréal
The TRIPS waiver makes COVID-19 treatments more accessible globally by enabling manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 drugs and medical supplies that would normally be protected by patents.
Two more COVID-19 vaccines may now be on the cards for Australia, should they pass clinical trials. But, as with earlier vaccine deals, there are no guarantees.
So-called mRNA vaccines are among the frontrunners in the global race to design a COVID vaccine. But as a new technology, most nations, including Australia, lack the capacity to produce them at scale.
A lab technician sorts blood samples inside a lab for a COVID-19 vaccine study at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Fla., on Aug. 13, 2020.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
People who oppose vaccines often are dismissed as ignorant or naive. Failing to hear their concerns and address them may only be fueling vaccine resistance, however.
A worker repackages vaccines in a factory owned by Indonesia’s pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma in Bandung, West Java.
ANTARA FOTO/Raisan Al Farisi/wsj/18.
Anda Nugroho, Badan Kebijakan Fiskal, Kementerian Keuangan RI
If Indonesia can maximise its role as the hub for the production and distribution of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines for Southeast Asia region, the country may gain profits.
Paediatrician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist, University of Melbourne and MCRI, Murdoch Children's Research Institute