Diplomatic Immunity

COVID-19 vaccines and community immunity (transmission)

Helen Petousis Harris • Jan 22, 2021

Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual infection, so you can be perfectly well but carry … Read More

The frail elderly and COVID vaccines – should we be concerned?

Helen Petousis Harris • Jan 16, 2021

(updated 18 Jan to reflect new information) Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 29 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine … Read More

How good is the AstraZeneca vaccine looking? Look at the data, not news headlines

Helen Petousis Harris • Jan 15, 2021

Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult the experts, other than a passing token … Read More

Pressing the pause button after an adverse event happens to a vaccine trial participant

Helen Petousis Harris • Sep 09, 2020

Today AstraZeneca pushed the pause button on its late-stage trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. A clinical trial participant has experienced a serious health event and an investigation is underway to determine the cause. What does it mean? A cautious approach – trials can halt to assess safety data With over 200 COVID-19 vaccines now under development … Read More

COVID-19 vaccines and human cell lines

Helen Petousis Harris • Aug 26, 2020

When science meets ethics and morality. Vaccines are biological products and will have be exposed to various organic and inorganic products during their manufacture, depending on vaccine type. This includes exposure to human cells. Research that informs vaccine development will certainly have relied on such products along the way. Some people have faith, morality or safety-based concerns about the use … Read More

That Russian COVID-19 vaccine – not for us thanks

Helen Petousis Harris • Aug 12, 2020

Russia are deploying a COVID-19 vaccine to its people without knowing if it works or if it is safe. They also appear to be taking advance orders for doses from other countries. It is almost hard to know where to start with why this is so wrong. Reckless, unethical, and now utterly reliant on dumb luck. Read More

COVID-19 vaccine safety – are vital steps being skipped?

Helen Petousis Harris • May 12, 2020

Five months into the COVID-19 pandemic the conversation is shifting to vaccines. One of the key concerns voiced by some experts and public are that in the rush to get vaccines deployed, safety will be compromised. Here I outline, in part, the COVID-19 vaccine safety landscape of activities. First, let me introduce you to some of the key entities tasked … Read More

Plandemic – effective fact-free marketing

Helen Petousis Harris • May 12, 2020

And now for a new professionally edited conspiracy video with scary music. Before COVID-19 emerged the world already had a problem with information overload – an infodemic. Misinformation had gained a wide forum on many social media platforms, increasing the reach, polarisation, and overall confusion of the population (a misinfodemic). In response … Read More

Smashing down the barriers: Where are we at with COVID vaccines?

Helen Petousis Harris • Mar 31, 2020

In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for a deadly disease, staying home in your bubble is what you do, the concept is not new. To the best of my knowledge last time we did this in NZ was for polio, in the years before a vaccine came along. So, what can we expect for COVID-19? … Read More

Beating the evolving COVID-19 pandemic – unprecedented human collaboration in discovery and innovation

Helen Petousis Harris • Feb 26, 2020

Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. Let’s look at the build-up to this global health emergency … Read More

About Diplomatic Immunity

Diplomatic Immunity is the blog of Dr Helen Petousis-Harris who comments about immunisation, the science underpinning it and the pseudoscience often spread about types of immunisation.

The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the owners of SciBlogs.co.nz, the Science Media Centre or the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Get in touch with the authors