Expert comment on COVID-19 from Nuffield members

Nuffield Fellows and students have also been giving expert comment on subjects relating to coronavirus, including:

• Nuffield Fellow Melinda Mills provided comment for the following pieces on the vaccination uptake: 
  • 'End Freedom Day confusion, Boris Johnson told', in The Evening Standard (14 July 2021)
  • on BBC Radio 4's World at One on 13 July 2021 (from 20:30 to 24:40)
  • 'Why suggesting mandatory Covid vaccinations is an ethical minefield', in The Guardian (22 June 2021)
  • On COVID-19 passports and the EU Digital Green Certificate for the BBC World Service's World Business Report (18 May 2021)
  • 'People struggle to assess risk, especially in a pandemic', in the Financial Times (9 April 2021)
  • 'On Vaccine Hesitancy and Public Confidence', a video from The British Academy (9 April 2021)
  • 'Would COVID Passports Be Damaging to Public Health?' with Stephen Reicherin The Guardian (7 April 2021)
  • On people's understanding of vaccine risks, negative reporting, and transparency on BBC Newsnight (6 April 2021; segment from 06:45 to 16:00)
  • 'Listeners' Questions' episode of How to Vaccinate the World on BBC Radio 4 (5 April 2021)
  • 'The Uncertain Science Behind Vaccine Passports', in Bloomberg Businessweek (25 March 2021)
  • 'What vaccine passports mean for global inequality', an episode of the podcase Coda Currents (25 March 2021)
  • 'What would a world without vaccines be like?', a video from BBC Ideas and The Royal Society (17 February 2021)
  • 'The Race for the Vaccine', a video discussion for the Royal Society (28 January 2021)
  • ‘How long will we have to wear face coverings for?’ in Metro (20 October 2020)

Melinda also:

• • took part in the Brussels Economics Forum 2021 lunchtime debate on post-COVID economic and social challenges on Tuesday 29 June 2021. 
  • gave evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee about COVID-19 vaccine certification (from 14:07:34 to 14:14:40; report available online) on 24 May 2021.
  • took part in an ‘Ask the experts: Coronavirus’ series of political party events, representing the British Academy, including the Labour Conference (21 September 2020), the Liberal Democrat Conference (25 September 2020) and the Conservative Conference (5 October 2020).
  • was appointed to the SAGE Ethnicity Subgroup, which advises on the COVID-19 risks and impacts for minority ethnic groups, and the European Commission's High Level Advisory Group on post-COVID-19 recovery.
• Warden Andrew Dilnot provided expert comment to the BBC on the Dilnot model of social care ('Ministers considered cap on care costs before coronavirus outbreak', BBC News Online, 21 May 2020). He also was 'In Conversation Live' with President of the Royal Society, Professor Roger Kirby (21 January 2021) about health and social care sustainability and the UK's current economic, social and environmental position.
  He was also interviewed for BBC Radio 4's Analysis: Flying Blind about the differing accuracy of new data and data with a longer view (15 February 2021, starting at 15:10). 
• Nuffield Fellow Ridhi Kashyap was interviewed for Radio Television Hong Kong's video on 'Why does false information appeal to the anti-science antivaxxers?' (19 May 2021), and about 'Demographic shifts: How will COVID impact European populations?' for Al Jazeera (17 February 2021).
• Nuffield Fellow Melinda Mills and Postdoctoral Fellows Xuejie Ding and David Brazel wrote a rapid evidence analysis on 'SPI-B: Behavioural considerations for vaccine uptake in Phase 2 and beyond' (9 March 2021) for the UK government's Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). 
• Nuffield Fellow Jane Green commented on
  • The disagreement between Boris Johnson and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham over local lockdown restrictions for Politico (‘Boris Johnson’s Manchester headache is not going away’, 21 October 2020)
  • The consequences of Boris Johnson's defence of Dominic Cummings, for the Washington Post ('British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands by his rule-bending strategist as lawmakers cry foul', 27 May 2020) and the Financial Times ('Boris Johnson can’t afford to squander trust by protecting Dominic Cummings', 25 May 2020).
• Nuffield Fellows Valentina Rotondi and Melinda Mills wrote to PNAS with Associate Members Jennifer Dowd and Per Block on 20 October 2020 about it being ‘Dangerous to claim “no clear association” between intergenerational relationships and COVID-19’.
• Nuffield Fellow John Muellbauer contributed to pieces on
  • ‘The US excess mortality rate from COVID-19 is substantially worse than Europe’s' with Associate member Janine Aron for VoxEU (29 September 2020), also covered in The Intercept (30 September 2020) and on the University’s news pages (1 October 2020).
  • 'A pandemic primer on excess mortality statistics and their comparability across countries' with Associate Member Janine Aron for Our World in Data (29 June 2020)
  • 'Measuring excess mortality: England is the European outlier in the Covid-19 pandemic' with Associate Member Janine Aron (VoxEU, 18 May 2020; quoted in The Guardian, 17 May 2020)
  • 'The coronavirus pandemic and US consumption' (VoxEU, 11 April 2020)
• Nuffield DPhil in Economics Marta Golin wrote ‘Working from home: The polarising workforce’ for VOX EU (2 September 2020) with Associate Member Abi Adams-Prassl and other contributors.
• Nuffield DPhil in Economics Tim Munday cowrote 'What will the shape of the recovery tell us about the best policy response?' for the Economics Observatory on 11 August 2020.
• Nuffield Fellow Martin Ellison was surveyed by the CEPR Centre for Macroeconomics on 'The Economic Cost of School Closures' in July 2020, and was also quoted in The Guardian's 'UK Coronavirus live' blog on 5 August 2020.
• Nuffield Fellow David Hendry appeared with alumna Jennifer Castle (DPhil Economics 2003, Research Fellow 2006-2009) in Economics Observatory asking 'Can the UK Achieve Net-Zero Emissions in a Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery?' on 31 July 2020.
• Research Associate on the Climate Econometrics project Moritz Schwarz cowrote a piece on 'Why we can’t tell if warmer weather slows down the spread of coronavirus' for The Conversation on 23 July 2020.
• Nuffield Fellow Andrew Thompson wrote a comment piece for The Guardian on 'Culture comforted us in lockdown, now we must join the fight for its survival' (12 July 2020) He also delivered a lecture on 'Hitting the Reset Button: Lives and Livelihoods After Covid-19' on 15 June 2020 at the Global Think Tank Forum on International Co-operation to Combat Covid-19. The virtual Forum was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Nuffield Fellows Susana Campos Martins and David Hendry wrote to the Financial Times about the timing of the WHO's pronouncement of the pandemic ('Letter: WHO pronouncement needed careful judgment', 22 May 2020).
• Nuffield Fellow Cecile Laborde on 'Liberty in the Time of Corona: What does it take to be free in a liberal democracy?' (Public Seminar, 21 May 2020).
• Nuffield Fellow Dave Kirk on 'The COVID-19 Tax on Life After Jail' (interview with Annual Reviews, 21 April 2020).
• Nuffield Fellows Ben Ansell and Melinda Mills's responses to COVID-19 on the British Academy's blog ('Nine Fellows of the British Academy respond to the COVID-19 pandemic', 21 April 2020). 
• Nuffield Fellow Federico Varese on
  • 'How mafias and criminal organizations around the world are exploiting coronavirus' (Interviewed by Stefano Santangelo for Italian Rolling Stone, 28 April 2020).
  • 'Stoking Unrest and Distributing Groceries: Italy's Mafias Gain Ground in Fight for Loyalty During Pandemic Lockdown' (Newsweek, 18 April 2020)
  • Mafia distributes food to Italy's struggling residents' (The Guardian, 10 April 2020)
  • 'The Mafia and Violence Can Grow in the Groove of Coronavirus' (interview with Swedish-language paper Sydsvenskan, 5 April 2020)
  • ‘Will China’s Wildlife Consumption Ban Work?’ with W Y Wong (Project Syndicate, 25 March 2020)
  • ‘How the pandemic is squeezing Italian Crime Groups’(Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project blog, 24 March 2020).
• Nuffield Fellow John Ermisch has been daily updating his blog-post on 'The Likely Progress of COVID-19 in the UK' on the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science's website (first posted 10 April 2020, updated daily).
• DPhil student Kenneth Stiller on 'COVID-19: The crisis that breaks Angela Merkel’s leadership' (Euractiv, 7 April 2020).
• Nuffield Fellow Francesco Billari with Nicoletta Balbo and Alessia Melegaro on 'The Strength of Family Ties and COVID-19' (Contexts: Sociology for the Public blog, 6 April 2020).