Season 2 - Episode 7

Story 1: There are currently over thirty-six thousand Australians stranded overseas and many have been separated from their families for over a year due to covid-19 border closures.Of course, it would be extremely difficult for any family stuck in this situation… but what if you also found out that one of your loved ones had been diagnosed with cancer…. And you were stuck halfway across the world unable to be by their side.For the past year…. This has been Anna and her son Alex’s reality.

Story 2: What began as an investigation into how families were perpetuating vaccine misinformation at a niche anti-mask rally in Melbourne. What he ended up finding was a deep dive into a passionate, large movement that used religion to defend their anti-science beliefs.

Story 3: The Victorian lockdown made a lot of people living with cancer feel more vulnerable and isolated. Chloe Karis interviews a cancer patient and speaks to one of canteen Australia’s psychosocial clinicians.

Story 4: Reporter Zahrah Ahmad has been researching compulsory vaccination for school aged children, looking at policies like “no jab no pay” and how COVID-19 vaccinations for young people might impact childcare services in the future.

Story 5: The government has said that vaccinations are available for everyone in Australia, but this information hasn’t actually reached everyone. Some refugees and those on bridging visas have fallen through the gap, unsure whether they are eligible to receive the vaccine and what the process will be like for them.

Story 6: There is also a lot of reluctance when it comes to getting the jab.Despite the vaccine now being made available to people over 40, Australia is still falling behind. Riley Barber looks at the role the media has played in its reportage of the AstraZeneca vaccine and related blood clot cases, and the impact on vaccine hesitancy this has had among Australians.

Story 7: In march this year, the Czech Republic went from being one of the safest countries in the world to being one of the worst hit by coronavirus cases. Claudia Forsberg looks into how Australia’s vaccine rollout program holds up against the Czech Republic’s.

Story 8: With the loads of information and misinformation uploaded every single day, it’s hard to know what to pay attention to, let alone keep up. Because of this, some have turned to a less traditional medium of spreading and getting their information.The video-game industry is a growing market, one that’s influence and content is ever changing and evolving with the world around it. With coronavirus being such a large part of our lives in the past year, it’s no surprise that gaming developers are creating COVID-19 related video-games.However, these games are not just for entertainment. They’re also created to help educate players on COVID-19 safety procedures and spread accurate information in an engaging and straightforward way.