Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

With COVID-19 case numbers rising across the country, a 4th COVID-19 wave looks to be well underway - but what can we expect from this new wave?

The briefing will bring together experts to answer your questions about the current situation and what we can expect in the coming weeks including:

• How is this wave looking (cases vs hospitalisations, and deaths)? Are we at the peak?
• Should we be wearing masks, or working from home?
• Should we still be testing for COVID-19? How accurate are case numbers given the lack of testing?
• Boosters - 3rd, 4th, 5th doses - What do we need? What about if you've had COVID-19
• What does the current 'variant soup' look like? Which 'grandchildren of Omicron' variants are on the rise?
• What are bivalent boosters and why are they necessary? What does the data say about them?

Speakers:

• Associate Professor Hassan Vally is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology at Deakin University.
• Dr Paul Burton, Chief Medical Officer, Moderna
• Associate Professor Paul Griffin is Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health Services, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland, and Medical Director and Principal Investigator at Q-Pharm, Nucleus Network

Declarations: Paul Griffin is running a number of Covid-19 vaccine studies (Novavax and UQ).

The AusSMC receives funding from more than 70 different organisations with individual sponsorship capped at under 10% to maintain the Centre's independence. Moderna is a supporter of the AusSMC, and provides just under 0.5% of the AusSMC's funding. Click here for a full list of sponsors