Tag: vaccination

Categories : COVID HospitalsTags :

Minimal COVID Breakthrough in Vaccinated Healthcare Workers

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Sammy Williams on Unsplash
Photo by Sammy Williams on Unsplash

Results from a study of cases at Israel’s largest medical centre have shown that breakthrough COVID infection appears to be rare in vaccinated healthcare workers, though they still pose a further infection hazard. Breakthrough infections were correlated with neutralising antibody titres in the early days of infection, and were mild or asymptomatic.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Testing for symptomatic COVID as well as those who had been exposed to an infected person, out of 1497 healthcare workers, the researchers found 39 testing positive in PCR tests. The researchers also measured neutralising antibody titres of uninfected controls. Breakthrough infections were defined as testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 11 days after the second immunisation dose.

Of the 39 cases, 27 occurred in workers tested solely because of exposure to an infected person, 26 (67% of all cases) had mild symptoms at some stage, and none needed hospitalisation. The remaining 13 workers (33%) were asymptomatic. The researchers found that 85% of the 33 infections tested for variants of concern were caused by the Alpha variant.

Symptoms reported included upper respiratory congestion (36% of all cases), myalgia (28%) and loss of smell or taste (28%); fever or rigors were reported in 21%. On follow-up questioning, 31% reported having residual symptoms 14 days after diagnosis. Six weeks after their diagnosis, 19% reported having ‘long COVID’ symptoms. Nine workers (23%) took a leave of absence from work beyond the 10 days of required quarantine.

They discovered that neutralising antibody titres were lower than uninfected controls during the “peri-infection period”.

“Most important, we found that low titres of neutralising antibody and S-specific IgG antibody may serve as markers of breakthrough infection,” they said.

Most of the cases however had N gene Ct values, suggesting they had been infectious at some point, which likely would have gone unnoticed save for exposure screening, which means the vaccine protected them against symptomatic disease, but not infection.

“However, no secondary infections were traced back to any of the breakthrough cases, which supports the inference that these workers were less contagious than unvaccinated persons,” the researchers noted.

The study was limited, the researchers acknowledged, due to a small number of cases, the possibility of asymptomatic cases being missed, and the lack of generalisability from a younger, healthy population to the general populace.

The researchers concluded that in their study, they “found that although the BNT162b2 vaccine is extremely effective, rare breakthrough infections carry an infectious potential and create a special challenge, since such infections are often asymptomatic and may pose a risk to vulnerable populations.”

Journal information: Bergwerk M., et al. Covid-19 breakthrough infections in vaccinated health care workers, New England Journal of Medicine, 2021; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2109072.

Categories : Medical Research & TechnologyTags :

India Tests Out Drones for Medical Deliveries

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Thomas Bjornstad on Unsplash

An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of drone deliveries at long ranges, in a step towards one day delivering medicines as well as COVID vaccines to remote areas.

India, with a population of 1.3 billion people spread across some 3.2 million square kilometres is the world’s seventh-largest country by land mass. Experts say that widespread use of drones could be a game-changer for medical services in the South Asian nation’s hard-to-reach rural areas with often poor roads and lack of healthcare infrastructure.

Drones are a cost-effective alternative to road transport in difficult terrains. They can be used in the transport of blood from the blood bank to the place of surgery and that of specimens from hard-to-reach areas to the labs in nearby towns. They can deliver essential medicines like anti-venom for snake bite and dog bite and prevent deaths.

Throttle Aerospace Systems is among 20 organisations granted permits by the government since May to conduct experimental flights beyond the current limit of 450 metres.

Two drones were tested in the southern state of Karnataka: one that can carry up to one kilogramme for 20 kilometres for nearly an hour, and another that can lift two kilogrammes for 15 kilometres.

“Medicines was the payload here and… 2.5 kilometres were covered in seven minutes and it delivered the medicines at the designated point and the drone returned,” Throttle’s co-founder, Sebastian Anto, told AFP at the test site.

This month the Indian government also invited bids from drone operators to help set up a pilot project for the delivering of medical supplies as it seeks to bolster its flagging COVID vaccination drive.

Samiran Panda,  epidemiology chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research, told The Hindu daily newspaper that the technology could help innoculate priority groups in hard-to-reach places.

“We need smart vaccination instead of mass vaccination to stem an epidemic,” Panda told the newspaper last week.

However, India lags behind many other nations when it comes to drones both in terms of their uses and the regulatory framework.Under current regulations, they have to be flown in full view, or within 450 metres, of their operators on the ground.

In Germany, it is reported that researchers are testing drone prototypes that can track down disaster victims by their screams. In Australia, drones using artificial intelligence algorithms are being used to spot crocodiles and count koalas in rugged terrain.

“Drone technology would have a huge impact in those areas where emergency medicines and vaccines could be supplied,” co-founder of lobby group the Drone Federation of India, Vipul Singh, told AFP.

“Where it takes a few hours to travel 20-30 kilometres by road, whereas a drone can actually travel that distance in 10 to 15 minutes,” said Singh, also the co-founder of Bangalore-based Aarav Unmanned Systems.

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : COVID General InterestTags :

The Second Vaccine Dose Can Hit Hard

On By ModernMedia

The scuttlebut among healthcare workers is that the second dose of a COVID vaccine hits much harder than the first – unless you’ve had COVID, in which case the first is equally as bad.

TJ Maltese, DO, a neurologist in private practice on Long Island in New York state, was fine with the first dose of the Moderna vaccine but was flattened by the second one.

Dr Maltese got his second jab on a Friday at 4:30 pm. Within two hours his arm was sore. Overnight, he developed flu-like symptoms, and on Saturday experienced chills and body aches, with a lingering fever. He could have pushed through if he’d had to work, he said, but he rode out his symptoms on his couch with the help of the occasional painkiller.

By 9 pm on Saturday evening, Dr Maltese started to feel better, getting a good night’s sleep and on Sunday was fine again.

“I know plenty of people with minimal symptoms after the second dose, so it’s not definite you’ll feel side effects,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “But be prepared for the possibility.”

Immunology and the phase III clinical trial data from the vaccine backs up the view that the second dose is worse, and some hospitals have even altered their scheduling to allow time for recuperation after the second dose. Adverse reactions to the BCG vaccine in Brazilian school children, for example, have been reported to be common with the second dose, though still rare.  

Immunologists and infectious disease experts interviewed by MedPage Today and who shared their second-dose experiences said it’s not unexpected that second-dose reactions are more intense than the first. Typical reactions to the COVID vaccines include fever, headache and fatigue as the immune system responds to a vaccine’s antigens.

“The first time the immune system comes into contact with something, it’s getting primed,” said Purvi Parikh, MD, an immunologist at NYU Langone Health in New York City. “That goes for everything, from vaccines to allergies. It’s rare on the first time to have a strong reaction. After that, the immune system recognizes it, so you have a much stronger reaction.”

“We saw it in the trials, so it’s really not surprising,” Parikh added. “Now we’re seeing it in real time as the vaccines are being rolled out.”

More adverse effects were reported after the second dose in both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s phase III trial data. For Moderna, the rates were 54.9% versus 42.2% for placebo after the first dose and 79.4% versus 36.5% for placebo after the second dose.

Stanley Weiss, MD, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told MedPage Today that because his institution served as a Moderna trial site, the primary investigator was able to give an early update on what to expect following vaccination.

“They said there was a very high rate of fatigue after the second dose, so we encouraged administrators … to figure that many healthcare workers getting the vaccine might not be well enough to work the day after the second dose,” Dr Weiss said.

Drs Weiss and Parikh both experienced a stronger response to the second COVID dose. 

Zubin Damania, MD, aka ZDoggMD, said he was knocked out by the second dose of Moderna vaccine, joking on his show that, “I couldn’t sleep, I had a fever, rigors, body aches, a headache — full-on man-flu.”

Paul Offit, MD, said that he also experienced fever and fatigue after taking the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

“That reaction is less common in people over 65, and I’m over 65, so I’m thinking I’m not going to suffer that, but I did,” Dr Offit said.

Older people are not expected to have as intense a reaction due to their weaker immune systems. According to Dr Parikh, “The idea is that their immune system is not as robust as a young person’s.”
The same immunological underpinnings of why reactions to the second dose are worse also apply to those who’ve had COVID.
Victoria Arthur, MD, of Lexington Pediatrics in Massachusetts, had suspected she had contracted COVID in March 2020 but could not prove it. When she received the Moderna vaccine, she felt much worse than her colleagues.

“How I felt was how everyone else was describing their second vaccine,” Dr Arthur told MedPage Today. Within three hours of her jab, she was suffering from a headache, neck pain, and cognitive fog. She awoke at 3am with nausea and stomach cramps, and spent the whole of the next day in bed. 

“I’m always grateful when I have a reaction, that means the body is doing its thing,” she said. “I’m very fortunate to have been given the vaccine, so any side effect is worth it.”

In spite of the side effects, these health care professionals all expressed gratitude at having been vaccinated.

Dr Weiss said that people shouldn’t be discouraged by the side effects from the second dose and not get vaccinated: “The benefits greatly overwhelm the risk of side effects. It’s not a reason to delay.”

Source: MedPage Today

Categories : COVIDTags :

Pfizer Vaccine 90% Effective After a Single Dose

On By ModernMedia

A study from the University of East Anglia (UEA) reported that the Pfizer vaccine provides “very high” protection after a single dose.

The researchers drew on Israeli data, where the vaccine had been widely administered, and found that the vaccine was 90% effective at 21 days after the initial dose. This supports the plan that the UK and other nations have of delaying a second dose to achieve maximum coverage. However, they also noted that infection rates increased eight days after the first dose, which they attribute to people becoming less cautious as a result of the vaccination. The study is available on the medRxiv preprint server, and has not been peer reviewed, as it is a rapid response to the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Lead researcher and COVID expert Prof Paul Hunter, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “A second dose of the Pfizer vaccine would normally be given 21 days or more after the first to top up and lengthen the effect of the first dose.

“But here in the UK, the decision was made to delay the timing of the second injection until 12 weeks after the first.

“The logic behind this is to protect more people sooner and so reduce the total number of severe infections, hospitalisations, and deaths.

“But this decision caused criticism from some quarters due in part to a belief that a single injection may not give adequate immunity.”

Prof Hunter explains the motivation for the study was previous flawed research on the Pfizer vaccine, also using Israeli data. But the study did not consider effectiveness past day 18.

The researchers observed that case incidence rose up til day eight by which time it had doubled, then fell. Prof Hunter said: “We found that the vaccine effectiveness was still pretty much zero until about 14 days after people were vaccinated. But then after day 14 immunity rose gradually day by day to about 90 percent at day 21 and then didn’t improve any further. All the observed improvement was before any second injection.

“This shows that a single dose of vaccine is highly protective, although it can take up to 21 days to achieve this.”

Although the vaccine’s effectiveness beyond this is not known, it still supports the UK’s decision to space out vaccine doses, Prof Hunter concluded.

Source: Medical Xpress

Journal information: “Estimating the effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine after a single dose. A reanalysis of a study of ‘real-world’ vaccination outcomes from Israel” is published on the medRxiv pre-print server: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.110 … 021.02.01.21250957v1

Categories : COVIDTags :

US Health Workers’ Vaccine Hesitancy Is Cause for Concern

On By ModernMedia

Health care workers in various parts of the United States are showing extraordinarily high rates of COVID vaccine hesitancy: 20% to 40% of front line workers in Los Angeles, and 60% of nursing home workers said they would refuse to take the vaccine. This has generated great concern along with some instances of shaming, but failing to address these worries is potentially going to worsen the progression of the pandemic.

Fortunately, national surveys show that vaccine hesitancy is decreasing with some 60% of Americans now intending to receive a vaccine, but the high numbers among healthcare workers demands attention. Speaking to the Guardian, Dr Whitney Robinson, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina, said that if this is not addressed, “It could mean after all this work, after all this sacrifice, we could still be seeing outbreaks for years, not just 2021, maybe 2022, maybe 2023.”

In Atlanta, while hundreds of healthcare workers were on the list for vaccines, the doses were literally “sitting in the freezers” because no-one would take them.In one survey, up to 55% of New York firefighters said would not take the vaccines, so the Uniformed Firefighters Association president put together a 50 minute video with a virologist friend, addressing their concerns. Subsequent calls from firefighters showed the video had helped to change minds and increase vaccination numbers.

