When the pandemic began, the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker began capturing government policies to confront COVID-19. Two years later, what have we learned, and why does it matter for the next phase of this challenge? Why have countries developed different responses, what impact have they had, and how do they vary both across and within countries? How have policies affected people’s behaviour? How has the rapid but uneven rollout of vaccines globally changed our defense strategies against COVID-19? What may come next as more and more countries shift to “living with” the virus?

On the occasion of its second anniversary, the OxCGRT team will present the latest trends from their data, discuss what matters most about COVID-19 now, and what it’s like to be volunteering behind the scenes of the only live COVID-19 policy tracker in the world.

This event will also be held on Zoom and on our YouTube channel.

About the speakers 

Thomas Hale leads the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and co-leads the Net Zero Tracker. 

Dr Hale’s research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly. He seeks to explain how political institutions evolve – or not – to face the challenges raised by globalisation and interdependence, with a particular emphasis on environmental, economic and health issues. He holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University, a master's degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics, and an AB in public policy from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. A US national, Dr Hale has studied and worked in Argentina, China and Europe. His books include Beyond Gridlock (Polity 2017), Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes (Cambridge 2015), Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge 2014), and Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing when We Need It Most (Polity 2013).

Anna Petherick is a Departmental Lecturer in Public Policy and Director of the Lemann Foundation Programme. She is co-Principal Investigator of the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) project, which, going back to January 2020, has been recording and analysing how national and subnational governments around the world have been enacting policies to fight the pandemic. Her research as part of OxCGRT focuses on combining policy data with behavioural data, from surveys and mobile phone records. In addition, she works on corruption, gender and trust, with much of it based in Brazil.

Toby Phillips is the Executive Director of the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT). He was previously the Head of Research and Policy for Digital Pathways of Oxford (based at the Blavatnik School) and, prior to that, ran the research and policy team for the Pathways for Prosperity Commission on Technology and Inclusive Development, a two-year commission of inquiry – chaired by Melinda Gates, Sri Mulyani Indrwati and Strive Masiyiwa – that reset the global discussion on how developing countries can navigate and take advantage of technological disruption.