Trials are under way to ascertain whether COVID vaccines are safe and effective for children under 12. In the meantime, it’s reassuring to note that generally, young kids cope OK with the virus.
After enduring a devastating wave of infections, deaths and lockdowns at the start of the pandemic, Italy is putting in place tougher anti-COVID measures, including a vaccine passport.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Some of the 60 economists surveyed thought cash incentives and lotteries should be held in reserve as a last resort — but two-thirds thought they shouldn’t be used at all.
Detainees at Villawood Detention Centre during a protest in 2011.
Dean Lewins/AAP
The largest immigration detention centre is located in a COVID hot spot in western Sydney. We need to make vaccinations for detainees and staff an urgent priority.
Lining up for a vaccine at a municipal stadium in Hyderabad, India.
AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A
A public health scholar based in New Delhi explains how India has emerged from the massive spike in COVID-19 cases, even as the country braces for a new wave.
Cancer and organ transplant patients, people with untreated HIV and people with other immunodeficiencies are at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
burakkarademir/E+ via Getty Images
With the reality of the COVID situation in Australia, particularly in New South Wales, some older adults could literally die waiting.
Unmanaged needle fear is very distressing for those affected and can influence health-care choices. Science-backed methods can help people manage their phobia and get vaccinated.
(Shutterstock)
For the one in 10 people with a significant fear of needles, getting a vaccination is distressing. This can disrupt vaccination campaigns, but there are effective ways to manage pain and fear.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announcing New Zealand’s nationwide level 4 lockdown on Tuesday evening.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
New Zealand has been free of COVID-19 community infection since February, but a single confirmed case in Auckland has seen the government again adopt the ‘go hard, go early’ approach.
A man reacts as he gets a shot of the one-dose Sputnik Light vaccine at a mobile vaccination station in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(AP Photo/Elena Ignatyeva)
Coverage of Russian vaccination rollout has focused largely on concerns about ethics of development and inconsistent messaging. But Russian-language research complicates this picture.
Full FDA approval of the COVID-19 vaccines may help people feel more secure in its safety and effectiveness.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
In Africa, it’s more rational to prioritise vaccine access, rapid rollout and community engagement, than pushing the narrative of vaccine-induced population immunity.
Amid growing COVID-19 transmission, hospitalization and death rates, mask mandates are returning in some states.
Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images
After the CDC changed course in late July, recommending universal masking indoors, Nevada became the first state to adopt a flexible masking policy that can quickly adjust to changing COVID-19 rates.
Sorana Froda, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) et Fabrice Larribe, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Vaccine efficacy is usually expressed as a percentage, but what is it actually measuring? Statisticians explain what the numbers mean, and what they say about how well a vaccine can protect us.
The Piano Works club in Farringdon, London prepares for its reopening as part of the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in the U.K.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
It seems things have shifted slightly since earlier in the pandemic. A growing proportion of people hospitalised with the Delta strain are aged in their 30s or 40s.
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