Australia and the United States are separated by more than just the Pacific Ocean, with entirely different health responses to the pandemic. 

Professor Patricia Davidson recently returned to Australia after eight years at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, having lived and worked through the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

Professor Davidson told Deborah Knight while the US struggled with high case numbers, the US is miles ahead in the vaccine rollout, with 140 million doses administered nationwide.

“Almost half of the US population has had at least one dose of the vaccine,” she said.

She said multi-faceted strategies have been integral to propelling the rollout.

“Mass vaccination centres work for a certain segment of the population, [but] there needs to be targeted approaches to nursing homes and aged care facilities and also taking the vaccine to vulnerable populations who may not come to clinics.”

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Image: Getty