COVID-19

Featured image: No wonder people are confused. Most official COVID vaccine advice is way too complex

No wonder people are confused. Most official COVID vaccine advice is way too complex

Guest Author • Aug 02, 2021

Danielle Marie Muscat, University of Sydney; Julie Ayre, University of Sydney; Kirsten McCaffery, University of Sydney, and Olivia Mac, University of Sydney   As Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow, the message has shifted to urgently “get the jab”. And people’s motivation to get vaccinated is increasing. But with ever-changing advice, many people are confused about which vaccine they’re … Read More

Featured image: Why governments will have to consider the costs of long COVID when easing pandemic restrictions

Why governments will have to consider the costs of long COVID when easing pandemic restrictions

Guest Author • Jul 27, 2021

Richard Meade, Auckland University of Technology   With governments worldwide under pressure to ease pandemic restrictions as vaccination rates rise and impatience with border restrictions grows, new threats become clearer. One of the costliest, it is now feared, could be a tsunami of “long COVID” cases. Long COVID is a serious ongoing illness that follows an acute episode of the … Read More

Featured image: Could Britain be sued for reopening and putting the world at risk from new COVID variants?

Could Britain be sued for reopening and putting the world at risk from new COVID variants?

Guest Author • Jul 21, 2021

Kris Gledhill, Auckland University of Technology With most COVID-19 restrictions now lifted in England, the world is watching to see what this so-called “freedom day” will bring. Some scepticism is warranted, given Britain’s approach throughout the pandemic has hardly been a success. By July 19, there had been 128,985 deaths from COVID-19, and the death rate per million … Read More

Featured image: Four in five New Zealanders plan to get vaccinated, but many people want more information about vaccine safety

Four in five New Zealanders plan to get vaccinated, but many people want more information about vaccine safety

Guest Author • Jul 15, 2021

Jagadish Thaker, Massey University   New Zealanders’ intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine is at its highest since last year, at 81% of the adult population, according to our latest research. Ministry of Health surveys, which have been tracking public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines since last year, also confirm the potential uptake has increased to 80% in May, … Read More

Featured image: Condoms, vaccines and sport: how the Tokyo Olympics is sending mixed messages about COVID-19 safety

Condoms, vaccines and sport: how the Tokyo Olympics is sending mixed messages about COVID-19 safety

Guest Author • Jul 07, 2021

Maximilian de Courten, Victoria University and Hans Westerbeek, Victoria University   The Tokyo Olympics are less than three weeks away. And the pressure is on for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Japan was just coming out of its fourth COVID-19 wave with about 1,400 new cases every day, but numbers are now rising again. This could turn into … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand’s second-largest city faces weeks of delays in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

New Zealand’s second-largest city faces weeks of delays in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Guest Author • Jul 06, 2021

Bernard Walker, University of Canterbury   A crucial delivery of 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine has arrived in New Zealand this week, ahead of schedule. But at the same time, the vaccination of most people living in the Canterbury region has been moved back by at least two months. For the rest of the country, people in … Read More

Featured image: Let’s hold off vaccinating children and teens against COVID-19. Prioritising adults is our best shot for now

Let’s hold off vaccinating children and teens against COVID-19. Prioritising adults is our best shot for now

Guest Author • Jul 06, 2021

Fiona Russell, The University of Melbourne; Peter McIntyre, The University of Otago; and Shidan Tosif, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute   Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries that have achieved high vaccination coverage in adults have started vaccinating adolescents aged 12-15. Drivers to vaccinate children and adolescents include building confidence to open schools, preventing severe disease, and reducing transmission … Read More

Featured image: At least four in five New Zealanders will have to be vaccinated before border controls can be fully relaxed

At least four in five New Zealanders will have to be vaccinated before border controls can be fully relaxed

Guest Author • Jul 02, 2021

Nicholas Steyn, University of Auckland; Michael Plank, University of Canterbury, and Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland   New Zealand will have to maintain some border controls and public health measures until a high proportion of the population is vaccinated, according to our latest modelling study, released today as a pre-print ahead of peer review. For the alpha variant of … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand has managed to dodge the COVID-19 bullet, again. Here’s why

New Zealand has managed to dodge the COVID-19 bullet, again. Here’s why

Guest Author • Jul 01, 2021

Arindam Basu, University of Canterbury   New Zealand has avoided community transmission, even though an Australian visitor tested positive for the delta variant which dominates Australia’s latest COVID-19 outbreaks. New Zealand health authorities were quick to react, isolating and testing contacts and suspending travel. Of the traveller’s 2,609 contacts, 93% have now returned a negative test result. But given … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand is right to pause travel to Australia. It buys time to upgrade its COVID-19 response

New Zealand is right to pause travel to Australia. It buys time to upgrade its COVID-19 response

Guest Author • Jun 29, 2021

Matthew Hobbs, University of Canterbury   The trans-Tasman travel bubble popped just ten weeks after quarantine-free travel started. The government today announced that the current pause in trans-Tasman travel has been extended until at least midnight on Sunday. It will then only lift for South Australia, Australia Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria. Travellers will also need to have … Read More