COVID-19

Featured image: 30% of New Zealanders are ‘vaccine sceptics’, so trust is key to COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

30% of New Zealanders are ‘vaccine sceptics’, so trust is key to COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

Guest Author • Dec 11, 2020

Claire Breen, University of Waikato The emergency approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and the imminent roll-out of several other vaccines in 2021 raises serious questions about New Zealand’s likely uptake of this vital public health response. Recent research into New Zealanders’ attitudes to vaccination suggest positions have become more polarised over the last decade, … Read More

Featured image: Sweden vs. New Zealand, with Taiwan in the lead

Sweden vs. New Zealand, with Taiwan in the lead

Dave Heatley • Dec 11, 2020

Is the Covid pandemic and our collective responses to it best framed as health vs. the economy? That is, are countries forced to make a horrible trade-off between: minimising Covid infection rates at high economic cost; and accepting higher Covid infection rates, this being the cost of maintaining economic activity? This framing underlies many of the popular narratives comparing the … Read More

Featured image: A vaccine will be a game-changer for international travel. But it’s not everything

A vaccine will be a game-changer for international travel. But it’s not everything

Guest Author • Dec 04, 2020

Adrian Esterman, University of South Australia The United Kingdom yesterday became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use. Following a review by the country’s drug regulator, the UK government announced it will begin rolling out the vaccine next week. Other countries are likely to follow soon, authorising the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and possibly other … Read More

Featured image: Devastated by disease in the past, Samoa is on high alert after recent coronavirus scares

Devastated by disease in the past, Samoa is on high alert after recent coronavirus scares

Guest Author • Nov 27, 2020

Tootoooleaava Dr. Fanaafi Aiono-Le Tagaloa, University of Waikato Within minutes of news that crew members of the cargo ship Fesco Askold had tested positive for COVID-19, a social media storm broke across Samoa. COVID-free until then, the island nation’s anxiety was understandable. More so when you consider its history. Memories of the deadly 2019 measles outbreak were still … Read More

Featured image: Why some people find it easier to stick to new habits they formed during lockdown

Why some people find it easier to stick to new habits they formed during lockdown

Guest Author • Nov 24, 2020

Matthew Jenkins, University of Otago and Elaine Hargreaves, University of Otago Periods of lockdown represent a massive disruption to people’s daily routines, but they also offer an opportunity to establish new habits. Our research focus is on what motivates people to change their behaviour, particularly when it comes to physical activity routines. We compared the levels of physical … Read More

Featured image: Buying and distributing a COVID-19 vaccine will involve hard ethical and practical choices

Buying and distributing a COVID-19 vaccine will involve hard ethical and practical choices

Guest Author • Nov 18, 2020

Barbara Allen, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Michael Macaulay, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The world was ablaze with hope following the announcement last week that a vaccine developed by Pfiser and BioNTech may be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19. New Zealand politicians were quick to … Read More

Featured image: Moderna follows Pfizer with exciting vaccine news – how to read these dramatic developments

Moderna follows Pfizer with exciting vaccine news – how to read these dramatic developments

Guest Author • Nov 17, 2020

Simon Kolstoe, University of Portsmouth It is very exciting to hear another positive story about vaccine trial results – a good vaccine is the most likely way of ending the pandemic. Last week, interim results from Pfizer suggested its vaccine reduces cases of COVID-19 with 90% efficacy. Now Moderna has gone one better, with interim results showing nearly … Read More

Featured image: Will the Coronavirus Evolve to Be Less Deadly?

Will the Coronavirus Evolve to Be Less Deadly?

Guest Author • Nov 14, 2020

Wendy Orent No lethal pandemic lasts forever. The 1918 flu, for example, crisscrossed the globe and claimed tens of millions of lives, yet by 1920, the virus that caused it had become significantly less deadly, causing only ordinary seasonal flu. Some pandemics have lasted longer, like the Black Death, which swept out of Central Asia in 1346, spread across Europe, … Read More