Coronavirus: why combining the Oxford vaccine with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine could make it more effective

Jim Barber/Shutterstock When the efficacy of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was announced in late 2020, there was some confusion. The overall efficacy of the vaccine at stopping people developing symptomatic COVID-19, two weeks after the second dose, was 70%. But this wasn’t the whole picture. This figure was based on averagingContinue Reading

The Conversation

Pitting authoritarianism against democracy has become common during the pandemic, with the former often being painted as a more effective regime type in handling COVID-19. The Chinese Communist Party’s own narrative promotes a version of this argument, equating China’s success in keeping cases and deaths low with the “superiority” ofContinue Reading

Criminalising trespass will hurt Travellers most – but government proposals fail on their own terms

GarethWilley/Shutterstock Under new government proposals, police in the UK will be allowed to seize homes and arrest Travellers who refuse to move from unauthorised camps. A new law which effectively criminalises intentional trespass and imposes sentences of up to three months and fines of up to £2,500 will disproportionately affectContinue Reading