Modelling COVID-19 – Can we predict the future?
Episode 7 07 Sep 2021In an island-continent like Australia, with a population of almost 26 million, how is the coronavirus likely to spread? And how can transmission be halted? In this episode, you’ll meet Burnet Institute’s Deputy Director, Professor Margaret Hellard AM and Dr Nick Scott, the Head of Modelling. They are part of the team behind the Victorian adaptation of the COVASIM Epidemic model, which was first developed by the Institute for Disease Modelling in the USA. Hear how modelling helps prepare our health system and governments for the likelihood of the virus spreading in the future and the risks around that. It’s what informs intervention strategies like international air travel, lockdowns, social distancing, density limits on cafes and restaurants, and home schooling.
Are vaccines the silver bullet?
Episode 2 11 Aug 2021The speed of vaccine development for COVID-19 has amazed the most seasoned of scientists. So, how did we get here so fast? And will the vaccines continue to stop death and disease, days off work and ongoing economic disruption in its tracks as the virus keeps mutating? In this episode, you’ll meet Burnet Institute’s Professor Heidi Drummer, Program Director of Disease Elimination, who thinks no-one will be untouched by COVID-19 in 20 years time, and why the need for a coronavirus vaccine is up there with measles or smallpox.