The concerns are varied. Some are concerned about possible side effects and long term consequences, or have read misinformation online. Others are worried about the effect it will have on pregnant and breastfeeding women. Still others believe that having the vaccine is unnecessary after having recovered it, as they have the antibodies in their system. A lot of the distrust may be from minority groups’ deep-rooted distrust of large-scale health programs such as vaccinations, according to Dr Nikhila Juvvadi, the chief clinical officer at Loretto hospital in Chicago. Many specifically mentioned the Tuskegee Study, where federal health officials studied African-American men with sexually transmitted diseases which were deliberately not treated.

“I’ve heard Tuskegee more times than I can count in the past month – and, you know, it’s a valid, valid concern,” said Juvvadi.
However, she said that individual conversations were effective in helping alleviate concerns about the vaccines.

Source: The Guardian

Categories : COVID UncategorizedTags :

Medical Aid Schemes to Share Cost of Nationwide Vaccination

On By ModernMedia

As arrangements are being made to pay for the COVID vaccination programme for South Africa, medical aid schemes are expected to contribute to the cost towards ensuring at least 67% of the population receives a vaccine, which is the minimum number to establish herd immunity.

Across South Africa, there are some 9 million medical aid beneficiaries, making up some 16% of the population and who collectively spent R186 billion last year on healthcare. The total cost of providing sufficient vaccines for the South African population is thought to range from R5 billion to R20 billion, depending on whether the vaccine is simply bought for the commercial price or whether the distribution and administration costs are factored in as well.

Discussions into paying for the mass vaccinations have suggested that mass-employers, such as mines, ought to contribute  This week, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) confirmed that vaccination would be a minimum prescribed benefit, so this will not be paid for out of medical savings.”The CMS acknowledges that there may be an additional cost burden to medical schemes for the provision of the vaccine, but this is not expected to be prohibitively high,” the body said. “In addition, industry associations have assured the CMS that vaccine costs can be absorbed by most medical schemes.”

South Africa’s vaccine source is not yet clear, although President Cyril Ramaphosa has hinted that Canada may share its excess vaccine stock. Canada currently has enough vaccine pre-purchase agreements to vaccinate its population five times over.

Source: Business Insider

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

COVID Vaccinations for Those Who Have Recovered?

On By ModernMedia

As mass COVID vaccination programmes get underway around the world, an Op-Ed in MedPage Today debates whether people who have recovered from COVID should receive a vaccination.

Even given that there are over 200 vaccines in development, with a typical 7% success rate for vaccines, the 80-95% efficacy reported for the various vaccines being administered and the numbers of successful vaccines is a great outcome. Despite this, considering the great difficulty in producing enough vaccines for the world, should perhaps people who recovered from COVID not receive the vaccine, as they now are protected by a level of immunity?

The perspectives of immunology and bioethics indicate why such a person should also be vaccinated. There would be no difference in vaccinating a person who has had COVID to a person who has recovered then been re-exposed or re-infected. In both cases, a rapid immune response will be mounted in either individual, and either will be asymptomatic or present with mild, manageable symptoms. A re-exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or receiving a vaccine might strengthen such a person’s immunity to future COVID infections.The immune system maintains an immunological library in our lymphatic system which stores memory lymphocytes (B cells) that respond to any past infection encountered by an individual. On a second or third exposure to a particular pathogen, these B cells are mobilised and rapidly prevent re-infection. Vaccines are designed to mimic a viral exposure without eliciting a dangerous viral infection. B cells don’t cause illness, only prompting the immune system, mitigating the infection.
Furthermore, vaccinations confer additional protections beyond just that of the disease which they are meant to protect against. There are abundant data that shows that vaccinations against measles, influenza, or TB generate lymphocytes that even help protect vaccinated individuals against COVID. In one theory on why young children do not present with severe COVID, standard childhood vaccinations are believed to  boost their overall level of immunity.

With so many factors complicating vaccine administration, it is best not to add yet another wrinkle, and there is also no information to suggest that vaccinating someone who has recovered from a virus will cause harmful effects. On the contrary, re-exposure to a virus or a subsequent vaccination against that virus could generate superior lymphocytes to combat further infection.

