COVID-19

Featured image: Are employers and workers at odds over NZ’s workplace vaccine mandates? Our research suggests they might be

Are employers and workers at odds over NZ’s workplace vaccine mandates? Our research suggests they might be

Guest Author • Nov 04, 2021

Stephen Croucher, Massey University; Doug Ashwell, Massey University, and Jo Cullinane, Massey University   The New Zealand government’s announcement yesterday of expanded mandatory vaccination requirements raises important questions about legality and compliance. Vaccination will become mandatory for staff at any business where vaccine certificates are required for customers, including hospitality, hairdressers and gyms. But our research suggests this will … Read More

Featured image: ‘If you want summer, get vaccinated’ – Jacinda Ardern sets the target for re-opening New Zealand

‘If you want summer, get vaccinated’ – Jacinda Ardern sets the target for re-opening New Zealand

Guest Author • Nov 01, 2021

Michael Plank, University of Canterbury and Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland   The New Zealand government has bet heavily on vaccination targets and certificates to move the country into the re-opening phase of its COVID-19 response. As part of today’s major announcement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 90% of the eligible population must be fully vaccinated in each of the … Read More

Featured image: New Zealanders are super-connected. When restrictions lift in Auckland, it won’t take much to amplify Delta’s spread

New Zealanders are super-connected. When restrictions lift in Auckland, it won’t take much to amplify Delta’s spread

Guest Author • Oct 27, 2021

Dion O’Neale, University of Auckland; Emily Harvey, University of Auckland; James Gilmour, University of Auckland, and Steven Turnbull, University of Auckland   As Aotearoa New Zealand moves from elimination to suppression, we need to understand how this could change the nature of transmission from Auckland’s Delta outbreak to the rest of New Zealand. Aucklanders can expect a three-step easing … Read More

Featured image: New Zealand’s mass vaccination event lifts uptake but highlights dangerous inequities as the country prepares to open up

New Zealand’s mass vaccination event lifts uptake but highlights dangerous inequities as the country prepares to open up

Guest Author • Oct 22, 2021

Jesse Whitehead, University of Waikato   New Zealand’s mass vaccination event last Saturday, when more than 130,000 people turned up to get their first or second dose, surpassed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s expectations. Super Saturday and a televised “vaxathon” were part of the government’s push towards a 90% vaccination goal. About 85% of New Zealanders have now had their first … Read More

Featured image: COVID-19 cases rise when schools open – but more so when teachers and students don’t wear masks

COVID-19 cases rise when schools open – but more so when teachers and students don’t wear masks

Guest Author • Oct 19, 2021

Zoë Hyde, The University of Western Australia   As students return to schools in Victoria and New South Wales after months of lockdowns, many people may be worried about the risks to their kids – and transmission overall. The role that schools play in transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been difficult to work out, but new evidence … Read More

Featured image: Why Jacinda Ardern’s ‘clumsy’ leadership response to Delta could still be the right approach

Why Jacinda Ardern’s ‘clumsy’ leadership response to Delta could still be the right approach

Guest Author • Oct 15, 2021

Suze Wilson, Massey University   Leading people through the pandemic is clearly no easy task. But does the criticism currently directed at New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reveal a major misstep on her part, or something deeper about the nature of leadership itself? Ardern has previously won widespread praise for her COVID-19 response and crisis communication, topping … Read More

Featured image: How a random sampling regime could help detect COVID and highlight infection hotspots

How a random sampling regime could help detect COVID and highlight infection hotspots

Guest Author • Oct 15, 2021

Stephen John Haslett, Massey University and Richard Arnold, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington   For the detection of community transmission of COVID-19, New Zealand currently relies on contact tracing, testing of self-selected people with symptoms and those with permission to travel between different alert levels, and surveillance testing of staff at businesses permitted to … Read More

Featured image: No, COVID-19 vaccines don’t affect women’s fertility

No, COVID-19 vaccines don’t affect women’s fertility

Guest Author • Oct 13, 2021

Michelle Wise, University of Auckland   Some women are holding off on being vaccinated against COVID-19 because of concerns the jab could affect their fertility, at times taking to social media to voice their concerns. Anti-vaccination campaigners appear to be fuelling these fears and misleading women into thinking the vaccine may affect their chance of getting pregnant now or in … Read More

Featured image: Hit hard by the pandemic, researchers expect its impacts to linger for years

Hit hard by the pandemic, researchers expect its impacts to linger for years

Guest Author • Oct 12, 2021

Sora Park, University of Canberra; Jennie Scarvell, University of Canberra, and Linda Botterill, University of Canberra   The impacts of COVID-19 on Australian university researchers are likely to have consequences for research productivity and quality for many years to come. According to an online survey of academics at the University of Canberra between November 2020 and February 2021, they have … Read More