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This is exacerbated by the constant evolution of the virus, with variants evading both vaccine and infection induced immunity. Our current vaccines protect against severe disease, but do not eliminate the risk of infection and only partially reduce transmission. Virologists were advising me, back in March 2020, that the vaccinated would likely still transmit the virus, and this has been shown to be true ( here and here), albeit at somewhat reduced rates. Mucosal IgA, while able to mediate protection in the respiratory tract, is usually relatively short-lived, whether induced by vaccination or infection. In reality, this was never going to happen.Ĭoronaviruses initially target the upper respiratory tract where they replicate, with varying degrees of spread (and replication) in the lower respiratory tract. Concepts of herd immunity became commonplace in the media and political discussion, and terms such as “wall of immunity” were bandied around. There was an ill-informed belief that vaccines would eliminate transmission and disease, and we could return to pre-pandemic life. The most memorable (and regrettable) of these was the Queensland Premier’s “Smiles are back” video, closely followed by the New South Wales Premier visiting a pub with several unmasked mates while a mask mandate was still in place.Īustralia set out almost its entire strategy for “living with COVID” based on vaccination rates. State Premiers made heroic gestures about abandoning masks, making any walk-back difficult.
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We seemed stuck at droplets and objects (keep 1.5 m distant, clean touchpoints and sanitise your hands), with no public discourse about airborne spread. The public health messaging failed to evolve. Masks, a key tool in the public health response, became a political flashpoint, as did vaccine mandates. “Blue” (Coalition) states were less likely to criticise the federal government response, “red” (Labor) states were keen to point the finger.
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There was a sense of unity, of science leading the way, and of politicians avoiding politicising the response.įederal state relations started being defined by (to use a US phrase) red/blue delineation. But through enormous effort, we achieved the unachievable of zero COVID after uncontrolled spread. We had mostly intermittent lockdowns, with Victoria being the exception, with one of the longest lockdowns in the world. Test, trace, isolate – we were fully on board with the fundamentals of public health practice. Genomic tracing was the rule, and strict border measures were in place. In March 2020, when I landed back in the country, Australia was virtually COVID-free, and every case was investigated. Living in “zero COVID” Australia felt surreal, and for months I felt guilty. Bodies were being misplaced, and some people were choosing to die at home, rather than risk that undignified fate. There were refrigeration trucks doubling as mortuaries, mass graves at the Potters Field on Hart Island, and a field hospital in Central Park. While I watched aghast at what was happening to my colleagues who remained there, New York peaked at 800 deaths a day, with a total of almost 23 000 deaths in the first 4 months of its pandemic. There was a sense of panic in the air, and a sense of peril associated with every human interaction.
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When I left New York, the streets were deserted, shops were shuttered, restaurants were closed. Seeing Virgin ground its fleet, and Qantas announce that it would follow, I got on the last flight I could reliably book and started months of remote work, clocking on at 11 pm in Brisbane, to keep New York hours. I left New York not long after that, responding to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s advice for expats to return to Australia. I WAS living in New York in March 2020, working for the United Nations, when COVID-19 shut the city down. We need our political leaders to come together in bipartisan efforts to stop the spread and avoid the temptation of wedge politics when lives and the future health of the nation are at stake. It’s time for our medical leaders to give strong and assertive advice to politicians, to leave them no plausible deniability, and for politicians to explain their reasoning for rejecting clear medical advice. Let me be clear, we do not yet have a complete understanding of the long term sequelae of COVID, but a picture is emerging that makes a policy of mass infection grossly irresponsible.