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wWhile COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the world last year, the virus did have one redeeming feature: it didn’t appear to infect children very much, compared to adults.
But fast forward a year, and kids are getting COVID in much higher numbers. We can see this in data from overseas, but also in the current Delta outbreaks in New South Wales, Victoria and elsewhere.
It’s not all bad news though, as Nicholas Wood explains. Although more children are catching COVID, the proportion of kids who need to be hospitalised is still very small, and far smaller than for adults.
While we have the Pfizer vaccine approved for use in children 12 and up, we don’t yet have a licenced vaccine for younger children. The safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines in this age group is currently being evaluated in trials – Wood explains where these are up to.
In the meantime, he says, vaccinating as many adults as possible is the best way to protect younger kids from COVID-19.
And in View from the Hill today, there’s much talk about what will happen when we eventually “open up”. Michelle Grattan writes that as Scott Morrison pushes for a lifting of restrictions, while states such as Western Australia and Queensland are resisting, there might be another problem: a possible “pinch point” for a health system having to deal with the backlog of delayed treatment while continuing to vaccinate the population. And all of this with an election due by May next year.
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Phoebe Roth
Deputy Editor, Health+Medicine
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Nicholas Wood, University of Sydney
Trials are under way to ascertain whether COVID vaccines are safe and effective for children under 12. In the meantime, it’s reassuring to note that generally, young kids cope OK with the virus.
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Mick Tsikas/AAP
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Scott Morrison has called on Australia’s to focus on emerging from the cave, while Anthony Albanese has labelled him the ‘gaslight on the hill’
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Zabi Karimi/AP/AAP
Zuleyha Keskin, Charles Sturt University; Mehmet Ozalp, Charles Sturt University
There are many different understandings of shariah law in the Muslim world – the Taliban’s is a particularly hard-line one that is unlikely to change radically.
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Peterfz30/Shutterstock
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
When low-wage workers lose jobs the average wage goes up. There’s a better measure, but we’re not using it.
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Mushroom Pictures and Pariah Productions
Alison Taylor, Bond University
Chopper, with Eric Bana in the title role, detonated on our screens 20 years ago. The film is aggressively self-aware in its provocations but its depiction of domestic violence has not aged well.
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GettyImages
Claire Breen, University of Waikato
Children can give and refuse consent to be vaccinated, so parents and health workers need to be clear about the law.
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Science + Technology
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Jamin Wood, The University of Queensland; Bernardino Virdis, The University of Queensland; Shihu Hu, The University of Queensland
In ancient Earth’s atmosphere, microbes called acetogens were able to recycle carbon dioxide using chemical energy sources such as hydrogen.
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Brendan Zietsch, The University of Queensland
Same-sex sexual behaviour presents a paradox: it’s influenced by genes, but how and why do these genes continue to be passed down the generations? One theory is they have reproductive benefits too.
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Education
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T.J. Thomson, Queensland University of Technology; Glen Thomas, Queensland University of Technology; Lesley Irvine, Queensland University of Technology
We live in a world of spoken, visual and written communication, but the third mode continues to dominate teaching and assessment in university communication courses.
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Peter Hurley, Victoria University; Hannah Matthews, Victoria University
The government is paying childcare services in hot-spots 25% of pre-pandemic revenue. But without parents’ fees, the sector is still in a tough position.
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Sharon Goldfeld, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Jill Sewell, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
There is some risk of COVID transmission in playgrounds, but the benefits of outdoor play, especially now, may outweigh the risks.
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Environment + Energy
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John Martin, University of Sydney; David L. Waldien, Christopher Newport University; Junior Novera, The University of Queensland; Justin A. Welbergen, Western Sydney University; Malik OEDIN, Université de Nouvelle Calédonie; Nicola Hanrahan, Charles Darwin University; Tigga Kingston, Texas Tech University; Tyrone Lavery, Australian National University
There are 191 different species of bat across the Pacific Island. They are vital parts of the region’s biodiversity, and many species have cultural significance.
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Wendy Steele, RMIT University; Diana MacCallum, Curtin University; Donna Houston, Macquarie University; Jason Byrne, University of Tasmania; Jean Hillier, RMIT University
In the absence of national leadership, local communities are forging new responses to the climate crisis in places where they live, work and play. These three examples show how.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan discusses politics with politics + society editor, Amanda Dunn
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Kathleen Daly, Griffith University; Juliet Davis, Griffith University
A $378 million scheme has just been launched for Stolen Generations survivors. This is the latest example of ‘money justice’, which is more common than you might realise.
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Arts + Culture
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Caitlin Vincent, The University of Melbourne; Amanda Coles, Deakin University; Jordan Beth Vincent, Deakin University
Over 15 seasons, 90% of all opera productions at The Royal Opera credited a male director.
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Health + Medicine
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Deb Massey, Southern Cross University
COVID patients in ICU are younger, sicker and stay for longer than other critically unwell patients, affecting the entire hospital and its staff.
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