Reply to Basseal et al.'s "Key lessons from the COVID-19 public health response in Australia".

Building from the work of Basseal et al.,1 it is imperative to acknowledge the ethical values that underpinned Australia's COVID-19 public health response. One example has received scant attention in the literature, namely, ethical issues in disease modelling. The authors note that disease models of risk “…are greatly influenced by their underlying assumptions”,1 but this should also include an examination of the implicit values that underly such assumptions. For example, the Doherty Institute's modelling in August 2021, regarding vaccine uptake and the reduction of SARS-CoV2 transmission, helped shape Australia's federal and states response to lifting lockdown orders.