President Biden outlined a six-point strategy to confront the pandemic. But two public health scholars believe it would work better with help from states.
September 11, 2021 marks the 18 month anniversary of the WHO declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
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Katelyn Jetelina, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
A lot has happened since the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. A portrait in data highlights trends in everything from case counts, to research publications, to variant spread.
The huge number of active coronavirus infections offers plenty of opportunity for mutations to occur and new variants to arise.
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When the coronavirus copies itself, there is a chance its RNA will mutate. But new variants must jump from one host to another, and the more infections there are, the better chance this will happen.
SARS-CoV-2 variants have also played an integral part in driving the course of the pandemic.
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Michelle J. Groome, National Institute for Communicable Diseases; Adrian Puren, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, and Harry Moultrie, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Communities with high vaccine coverage rates are likely to see lower case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths related to COVID-19 compared to those with poor vaccine coverage.
mRNA technologies for vaccine production is gaining more prominence
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Thanks to the collaborative efforts of governments, funding agencies, academia, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, large-scale manufacturing of mRNA drug products is becoming a reality.
Many hospitals have reached a point where the demand for health care has outstripped the ability to provide it.
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Archa Fox, The University of Western Australia and Charles Bond, The University of Western Australia
mRNA vaccines are the first synthetic vaccines, meaning they’re made outside of a living cell. But so are lots of things we consume every day, such as vitamin C pills and other dietary supplements.
By better communicating how vaccines boost the immune system’s long term “memory”, manufacturers could address vaccine hesitancy.
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An infectious disease doctor explains the science behind COVID-19 vaccines at a level that children – and adults – of all ages can understand.
A little more than 8% of vaccinated people in the U.S. have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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It has been six months since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine received emergency use authorization. What does six months of data show about its efficacy, side effects and protection from variants?
FDA approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine may boost vaccination rates among those who have been hesitant to get the shot.
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The U.S. FDA has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. How is approval different from emergency use authorization, and what difference will it make to a vaccine that’s already in global use?
Studying trends in public adverse event reporting could help researchers address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
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Anti-vaccine activists are using the side effect reporting system to spread fear and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. But the database could also be used as a gauge for public concerns.
The children’s book, Little Louis, tells the story of a young boy preparing for his COVID-19 vaccination.
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There is an urgent need to combat historically fuelled vaccine hesitancy within Indigenous communities. The best way to do this is through evidence-based knowledge and community-led work.
A Bangladeshi man gets his jab.
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Each dose of Pfizer has a long and complex path involving mixing, storage at temperatures colder than the South Pole and specific protocols that must be followed before it becomes a jab.
Detainees at Villawood Detention Centre during a protest in 2011.
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The largest immigration detention centre is located in a COVID hot spot in western Sydney. We need to make vaccinations for detainees and staff an urgent priority.
Cancer and organ transplant patients, people with untreated HIV and people with other immunodeficiencies are at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
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People with weakened immune systems are at a high risk of severe and prolonged COVID-19 infections. An extra vaccine dose can bolster protection.
The notion of vaccine mandates is being debated all over the world as some states move to legally require COVID-19 vaccination.
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Two economists explain what insurers can and can’t do to factor vaccination status into their coverage and rates.
A man reacts as he gets a shot of the one-dose Sputnik Light vaccine at a mobile vaccination station in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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Coverage of Russian vaccination rollout has focused largely on concerns about ethics of development and inconsistent messaging. But Russian-language research complicates this picture.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand