Monthly Archives: January 2021

Epidemiology of varicella among immigrants and non-immigrants in Quebec, Canada, before and after the introduction of childhood varicella vaccination: a retrospective cohort study

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Lancet Infectious Diseases
Jan 2021 Volume 21 Number 1 p1-148, e1-e16
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

 

Epidemiology of varicella among immigrants and non-immigrants in Quebec, Canada, before and after the introduction of childhood varicella vaccination: a retrospective cohort study
Christina Greenaway, et al

Dynamic changes in paediatric invasive pneumococcal disease after sequential switches of conjugate vaccine in Belgium: a national retrospective observational study

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Lancet Infectious Diseases
Jan 2021 Volume 21 Number 1 p1-148, e1-e16
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

Dynamic changes in paediatric invasive pneumococcal disease after sequential switches of conjugate vaccine in Belgium: a national retrospective observational study
Stefanie Desmet, et al

Invasive pneumococcal disease incidence in children and adults in France during the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era: an interrupted time-series analysis of data from a 17-year national prospective surveillance study

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Lancet Infectious Diseases
Jan 2021 Volume 21 Number 1 p1-148, e1-e16
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

 

Invasive pneumococcal disease incidence in children and adults in France during the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era: an interrupted time-series analysis of data from a 17-year national prospective surveillance study
Naïm Ouldali, et al

Ethical and Legal Implications of Remote Monitoring of Medical Devices

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The Milbank Quarterly
A Multidisciplinary Journal of Population Health and Health Policy

Ethical and Legal Implications of Remote Monitoring of Medical Devices
I. GLENN COHEN, SARA GERKE, DANIEL B. KRAMER

 

Pages: 1257-1289
First Published: 20 October 2020
Abstract
Policy Points
:: Millions of life‐sustaining implantable devices collect and relay massive amounts of digital health data, increasingly by using user‐downloaded smartphone applications to facilitate data relay to clinicians via manufacturer servers.
:: Our analysis of health privacy laws indicates that most US patients may have little access to their own digital health data in the United States under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule, whereas the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act grant greater access to device‐collected data.
:: Our normative analysis argues for consistently granting patients access to the raw data collected by their implantable devices.

A Commons for a Supply Chain in the Post‐COVID‐19 Era: The Case for a Reformed Strategic National Stockpile

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The Milbank Quarterly
A Multidisciplinary Journal of Population Health and Health Policy

 

Volume 98, Issue 4 Pages: 1021-1341, E1-E12 December 2020
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680009/current
Original Scholarship
Free Access
A Commons for a Supply Chain in the Post‐COVID‐19 Era: The Case for a Reformed Strategic National Stockpile
ROBERT HANDFIELD, DANIEL JOSEPH FINKENSTADT, EUGENE S. SCHNELLER, A. BLANTON GODFREY
PETER GUINTO
Pages: 1058-1090
First Published: 02 November 2020

Genetics meets proteomics: perspectives for large population-based studies

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Nature Reviews Genetics
Volume 22 Issue 1, January 2021
https://www.nature.com/nrg/volumes/22/issues/1

 

Review Article | 28 August 2020
Genetics meets proteomics: perspectives for large population-based studies
In this Review, Suhre, McCarthy and Schwenk describe how combining genetics with plasma proteomics is providing notable insights into human disease. As changes in the circulating proteome are often an intermediate molecular readout between a genetic variant and its organismal effect, proteomics can enable a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms, clinical biomarkers and therapeutic opportunities.
Karsten Suhre , Mark I. McCarthy  & Jochen M. Schwenk

Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine

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New England Journal of Medicine
December 31, 2020 Vol. 383 No. 27
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

 

Original Articles
Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine
Fernando P. Polack, M.D., et al for the C4591001 Clinical Trial Group
Conclusions
A two-dose regimen of BNT162b2 conferred 95% protection against Covid-19 in persons 16 years of age or older. Safety over a median of 2 months was similar to that of other viral vaccines. (Funded by BioNTech and Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04368728)

Three-Year Follow-up of 2-Dose Versus 3-Dose HPV Vaccine

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Pediatrics
Vol. 147, Issue 1 1 Jan 2021
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/

 

