Will travellers be keen or cautious about the COVID-19 vaccine?
We ask Executive Traveller readers for their approach to the COVID vaccine if it becomes available in early 2021.
December 31 could be especially welcome this year. It'll see the disastrous 2020 finally behind us while hopefully, based on the latest forecasts, opening the new year with a COVID-19 vaccine in the wings.
As previously reported, the Federal Government plans to offer free vaccines to all Australians across 2021, starting with the promising Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine in the first two months and potentially ramping up with the University of Queensland vaccine from mid-year.
The aim is to have a staggering 84 million doses of both coronavirus vaccines produced over the course of the year – subject to both vaccines proving successful in clinical trials, of course.
An estimated 3.8 million doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine would be made available by the end of February for front-line healthcare workers and people in at-risk categories such as those with asthma or heart disease, transplant recipients and cancer patients, as well as the elderly.
A shot in the arm for travel and tourism
Two injections would be needed: an initial kick-starter to begin producing the antibodies, followed by a booster dose within several weeks.
This means that almost two million Australians could be vaccinated within those first two months.
After that, anybody who wanted the vaccine could register and line up for their shots in the same way that the annual winter flu shots are managed.
This could be the key to international borders reopening, overseas flights restarting and, for our readers, a return to both business and leisure travel after a year or more of being grounded.
So this week we're asking Executive Traveller readers how you'll approach the COVID-19 vaccine: will you be among the first in line to get the jab, or will you wait until later in the year (and if so, why?).
And: do you expect there'll also be a need to produce a negative COVID test result, along with a vaccination certificate, before hopping onto a flight?
Share your thoughts with us and other Executive Traveller readers in the comments box below.
07 May 2020
Total posts 151
If a vaccine is developed sometime and it is even good enough to have a 50% efficacy, and you manage to force it upon 100% of the population, you are only going to have 50% of the population with some protection. But you won't know which 50%. So do you expect that governments in pandemic panic mode are going to change their lockdown and border strategies in Australia? And which brave person who takes the vaccine knowing that they maybe only have a 50% chance of having immunity will readily go out and expose themselves to a deadly virus and see if they are safe? Brave indeed. Of course some like me will not take the vaccine but I will hop on a plane anytime. Data coming out of the northern hemisphere will show how Australia has completely overreacted but have now backed themselves into a corner in the hope of a vaccine saviour.
09 Mar 2015
Total posts 32
I think you'll find that without having a vaccine shot you might not be allowed to travel for a while, I expect that once a vaccine is available the government will make it a rule that you need to show proof of vaccination and probably also a negative result for a very recent or even 15-minute COVID test before you can board a flight overseas.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
Anna80 you are assuming their will be a vaccine. Might not ever be one.
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 228
"Researchers are testing 37 vaccines in clinical trials on humans, and at least 91 preclinical vaccines are under active investigation in animals" according to this very good New York Times tracker at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html. Nine vaccines including the Oxford one are in the final 'Phase 3' stage of "large-scale efficacy tests", 14 are in 'Phase 2' expanded safety trials. So I would say it's pretty safe to assume there will be a vaccine, in fact that there will be many vaccines, because this is a global pandemic with a massive global impact and therefore a massive global market.
11 Sep 2015
Total posts 228
I can't imagine any ET reader would not be keen to get a vaccine if it lets us get back in the air! And as Zaphod said above there could also be a lot of other 'on the ground' activities and events where you'd be wise to have the vaccination, even simple things like concerts. It's all about reducing the risk to yourself.
09 Mar 2015
Total posts 32
Definitely will want the shot as soon as I can get it. I also think it will be a rule that you show proof of vaccination and probably also a negative result for a very recent or even 15-minute COVID test before you can board a flight overseas. The negative COVID test thing will probably be required by most if not all airlines, but the Australian government would be sensible to make vaccination a requirement for all outbound passengers as a way to encourage uptake of the vaccination.. Maybe Qantas and Virgin might even require this for domestic flights? Honestly, the more things that can be done to encourage vaccination the better in order to get us right up to 'herd immunity' levels.
12 Aug 2019
Total posts 16
I’m with you Anna, anything to be able to travel again...
05 Mar 2015
Total posts 422
Put me in the 'keen' column. I have faith it will be properly tested just like other vaccines etc are, if anything Australia's TGA is a bit of a stickler when it comes to assessing and approving drugs. As soon as there's a shot available to the general public I will be putting my name down so that I can take advantage of any travel and travel bubbles that open up.
11 Jul 2020
Total posts 75
I will have the vaccine when it's available. I think we will find travel insurance companies with not cover covid-19 in your insurance policy or issue you travel insurance without proof of having had the vaccine jab. Time will tell I guess.
28 Feb 2014
Total posts 18
I will also have the vaccine when it is available. It would not surprise me if (like some South American countries) many locations will require proof of vaccination before they will allow you entry.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Aug 2020
Total posts 13
I'd be there with bells on for a vaccine.
Not just for travel reasons. I think the vaccine will also be a requirement to have things like festivals, sporting events and Trade Shows back on line.
30 Jul 2015
Total posts 104
I was told that Australians are vaccine crazy. Well good luck. It takes 10-15 years of intense research before trials of ANY vaccine...no matter how many people are involved. So what exactly are they forcing on you and the whole world?.
This is crazy that people are not asking questions about a vaccine developed in 6 months, without the proper years of testing beyond the years of research. Yes, I worked for a pharmaceutical company, and I am quite aware.
COVID-19 is not the great spreader and killer that they have made it out to be. Research your numbers. Insane.
Good luck.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 467
It's fortunate that researchers spent years trying to refine a vaccine that would be effective against SARS - which was also a coronavirus. That appears to have given them a huge time advantage in vaccine development this time - they didn't have to start from scratch, which means the timeframe now is much shorter than normal.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Sep 2017
Total posts 164
....and there still isn’t one.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1032
The only reason there "isn't one" for SARS is because there has been no cases since 2004, funding for the research disappeared and there was no one to test the candidate vaccine on.
There is a vaccine for MERS, another coronavirus, in testing. There has been about 30 cases of MERS each month, mostly limited to the eastern Mediterranean, since 2012.
One of the reasons vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 can be made so quickly is because there are so many cases. It's an active global pandemic, so there are no funding problems. It is highly active in the community, so there are no problems finding people and places to test it. The vast majority of issues that slow down development for most vaccines simply do not exist for the Covid-19 vaccines.
05 Jan 2018
Total posts 56
you're wasting your time with most of these folk. seems like there isn't any govt propaganda most readers here won't swallow. i remember UQ researchers breathlessly telling an awe struck ABC reporter that we would have a vaccine by winter or something insane like that. insanity.
all this govt control for a disease with a min 99.9% survival rate....
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Rotate the mortality rate for COVID is much higher than the 0.1% you suggest. It ranges from 1.5% in NZ to as high as 10% in Italy Mexico and elsewhere. The higher rates are in the countries where it got out of control hence the search for a vaccine and safe opening of economies.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Rotate the UQ researchers do have vaccine that was Ready for stage 1 and 2 trials in winter 2020. The stage 3 trials are next and it will probably be ready next winter. Completely unremarkable
07 May 2019
Total posts 14
Give me the vaccine. I need to go on a holiday, it's been a long time. We need to get the world open again.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
I agree I will have the vaccine and depending on the age cut off could be in the earlier group. The idea of two shots a month apart plus a booster presumably 6 months later makes sense. As an article said today COVID will never go away but with enough antibodies and T cells in the system in a couple of years there will be enough immunity that (hopefully) it will be another common cold.
08 Sep 2020
Total posts 1
Definitely agree with Eli. I've worked in Pharma also and if you think there's going to be an effective, well tested and safe vaccine any time in the near future you're dreaming. There's only ever been two vaccines developed for viruses - mumps and polio. Mumps took 50 years for a vaccine and Polio over 100....and both diseases are still active in the world today. Do some research folks!!
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Greg there is also the flu vaccine which also works to a fair degree. As I said in my post the vaccine is not to eliminate it but to reduce the effects so it becomes like a common cold, by building up antibodies etc.. See Tegan Taylor's article on the ABC website. The Spanish flu took two years, swine flu much faster following a vaccine developed six months later. The following year follwing the vaccine it was the seasonal flu, and still around.
15 Feb 2013
Total posts 163
Swine flu and the Spanish flu are the same thing - they are both the H1N1 strain of Influenza type A: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_A_virus_subtype_H1N1
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Pete (yes the same subtype but not exactly the same; and as the articles say the Spanish flu was already circulating as an everyday flu when swine flu came along) but my point remains the time to vaccine and therefore enough anti bodies to manage it. Will Covid-19 be the next common cold.
15 Feb 2013
Total posts 163
Oh definitely agree with you, but I think the reason the swine flu vaccine was quick was because it was virtually the same strain as Spanish flu, so wasn’t like starting the research all over again. Interestingly, when swine flu occurred in 2009, most people over the age of about 85-90 were actually immune as they had been exposed to it in the 1920’s, and even people in their 70s-80s had potentially inherited the immunity from their parents. I remember clearly as I managed to get swine flu in 2009 but my parents didn’t!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
12 Nov 2017
Total posts 20
Only two vaccines for viruses...hmmm....
So my flu shot earlier in the year was not a vaccine...or not a virus?
How about Smallpox, the virus humanity eliminated???
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Tick-borne encephalitis???
Varicella??? Rubella??? Rotavirus???
Would you like me to go onto the veterinary viral vaccines next?
Gregmc, please let us know which company you work for, for if your knowledge base is representative of that company, I want to avoid it like the plague (which is a bacteria, btw)!
Face slap....
Etihad - Etihad Guest
23 May 2019
Total posts 6
Isn't there a vaccination for HPV? Last time I checked the human papillomaVIRUS is a virus.
29 Jan 2015
Total posts 41
you mean the HPV vaccination that killed several young people in the US because it was rushed out without proper testing and made mandatory in many US states?
07 Aug 2019
Total posts 2
Look at the flu vaccine we are offered each year... possibly effective, depending on what strain is going around at the time... Many people still get the flu, even after a vaccine, because of the various mutations... We know that the Corona Virus is a mutation of the SARS virus... what if they develop a Corona Virus vaccine and i the next 12 months, in Australia or some other place that has massive infection rates, or human / animal crossovers, and it mutates... we will be playing catch up forever trying to keep on top of the strains and variations... a vaccine will never be truly effective - for any number of reasons - uptake, suitability, efficacy etc...
I think they need to make sure cruise ship passengers are pre-vaccinated - 6,000 carefree people, 1,500 staff, onboard a floating Petrie dish for 2-4 weeks, all breathing the same airconditioning environment, alltoughing the same handles and buttons... what could go wrong?
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
see corona has been hyped out of all proportion. Why ? Politics ?
While the elderly keep dying. In retrospect, there was a very simple solution, lock down the vulnerable, but no one will admit they got it wrong.
If I see another politician on nightly news, I won't vote for them (ie. Labor in trouble in Qld)
Now we have the vaccine hype.
The media really needs another thing to worry about to talk about forever.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Regular yes lock down the vulnerable and all their carers and health workers that work with them. Around a quarter of the population. Now that will go down well with the wealthy older Tory supporters and funders. Think Fox, Pratt, Murdoch, et al.
11 Jul 2020
Total posts 75
To everyone who has put their two cents worth in under my post thanks, but let me be clear, I'm having the vaccine when it's available, this is my choice, If you agree great if you don't that is ok too.
But to be totally honest I really don't care why you don't want to have the Covoid-19 vaccine, short development test time, Covid-19 is a hoax, all a conspiracy theory, you are young and won't get it or for whatever reason, you have in that head of yours, I really don't care. This is YOUR choice, I'm not interested and Really, Really don't care.
But don't bitch when airlines, travel insurance companies, and or governments anywhere in the world won't grant you a ticket to travel, travel insurance, or entry into their country because you decided not to have the vaccine. And please start your own posts. I have answered what I'm doing and think about the question asked for this post, please do the same so other folk can agree or disagree with you.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Aug 2013
Total posts 171
Yes sir, inject me sir!
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1223
It is unlikely many countries, including Australia, will accept arrivals who have not had an approved vaccine so realistically anyone who wants to travel will have to have the vaccine. Likewise, travel insurance coverage will not be available to those who choose not to be vaccinated.
Providing the vaccine has gone through the proper 3 stage process and political pressure to rush the process is resisted (though this is more a US thing it seems), I have no issue in receiving an approved vaccine when available.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
how do you even know their will be a vaccine ?
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1223
We don't but the pretext of the article was will you be willing to take one if one becomes available?
If a vaccine is not available, look for a very very slow return to international travel which will be measured in years not months. Insurance will be hard to obtain meaning most won't be able to afford the risk and quarantine on return, even if it is shortened to 5-7 days will be with us indefinitely. Such an outcome is disastrous for world trade and will see most international airlines fold or rely fully on their government's largesse to continue in a much reduced form.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
reeves35
why would int travel be slow to return ?