Source:MedPage Today

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

Aspen Shifts to SA Production of COVID Vaccines

On By ModernMedia

Aspen Pharmacare has secured a deal to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, in an effort to adapt to the pharmaceutical market. 

Elective surgeries being deferred due to the pandemic has reduced demand for certain medications, and the company withheld dividends for the second year running in September. However, the company does produce some medications which are currently in demand due to COVID.

Dexamethasone, one of the medications Aspen has the rights to produce, is a key treatment for COVID patients, which according to a study done in June, reduces mortality by 30%. Colchicine is another medication used to treat COVID, normally used for gout.

Tavros Nicolaou, a senior Aspen executive, said in an interview: “In February, we looked at how we best respond to this looming disaster facing us and we split it into three buckets — what we can do at a therapeutic level, what can we do at a vaccine level and what can we do to generally help society.” This positioned them “globally as a company that had a multifaceted response to this pandemic.”

The pharmaceuticals company has invested R3 billion in a Port Elizabeth plant to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at a rate of 300 million per year, which will help supply the rest of Africa. The need for local COVID vaccines may come sooner rather than later.

Despite peaking in July, the country’s COVID pandemic is not yet over with at least two provinces seeing increases in cases again, while on the horizon a second surge is expected in January.

Source: Moneyweb

Categories : UncategorizedTags :

UNICEF Calls for Urgent Action to Avoid Polio and Measles Epidemics

On By ModernMedia

UNICEF and the World Health Organization issued a press release today calling for a major effort to avert impending epidemics of both polio and measles resulting from disruption caused by COVID.

The organisations estimate that US$655 million (US$400 million for polio and US$255 million for measles) is needed to address immunity gaps that are opening up for these deadly and debilitating diseases.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said, “COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on health services and in particular immunization services, worldwide. But unlike with COVID, we have the tools and knowledge to stop diseases such as polio and measles. What we need are the resources and commitments to put these tools and knowledge into action. If we do that, children’s lives will be saved.”

Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, added, “We cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases. Addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic is critical. However, other deadly diseases also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest areas of the world. That is why today we are urgently calling for global action from country leaders, donors and partners. We need additional financial resources to safely resume vaccination campaigns and prioritize immunization systems that are critical to protect children and avert other epidemics besides COVID-19.”

Gaps were already opening in measles coverage, with minor outbreaks even before the disruption of the COVID pandemic. Polio risks resurgence in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in under-immunised areas of Africa. To help address these challenges, a novel polio vaccine is being developed and a new response plan is being developed.

Categories : HIV Immune SystemTags :

HIV Vaccine Search is a Marathon

On By ModernMedia

While COVID vaccines have appeared in a record-breaking short time, an HIV vaccine is still yet to arrive – though not without good reasons, as The Daily Maverick reports.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, a US-based HIV advocacy organisation explained: “There is still no conclusive research on what type of immune response an HIV vaccine should be trying to trigger.”

“With HIV, you’re trying to do better than nature,” continued Warren. “With a Covid-19 vaccine, the jab merely has to do what nature is doing already — in the form of an immune response — just faster. But with HIV, you’re trying to do better than nature because your body isn’t able to successfully fight off the virus.”

HIV mutates quite rapidly, to the point where there are now two distinct strains, HIV-1 and HIV-1, complicating the process. SARS-CoV-2 on the other hand uses a process called proofreading when it replicates, ensuring a lower rate of mutations.

There are currently three vaccines in development; HPX2008/HVTN 705: Imbokodo and HPX3002/HVTN 706: Mosaico both use adenoviruses to deliver protein fragments of the HIV virus to train the immune system to respond to it. The “Imbokodo” is being trialled with young women, and “Mosaico” is being trialled with transgender men and men who have sex with men, and expected to end in 2022 and 2024 respectively. 

The PrEPVacc vaccine uses DNA inserted into plasmids, which induce the body to produce the virus’ proteins, but not the virus itself. The two shots contain a cocktail of proteins and the plasmids to train the immune system. The trial is expected to end in 2023