Three-Year Follow-up of 2-Dose Versus 3-Dose HPV Vaccine
Jacob Bornstein, Surita Roux, Lone Kjeld Petersen, Li-Min Huang, Simon R. Dobson, Punnee Pitisuttithum, Javier Diez-Domingo, Andrea Schilling, Hany Ariffin, Richard Tytus, Richard Rupp, Shelly Senders, Eli Engel, Daron Ferris, Yae-Jean Kim, Young Tae Kim, Zafer Kurugol, Oliver Bautista, Katrina M. Nolan, Sandhya Sankaranarayanan, Alfred Saah, Alain Luxembourg
Pediatrics, Jan 2021, 147 (1) e20194035

Comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

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PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/

 

Research Article |
Comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
Min Seo Kim, Min Ho An, Won Jun Kim, Tae-Ho Hwang
published 30 Dec 2020 PLOS Medicine
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003501

Parents’ and guardians’ views and experiences of accessing routine childhood vaccinations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: A mixed methods study in England

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PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 2 Jan 2021]

 

Parents’ and guardians’ views and experiences of accessing routine childhood vaccinations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: A mixed methods study in England
Sadie Bell, Richard Clarke, Pauline Paterson, Sandra Mounier-Jack
Research Article | published 28 Dec 2020 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244049

Science’s irrational origins

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Science
01 January 2021 Vol 371, Issue 6524
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

 

Books et al.
Science’s irrational origins
By Itai Yanai, Martin J. Lercher
Science01 Jan 2021 : 37 Restricted Access
Disputes in modern science are settled with empiricism alone, an approach early scholars would have questioned
Summary
What is the scientific method, and what makes it the most efficient approach for generating insight? In The Knowledge Machine, Michael Strevens argues that to answer this question, we must acknowledge the role played by the undisciplined and emotional nature of the humans who carry it out. The book takes readers on a whirlwind tour through the history of science, rendering Arthur Eddington, Louis Pasteur, G. G. Simpson, Lord Kelvin, and many others as “warm-blooded organisms, whose enthusiasms, hopes, and fears mold their thinking far below the threshold of awareness.”

Mobile phone reminders for enhancing uptake, completeness and timeliness of routine childhood immunization in low and middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 2 Pages 167-456 (8 January 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/2

 

Review article Abstract only
Mobile phone reminders for enhancing uptake, completeness and timeliness of routine childhood immunization in low and middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Umar Yunusa, Saleh Ngaski Garba, Addakano Bello Umar, Suleiman Hadejia Idris, … Jibril Mohammed
Pages 209-221

Public health impact and cost-effectiveness of a nine-valent gender-neutral HPV vaccination program in France

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 2 Pages 167-456 (8 January 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/2

 

Research article Abstract only
Public health impact and cost-effectiveness of a nine-valent gender-neutral HPV vaccination program in France
Laureen Majed, Xavier Bresse, Nadia El Mouaddin, Aurélie Schmidt, … Elamin Elbasha
Pages 438-446

Confidence and Receptivity for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Rapid Systematic Review

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Vaccines — Open Access Journal
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
(Accessed 2 Jan 2021)

 

Open Access Review
Confidence and Receptivity for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Rapid Systematic Review
by Cheryl Lin, Pikuei Tu and Leslie M. Beitsch
Vaccines 2021, 9(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9010016 – 30 Dec 2020
Abstract
While COVID-19 continues raging worldwide, effective vaccines are highly anticipated. However, vaccine hesitancy is widespread. Survey results on uptake intentions vary and continue to change. This review compared trends and synthesized findings in vaccination receptivity over time across US and international polls, assessing […]

Genomic Medicine and Advances in Vaccine Technology and Development in the Developing and Developed World

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Vaccines — Open Access Journal
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
(Accessed 2 Jan 2021)

 

Open Access Editorial
Genomic Medicine and Advances in Vaccine Technology and Development in the Developing and Developed World
by Rossella Cianci and Laura Franza
Vaccines 2021, 9(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9010009 – 24 Dec 2020

Media/Policy Watch

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Media/Policy Watch
This watch section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media and selected think tanks and similar organizations on vaccines, immunization, global public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.
We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

 

