This week Q+A looks beyond our locked borders to the rest of the world where life and economies are starting to open back up.
Britain is now living with COVID, and following a staged reopening, life is returning to normal. The virus has not been eliminated there, but high vaccination rates mean smaller numbers of deaths, and far fewer hospitalisations.
In the US, cities and states have sprung back to life, but the Delta variant is on the rise, and vaccination rates have slowed. Then on our doorstep, Indonesia is grappling with a deadly Delta surge and now has some of the highest daily COVID case and death numbers in the world.
What can we learn from these and other countries about a pathway out of COVID?
When will we reach herd immunity and see an end to lockdowns? Will vaccine passports and mandates become the norm?
And how do we shake our current obsession with daily case numbers and adopt a new mindset?
Joining Stan on the panel:
Helen Clark
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Helen Clark co-chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which spent a year investigating the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Eric Feigl-Ding
Epidemiologist and health economist
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding is an epidemiologist and health economist and a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington DC, and Chief Health Economist for Microclinic International.
Yulia Supadmo
Chief editor, Rajawali Televisi
Yulia Supadmo is a communication specialist, spending most of her 20-year career as a broadcast journalist, specializing in international politics, strategic affairs and environment.
Damien Cave
Australian Bureau Chief, The New York Times
Damien Cave is the Australian bureau chief at The New York Times and the author of Into the Rip: How the Australian Way of Risk Made My Family Stronger, Happier … and Less American.
Julie Leask
Vaccine and health communications specialist
Julie Leask is a professor at the University of Sydney’s Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery and the University of Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases.
Kate Mills
CEO of Property Industry Foundation and business commentator
After 20 years of print journalism including a stint as the editor of Business Review Weekly, Kate Mills left journalism to set up her own business finding jobs for skilled women looking to return to work.