Insurance companies will have plenty of products out their soon.
Quarantine ?
Home quarantine or no quarantine soon.
Think after Qld election, politicians will wake up, that most hate their over-reaction to corona.
Air travel in China is BTW back to pre corona levels.
American Airlines returning to LAX/SYD/LAX in Nov 2020. They wouldn't do it just for freight & 50 passengers a day.
Me thinks they know something & only few weeks after Qld election.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Regular AA to Sydney is not about the loads in but the loads of Americans going out, and don’t discount the value off freight plus 50 business class passengers.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1223
Oh yes, I forgot your earlier prediction that all int'l travel will be back by September.
Int'l travel will be slow because without insurance few will travel and no insurance company is going to provide Covid coverage. Quarantine will have to remain a thing because, without a vaccine, it is the only way to control inbound infectious travelers. It will have to be hotel or hostel based as people have shown they can't be trusted with home quarantine. The potential good news is that quarantine will probably be shortened to one week instead of two with a test at either end.
AA is only operating 4 times per week and probably this is largely supported by freight loads. There is little chance of any reduction in border controls this side of Christmas unfortunately and US definitely won't be amongst the first countries in any bubble.
For those stuck overseas, I believe there is the prospect of more government charters to bring some of them home due to the political pressure building but this won't mean outbound travel restrictions are released. For Asian repatriations, QF could be used but since VA and QF no longer hold long-range fleets, repatriations from further afield will need to use foreign airlines.
As far as Qld election is concerned, I think it is likely that the ALP will be returned. They are a pretty terrible government but they have played the parochial border politics well and the LNP opposition is a rabble.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Reece Qantas are still using their A333s on freight runs so the planes are their and can even do a one stop to London from Perth.
16 Aug 2019
Total posts 12
When there is a vaccine approved by the appropriate authorities for use in Australia, I will happily accept it. And sooner rather than later I hope.
03 May 2013
Total posts 684
Hell yeah; where do I sign up?
QFF
19 Sep 2013
Total posts 209
Before I visited the Amazon, I had to submit to a series of vaccinations and carry a Yellow Fever immunisation document so that I could return via the States. As I want to return to Europe later next year to complete a series of cancelled holiday trips that I could only obtain new vouchers for, will be quite happy to submit to yet another vaccination. However, I still believe that its effectiveness will only be similar to my annual flu injection. But if that's I have to do to travel OS, I'll do it.
09 May 2020
Total posts 574
The problem is whether ScoMo will be pegging the removal of Oz resident exiting for international travel by requiring them having the vaccine.
If that is so, then there will be a rush by non-high priority cases (ie non emergency/medical workers, and older persons at risk) to line up for the jab (and one of the 2 vaccine option cannot be delivered in many GP or pharmacy practice unless they have the certified industrial strength cold fridge) and also I honestly cannot see the vaccine for general public to be properly available before March 2021, even if the vaccine is ok for use on Jan 1.
The outward travel restrictions already had very limited medical reasons (if any) to support it, and then if the PM is going to add a quasi-scientific threshold using a medical product (you got to have the vaccine before going overseas), then it’s going to be mid 2021 before enough people can qualify for international travel.
And amazingly that fit right into the previously announced QF plan and even some of the PM’s statement earlier in June.
05 May 2016
Total posts 616
I need to travel overseas and the overseas travel ban needs to go. So once a vaccine has been approved by the Australian authorities (if this happens at all) I expect I will take it for several reasons.
25 Oct 2017
Total posts 61
Good luck trying to travel, see a concert, eat at a restaurant or get on a plane in the future without proof of a jab.
01 Sep 2017
Total posts 3
I'm happy to be first in line for the vaccine. The studies conducted by the various companies will be published and are almost guaranteed to be open for anyone to view - if there's an issue with the studies prior to roll out I can guarantee you it will be mentioned by someone with more credibility than the armchair scientists and their Google degrees.
28 Dec 2018
Total posts 8
Now please...
07 May 2020
Total posts 151
Monkeyo... Just because someone posts an entry on this blog does not mean that they are an armchair scientist. However, I would agree that most if not all of the politicians and the media that spin the stories about the vaccine saviours are armchair scientists, and probably just charlatans at the best looking for a good story to convince the masses who have no idea what the science means. Good luck following their advice. Everybody to their own choice to what they want to believe.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
GoRobin many/most commentators in the media on vaccines are in fact epidemiologists.