The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Ideas
Growing Old, Alone
Isolation has taken a tremendous emotional toll on many older Americans.
2 Jan 2021
Annie Lowrey
Staff writer at The Atlantic
As the country plunged into a deep and unusual economic recession last year, it also plunged into a deep and unusual social recession: atomizing families and friends, evaporating hours of laughter and care and touch.
This phenomenon hit nobody as hard as America’s seniors, who are much more likely than their younger counterparts to live in care facilities and many of whom have struggled to connect in a socially distanced or virtual fashion. The elderly bore the brunt of the pandemic’s fatalities: COVID-19 has killed nearly 250,000 people over the age of 65. They also bore the brunt of its isolation. Many older Americans spent months discriminated against, frightened, and alone…

 

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Covid vaccine in Wales: Doctors’ concerns over 12-week vaccine gap
Health workers are “not certain that they are being adequately protected” with a longer gap between receiving two doses of the Covid vaccine, a doctors’ leader has said.
David Bailey, chairman of the British Medical Association in Wales, said morale had taken a “hit” as a result.
The Welsh Government said it was following advice on introducing a 12-week gap between doses.
All four chief medical officers in the UK have backed the move…

 

The Economist
http://www.economist.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Sputnik’s orbit
Argentina rolls out a Russian vaccine
The decision to use Sputnik V may have more to do with geopolitics than public health
Jan 2nd 2021 edition
On December 29th Argentina’s government unleashed Sputnik V across the country, issuing some 300,000 doses to all 23 provinces and the city of Buenos Aires. Elsewhere in Latin America, Mexico, Chile, and Costa Rica had been vaccinating on a small scale before the holiday with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. But Argentina, to quote a presidential adviser, “is leading the charge to inoculate all”.
Still, the cavalry has been met with doubts. Alberto Fernández, Argentina’s 61-year-old president, broke his promise to be the country’s first recipient, live on television, after Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who is 68, said he would put off his jab because of his age. Then Mr Fernández’s government sidestepped the normal procedures of its medical regulatory agency, ANMAT, in authorising Sputnik V.
On the eve of the vaccine’s launch, ANMAT specialists leaked internal memos to the Argentine media, expressing concerns about “adverse effects” of Sputnik V on older patients in trials in Russia. Warnings of “symptoms like influenza” got front-page headlines, though these are common with many vaccines.
Unsurprisingly, Sputnik V has become a political football. Alfredo Cornejo, leader of the Radical party, alleged corruption, suggesting that officials’ demands for bribes had scuppered deals with other producers in Europe and the United States…

 

Financial Times
https://www.ft.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Coronavirus treatment
UK draws up plans to mix coronavirus vaccines
In event that first dose becomes unavailable people could be given second shot with different product
January 2, 2021
The UK has drawn up plans that would allow patients to be given different coronavirus vaccines for the first and second doses under certain circumstances, a move that highlights a widening rift in public health policy between the UK and rest of the West.
The government’s Green Book for vaccinations says “every effort” should be made to complete the immunisation course with the same vaccine. But it also says: “For individuals who started the schedule and who attend for vaccination at a site where the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule.”
Health officials said this would only happen under very limited circumstances.
Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at PHE, said mixing Covid-19 vaccines was not recommended. “If your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa.
“There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received,” Dr Ramsay said. “Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all…

Coronavirus pandemic
European leaders under pressure to speed up mass vaccination
Slow pace of immunisation criticised while jab makers warn of supply bottlenecks
January 1, 2021
Top of Form
Bottom of Form

Coronavirus treatment
Experts question UK decision on Covid vaccine dosing regimen
Health authorities argue that broader, if slightly lower, immunity for more people is needed
January 1, 2021

 

Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
2 Jan 2020
Large Numbers Of Health Care And Frontline Workers Are Refusing Covid-19 Vaccine
Topline
Despite the Covid-19 death count in the United States rapidly accelerating, a startlingly high percentage of health care professionals and frontline workers throughout the country—who have been prioritized as early receipts of the coronavirus vaccine—are reportedly hesitant or outright refusing to take it, despite clear scientific evidence that the vaccines are safe and effective.
By Tommy Beer Forbes Staff

