RMIT experts available for comment on impact of COVID-19 across gender and age

Vaccines in older people

Dr Kylie Quinn (0459 113 738 or kylie.quinn@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: ageing, vaccines, immunity, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19

“Vaccine testing for SARS-CoV-2 is in full swing all around the world, with more than 100 vaccines in development.

“Researchers are hopeful that one or even several viable vaccines will emerge.

“There will be a lot of variation in how these vaccines work: they could provide partial versus full protection, short-term versus long-term protection, or protection from infection versus protection from disease.

“In particular, the first generation of vaccines may not provide full, long-term protection from infection for older individuals.

“Older people tend to have lower immune responses to vaccines, as we see with the flu vaccine and the shingles vaccine.

“Vaccines for older folks need a more tailored design, but tailored design takes time, which we won’t have with the first generation of vaccines.

“Older people are in greatest need of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, as they are vastly more likely to suffer from severe disease with COVID-19.

“SARS-CoV-2 can now be found around the world, and we will have to grapple with the virus in the years to come.

“We need to start designing the next generation of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 now and, in particular, we need to start designing vaccines for at-risk populations like older people.”

Kylie Quinn is an RMIT University Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences. She leads the new Ageing and Immunotherapies Group, aiming to improve immune responses in older individuals during infection, vaccination, and new cell-based immunotherapies.

Vaccines in men

Professor Magdalena Plebanski (media phone 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: vaccines, immune system in old age, inflammation, ovarian cancer, immunotherapies, diagnostics, personalized medicine

“There is a large body of evidence showing that males and females throughout their lifespan differ significantly in how they respond to vaccines. 

“Overall, males mount fewer antibody responses to many vaccines as compared to females.  

“The use of the tuberculosis vaccine bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is one of the major current approaches being explored to protect against COVID-19.  

“Such ‘non-specific’ or ‘heterologous’ positive effect of the BCG vaccine has been found in previous studies to work differently in males and females.  

“It is therefore possible that the degree of protection against COVID-19 will differ in males and females.

“Whilst sex differences in immunity are not usually considered in the initial stages of developing and pre-clinically testing the many COVID-19 vaccines in development, males and females are being included in all the planned phase I and II clinical trials.”

“The good news for the BCG trials is that more than 10,000 individuals will be enrolled globally for vaccine testing, which will provide sufficient numbers of males and females for sex-differential effects to be evident.

“Clinical studies of the novel COVID-19 targeted vaccines should ensure to take sex into account when analysing the results.”

Magdalena Plebanski is Director of the Biomedical and Health Innovation Enabling Capability Platform and head of the Translational Immunology and Nanotechnology Program and School of Health and School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University.

Impact of COVID-19 on the female workforce

Leonora Risse (0401 360 733 or leonora.risse@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: gender equality, women in the workforce, labour economics

“The effects of the coronavirus will lead to a widening of the gap between men and women’s earnings.

“Many women tend to be in service jobs and have suffered the economic brunt of the pandemic. The bulk of the jobs shed due to COVID-19 restrictions – hospitality, food services, tourism, travel, retail trade – are female-concentrated.

“These women are losing work hours or being squeezed out of the workforce altogether, especially part-time workers.

“In comparison, the industries that employ more men – construction, manufacturing, transport, warehousing and mining – involve less direct contact with the public, meaning men’s jobs have been less disrupted by the COVID-19 restrictions.

“It’s crucial we find ways to use these females’ workers’ skills in other ways, steering them towards the industries that are growing in demand and innovatively adapting to a COVID-19 world.”

Dr Leonora Risse is a Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University, and a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. She serves as the National Chair of the Women in Economics Network. Her research specialises on gender differentials in the workforce, the influence of psychological factors on economic outcomes, and disadvantage, inequality and wellbeing.

Impact of COVID-19 on gender equality

Anastasia Powell (0421 556 613 or anastasia.powell@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: Crime Prevention, Violence, Women, Gender-based violence

“The social isolation that has come with the lockdown measures has had the side-effect of placing women at greater risk of experiencing violence and abuse in the home, and at the hands of a male partner or family member.

“But as society slowly emerges, figures are showing that the pandemic measures are also impacting women more severely than men in the areas of job losses, income losses, and increased care-taking roles at home.

“The economic and career progression interruptions of losing work, losing hours, and having increased responsibilities at home, are likely to have a longer-term effect on women's equality.

“Gender inequality is not only a human rights issue but is the underlying driver that places women at risk of violence.

“It is crucial that both governments and workplaces examine their policies and post-COVID-19 measures to ensure women are not paying a greater price in response to this pandemic.”

Dr Anastasia Powell is an Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT, specialising in policy responses, legal reform and primary prevention of sexual and family violence against women. Her research explores the intersections of gender-based violence, technology, justice and digital culture such as image based sexual abuse.

For media enquiries, please contact RMIT Communications: 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au