20 Oct 2015
Total posts 254
I have no concerns about getting the vaccine or even when I get it, if I'm early in the queue or down the list, but I'll be interested to see how travel insurance and corporate travel policies change to reflect COVID-19. I suspect many companies will be wary of sending people overseas, especially senior executives, in the early days of all this. It might take a while, until the vaccines are widely available in major countries and have seen a wide uptake, before companies are comfortable with having some key staff travel again.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Sep 2017
Total posts 164
It could be a biomedical disaster! These things ordinarily take years and years and yet so many believe in spite of it being rushed through, it will be both efficacious and safe?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 Mar 2016
Total posts 21
In like Flynn - whatever it takes to get me flying again- I’ll even volunteer for human trials!
30 Apr 2013
Total posts 12
Love the tin-foil hat brigade that are always instructing people to “do their research” yet fail to cite any credible references.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1032
Yep, the people saying "do your research", while refusing to provide anything credible themselves, just scream "conspiracy theory" like the moon landing deniers, flat earthers and anti vaxers.
If the people screaming "do your research" actually did their own research using credible sources instead of just ignoring anything credible, saying "that doesn't sound right, I don't believe the people whose job it is to know this" and pulling whatever they want out of their ass, we wouldn't have to deal with the insane stupidity of people claiming things like "5G causes Covid".
The are too many people going "I don't understand how the immune system works. I don't understand how vaccines are developed or work. I refuse to look into it. Therefore, vaccines are not possible.", then screaming their nonsense all over the internet.
06 Feb 2014
Total posts 30
Oh NT surely you know that 5G is a mind bending, virus espousing conspiracy theory of the crazy nut job [Insert left wing/right wing depending on your political views] loopies, all designed to control us all forever in a day. :P
I completely agree with your comment :)
21 Jun 2020
Total posts 3
Happy to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
Likely intention is that whenever I am able to leave this country I will not return. 9 months now since I last saw my UK based fiancee.
15 Jul 2020
Total posts 6
Same here, 9 months since my partner in the US and I have seen each other. Looking forward to being allowed out of the country and if that means a vaccine let me in line.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
& now drug company/Oxford have canned their trial of their vaccine due to serious side effects !!!!!!!!
Will there ever be a vaccine that works ? No one knows, so you cannot rely on one.
15 Feb 2013
Total posts 163
It has not been canned. The trials have been placed on hold due to an adverse reaction in ONE person. They are following standard practice, and don’t even know yet if it’s the vaccine or something else unrelated. This happens frequently in vaccine and medication trials and does not mean in any way that it is a failure.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Regular this is one adverse reaction in the 30,000 in the trial and so does not add up to 'serious de effects'. They are checking it out, which seem,s a sensible thing to do., and telling us which is also sensible.. Better than trump promoting drugs that are known to both not work and have dangerous side effects.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1032
It isn't canned. It is paused while they work out what this 1 "adverse reaction" is. All they know is that 1 person involved in the trial has become sick. They don't know if that is related to the vaccine or if it is something unrelated.
This is a normal response when something happens during a drug trial.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jan 2013
Total posts 2
Don't get between me and the vaccine queue, and then between me and the plane.
25 Apr 2020
Total posts 5
If one becomes available my wife and I will be first in line. I would hope some kind of COVID certification would be required to show before exiting the country but I am keen to head off again.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
04 Sep 2015
Total posts 26
I am already at the airport, waiting for my shot !
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
19 Jan 2018
Total posts 25
Count me in! I'm pro vaccine. I get the influenza vaccine each year, so more than happy to have the Covid-19 vaccination injected into my system as well. And if there's any means to jump to the head of the vac queue (maybe something similar to a Disneyland VIP queue busting ticket) then bring it on!
And I agree with others - highly likely that proof of vaccination will be required by airlines before you can travel - and if not by the airlines then by the immigration department of whichever country you're entering - and maybe even at stopover destinations en route to wherever you're going?
16 Aug 2017
Total posts 21
Yes, I'll take it and whilst not compulsory it should be a prerequisite to getting on a plane as soon as its generally available.
09 Sep 2020
Total posts 2
I am more than happy to take the vaccine, safety is still foremost in everyones mind, I am not so happy hopping on a flight with people that refuse to take the vaccine, I feel that there should be flights for vaccinated people and flights for those that choose not to get vaccinated !!!!