Coronavirus  |  
Dec 31, 2020
Trump Administration Has Reached Only 7% Of Its 2020 Covid-19 Vaccination Goals
Has Operation Warp Speed been Operation Too Slow Speed when it has come to getting people vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccines?
By Bruce Y. Lee Senior Contributor

 

Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Snapshot December 31, 2020
How U.S. Pandemic Restrictions Became a Constitutional Battlefield
After 100 Years, Public Health Controls Are Under Attack
John Fabian Witt and Kiki Manzur

Snapshot December 29, 2020
Vaccine Nationalism Will Prolong the Pandemic
A Global Problem Calls for Collective Action
Thomas J. Bollyky and Chad P. Bown

 

Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Analysis
The World After the Coronavirus
As the pandemic enters a new phase, we asked 12 leading global thinkers to predict what happens in 2021 and beyond.
By John R. Allen, Laurie Garrett, Richard N. Haass, G. John Ikenberry, Kishore Mahbubani, Shivshankar Menon, Robin Niblett, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Shannon K. O’Neil, Kori Schake, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Stephen M. Walt
January 2, 2021, 6:00 AM

 

The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
[No new, unique, relevant content]

 

New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Brazil death toll passes 195,000 in world’s third worst outbreak …
1 Jan 2021

India approves Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine | India | The …
1 Jan 2021
Country with second-highest number of infections has run vaccine drills to prepare for immunisation campaign.

 

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
World
Under fire, the Netherlands is speeding up the start of its lagging vaccination campaign.
The government said that shots would begin sooner than Jan. 8, and that it would announce the new start date on Monday.
By Thomas Erdbrink
Jan. 1, 2021

World
Israel has vaccinated more of its population, by far, than any other country in the world.
By Isabel Kershner
Jan. 1, 2021

Dr. Fauci advises against the British approach of delaying a second dose of vaccine.
Jan. 1, 2021
By Katherine J. Wu
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN on Friday that the United States would not follow Britain’s lead in front-loading first vaccine injections, potentially delaying the administration of second doses.
Britain announced a plan this week to delay second shots of its two authorized vaccines, developed by Pfizer and AstraZeneca, in an attempt to dole out to more people the partial protection conferred by a single dose.
“I would not be in favor of that,” Dr. Fauci told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing.”…

World

The U.S. enters 2021 playing catch-up with its vaccine distribution, prompting sharp words from Mitt Romney.
Jan. 1, 2021
By Rebecca Robbins, Frances Robles and Tim Arango

U.S.
AstraZeneca and Sinopharm clear regulatory hurdles in a week of vaccine milestones.
By Katherine J. Wu

Health
U.S. Officials Say Covid-19 Vaccination Effort Has Lagged
“We know that it should be better, and we’re working hard to make it better,” said Moncef Slaoui, a leader of the federal effort to accelerate vaccine development and distribution.
By Rebecca Robbins
Dec. 30, 2020

 

Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
How Vaccine Nationalism Could Extend the Pandemic’s Run
By James Paton | Bloomberg
Dec 26, 2020

Pope on COVID-19 vaccine: Needy, vulnerable must come first
Dec 25, 2020

Vaccine opponents outline online campaigns to sow distrust in coronavirus vaccine
The pandemic has catalyzed anti-vaccine advocates with huge social media followings, new report finds
Elizabeth Dwoskin · Technology · Dec 23, 2020

Think Tanks et al

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Think Tanks et al

Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
[No new relevant content]

Center for Global Development [to 2 Jan 2021]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
[No new relevant content]

 

Chatham House [to 2 Jan 2021]
https://www.chathamhouse.org/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
[No new relevant content]

 

CSIS
https://www.csis.org/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
Upcoming Event
Online Event: Trusting a Covid-19 Vaccine: Who’s Left Unheard?
January 8, 2021

 

Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
December 29, 2020 Coronavirus
Resurgence of COVID-19 in Africa
South Africa is once again the epicenter of the current wave of infections, driven, apparently, by a mutant strain of the virus. According to health experts, South Africa now accounts for an estimated 40 percent of COVID-19 cases in Africa.
Blog Post by John Campbell

 

Kaiser Family Foundation
https://www.kff.org/search/?post_type=press-release
Accessed 2 Jan 2021
[No new relevant content]