Will travellers be keen or cautious about the COVID-19 vaccine?

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.

Anna80 you are assuming their will be a vaccine. Might not ever be one.

"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.

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.

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.

I’m with you Anna, anything to be able to travel again...

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.

....and there still isn’t one.

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.

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....

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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....

Isn't there a vaccination for HPV? Last time I checked the human papillomaVIRUS is a virus.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

GoRobin many/most commentators in the media on vaccines are in fact epidemiologists.

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cbourl they know COVID is a slow mutator slower than flu. So the vaccine will last a while.

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! 

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.

Yep, starting to make my head hurt...maybe a simple Y/N check box next time...

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.

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.

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.

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%.

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.

Yes its preferable, other than the fact that getting herd immunity might kill you, or one of your loved ones.

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.