The IOC was under considerable pressure to host the 1920 games. While a noble goal, it resulted in significant hardships for war-torn Belgium and the athletes themselves.
The rise of the Delta variant does seem to be associated with more COVID transmission in schools than what we’ve seen previously. But kids are much less likely to become severely unwell.
The federal government sent a lot of money to states to help with an anticipated COVID-related economic downturn. Turns out, states did not need that much money – but they may spend it anyway.
People who haven’t gotten vaccinated for COVID-19 often have complex reasons for their relunctance or may face other barriers. Lumping them all together undercuts the vaccination campaign.
To come out of lockdown, health authorities want to see that all cases are linked, and that potentially infectious people are quarantining before they test positive. This still isn’t happening.
We should move rapidly to reduce fear, improve vaccination rates, improve treatments and reduce complications as we do with other diseases we can’t eliminate or fully protect against.
The prime minister has borrowed language from Franklin Roosevelt to describe his pathway out of the pandemic. But Morrison’s ‘New Deal’ has the potential to leave too many people behind.
Vaccine manufacturing doesn’t come cheap. It depends heavily on support from developed countries. It also requires much more than relaxing intellectual property rights and a desire for vaccine equity.
Our research shows the government must help tourism operators address chronic staff shortages, skyrocketing insurance and developing better plans for future shocks.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
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