12 Aug 2019
Total posts 16
Front of the line...
16 May 2020
Total posts 9
The Oxford vaccine has just been halted, due to a severe reaction to a participant. Currently in France, no panic here eventhough high positive test results. Hospital admissions however are low at this point. Does this mean there is a part immunity, re the severity?
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Paris I note an awful lot of its districts (departments) are in ‘red’ which presumably have tighter rules. The low hospitalisation are due to the young age but they nevertheless some are getting quite sick and in a month or so many will end up in hospital as it takes a couple of weeks for the severe symptoms to show.
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
12 Sep 2011
Total posts 335
The perfect storm aka perfect virus - mutates ever yfew days and RNA virus -so vaccine is basically obsolete once it it released - what a great money maker! Like when WHO had x3 mega-PHARM corps release a vaccine for Swine flu long before it was declared a pandemic! And the vaccine was never needed The lab (s) which developed SARS-COV-2 did a great job and who says they in China?????
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Cbourl they know COVID is a slow mutator slower than flu. So the vaccine will last a while.
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
12 Sep 2011
Total posts 335
how long is a while? 2 days/ 2 weeks? 2 months? I use lots of Astra Zeneca products at work which have been recalled several times because????? Just get the jab then!
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1032
A "while" depends on the vaccine and how it causes the immune system to react.
There are 3 known strains of SARS-CoV-2. All of which have the same "spike protein". Vaccines that cause that protein to be targeted will work on all those strains and will likely do so until a mutation causes that protein to change or the immune system gets rid of SARS-CoV-2 related memory cells (memory cells are how the immune system retains immunity to a given pathagon. They last for varying times depending on the pathagon they are keyed for. Some last a life time, others a few months. Scientists are currently unsure why that is the case)
The reason a flu shot generally only lasts a year is because there are many different types of flu, each with different features. A vaccine made to target H1N1 is unlikely to work on H5N3. Those features also change/mutate often in flu. The 1918 flu and "swine" flu were both types of H1N1.
The yearly flu shot targets 3 or 4 types of flu which are a "best guess" to which flu strains will be most likely in a given season.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Aug 2013
Total posts 171
Time to unsubscribe from this thread. I'm very keen for the vaccine and will roll up my sleeve as soon as it's available for me.
12 Aug 2019
Total posts 16
Yep, starting to make my head hurt...maybe a simple Y/N check box next time...
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
many seem to be assuming that there will be a vaccine that works. Catch is, there might never be a vaccine that works, so we would then have to reply on herd immunity.
No one has any idea of the numbers who have had corona & didn't even know it. Could be millions just in australia.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Regular the presence of antibodies tell if have had it or not and people are doing sampling to find that out exactly. A I recall in Stockholm it was seven per cent, others suggest around 5% generally and up to 10% in hot spots, in Spain. Some way a way from herd immunity.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
patrick
think that requires a blood test & no way can we test even a small % of population. Extrapolating from a very small sample is very dangerous, as has been proven by all the horribly wrong modelling so far.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
Regular the UK (Royal College and NHS) has tested 100,000 across the country (not a small sample), with a finger prick test and came up with a figure of 6% with London the highest with 13%.
16 Aug 2017
Total posts 21
Time to make this a poll, too much noise.
Put me down for Yes - when approved.
13 May 2020
Total posts 827
put me down for yes if there is a vaccine that works, but by that time, there might be herd immunity in many countries, like sweden, usa, uk etc.
07 May 2020
Total posts 151
Herd immunity is infinitely better than injection foreign bodies into yourself in the hope that your body will recognise it as the virus to develop a response against. There is nothing like the real thing to get the real immunity. I have had covid and am still healthy and alive. So why would I ever want to inject a foreign substance that is man made to try to get some kind of immunity. Go figure.
16 Aug 2017
Total posts 21
Yes its preferable, other than the fact that getting herd immunity might kill you, or one of your loved ones.
07 May 2020
Total posts 151
If its gonna kill you, its gonna kill you. It didn't kill me. But you can only die once so if it kills you, you can only be counted in the numbers once. Don't worry, you have more chance of being killed by something other than covid.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
31 Jan 2016
Total posts 89
Not keen on any needle, nothing to do with concerns over what's going in, just the concept of a sharp thing in the arm...but will line up for an approved COVID vaccine.
It would be really good to see a flu+COVID formulation.
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