Promise and challenges in the development of COVID-19 vaccines

Anticipatory regulation for pandemic responses: are we there yet?

Can drug and vaccine regulatory agencies leverage their experience during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to advance from reactive regulation to adaptive regulation and beyond to anticipatory regulation to prevent or curb future pandemics?

A Correlation Study to Comprehend the SAR-CoV-2 Viral Load, Antiviral Antibody Titer, and Severity of COVID-19 Symptoms Post-infection Amongst the Vaccinated Population in Kamrup District of As sam, Northeast India

BACKGROUND

As per the recommendation of the United States Food and Drug Administration, more research is needed to determine the antibody titer against COVID-19 vaccination.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to understand the relationship between the antibody titer to the demographics, infection severity, and cycle threshold (CT) values of confirmed COVID-19 patients.

METHODS

Initially, we obtained consent from 185 populations and included sixty RT-PCRpositive COVID-19 patients from Kamrup District in the Northeast State of Assam, India. The vaccination status was recorded and tested for the level of serum immunoglobulin (IgG). The CT values, gender, and clinical symptoms-based scoring (CSBS) correlated with their IgG value.

RESULTS

Around 48% of participants gained an antibody titer more than the threshold value and showed CT values between 18-25. Moreover, the maximum distributed score above the average was found between the CT values 18-25.

CONCLUSION

The IgG titer value differs significantly amongst the vaccinated population, which may depend upon their genetic and demographic variability.

The impact of educational interventions on COVID-19 and vaccination attitudes among patients in Michigan: A prospective study

Background

Mass vaccination serves as an effective strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is a recognized impediment to achieving a vaccination rate necessary to protect communities. However, solutions and interventions to address this issue are limited by a lack of prior research.

Methods

Over 200 patients from 18 Michigan counties participated in this study. Each participant received an initial survey, including demographical questions and knowledge and opinion questions regarding COVID-19 and vaccines. Participants were randomly assigned an educational intervention in either video or infographic format. Patients received a post-survey to assess changes in knowledge and attitudes. Paired sample t-tests and ANOVA were used to measure the effectiveness of the educational interventions. Participants also elected to complete a 3-month follow-up survey.

Results

Patients showed increased knowledge after the educational intervention in six out of seven COVID-19 topics (p < 0.005). There was increased vaccine acceptance after the intervention but no difference in the effectiveness between the two intervention modalities. Post-intervention, more patients believed in CDC recommendations (p = 0.005), trusted the vaccine (p = 0.001), believed the vaccines had adequate testing (p = 0.019), recognized prior mistreatment in the medical care system (p = 0.005), agreed that a source they trust told them to receive a vaccine (p = 0.015), and were worried about taking time off of work to get a vaccine (p = 0.023). Additionally, post-intervention, patients were less concerned about mild reactions of the virus (p = 0.005), the rapid development of the vaccines (p < 0.001), and vaccine side effects (p = 0.031). Data demonstrated that attitude and knowledge improved when comparing pre-educational intervention to follow-up but decreased from post-intervention to follow-up.

Conclusion

The findings illustrate that educational interventions improved COVID-19 and vaccine knowledge among patients and that the knowledge was retained. Educational interventions serve as powerful tools to increase knowledge within communities and address negative views on vaccination. Interventions should be continually utilized to reinforce information within communities to improve vaccination rates.

CD4 + Count: a Variable to Be Considered to Prioritize COVID-19 Vaccination in PLHIV

The outbreak of the COVID-19 propagates, pressurizing the healthcare system by emphasizing and worsening the inequities. While many vaccines have shown excellent efficacy in protecting the general public from the COVID-19 infection, the efficacy of these vaccines for people living with HIV (PLHIV), especially those having a different range of CD4 + T-cell, has yet to be thoroughly investigated. Few studies have uncovered the escalated infection and death rates due to the COVID-19 infection in individuals with low CD4 + T-cells. Additionally, PLHIV has a low CD4 + count; furthermore, specific CD4 + T cells for coronavirus have a vigorous Th1 role and are related to the protective antibody responses. Follicular helper T cells (TFH) are vulnerable to HIV and virus-specific CD4 & CD8 T-cells which are essential for viral infection clearance and defective immune responses which further contributes to the development of illness. The specific CD8 & CD4 + T-cell reaction to severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in almost all COVID-19 recovered individuals, which is related to the size of antibodies of immunoglobulin G. It has previously been demonstrated that PLHIV has decreased responses to certain vaccines and that these responses are reliant on CD4 + T-cell levels. COVID-19 vaccines will likely have a lower response or limited effect, in PLHIV having low CD4 + T-cells.

SARIMA model-based forecasting required number of COVID-19 vaccines globally and empirical analysis of peoples’ view towards the vaccines

Recent studies regarding COVID-19 show a growing tendency to talk about the COVID-19 Pandemic on online channels. With the recent release of the Pfizer vaccine of COVID-19, people keep posting many rumors regarding the safety concerns of the Vaccine, especially among older people. Due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus and the worldwide Pandemic developed, the rush to develop the COVID-19 Vaccine has become an alarming priority in health care services worldwide. In this research work, we have systematically evaluated people’s views towards the COVID-19 Vaccine, and shreds of evidence are supported empirically. The study mainly focuses on the empirical evidence and intensive discussions on what is currently known about the mechanism of action, efficacy, and toxicity of the most promising vaccines (Moderna), (Pfizer/BioNtech), (Astrazenac/Oxford), and (Sputnik V) against COVID-19. Our study’s primary objective is to provide an analysis of the questionnaire regarding people’s opinions, preferences, and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines. We have created an online questionnaire using a google form to collect data from various countries supposed to employ COVID-19 vaccines. The questionnaires were distributed to people in many Arab and foreign countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, England, China, and Japan. A total of 516 responses were returned and analyzed using statistical, and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) approaches. The SARIMA model is used to predict the total number of vaccines in the next few days. To attain the most accurate forecast and prediction, the SARIMA model parameters are investigated with a grid search method. Finally, the combination of the parameters (1,0,1)×(1,0,0,1) is considered to be the best SARIMA model because it has the lowest AIC values of −4100.11 and the best Correlation coefficients of 0.984.

COVID-19 vaccination: Is it a matter of concern?

Background

COVID-19 vaccination is still a matter of concern among the public since its inception. Primary care physicians being in prime position can share accurate and ample information about COVID-19 vaccination so we estimated proportion and determinants of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) with Covishield vaccine, vaccination and reasons of non-vaccination.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to April 2021. Data collection was done by using data capture tool Epicollect-5. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association of AEFI and vaccine acceptance with various demographic variables.

Results

Of 520 subjects, 408 got vaccinated, and of these 125 (30.6%) developed AEFI. Females without AEFI had lower median age than females having AEFI. Only religion (aOR = 5.311; 95% CI: 1. 216-23.1) was significantly associated with AEFI. Education (aOR = 0.399; 95% CI: 0. 199-0.799), marital status (aOR = 0.459; 95% CI: 0. 245-0.858), and religion (aOR = 3.874; 95% CI: 1. 96-7.648) were significantly associated with vaccination. Most common local AEFIs were inflammation (46; 36.8%) followed by lump (10; 8%) at the site of injection. Most common systemic AEFI were fever (87; 69.6%), feeling unwell (65; 52%), generalized weakness/fatigue (30; 20%), tiredness (26; 20.8%), flu-like symptoms (12; 9.6%), dizziness (10; 8%), headache (8; 6.4%) and gastrointestinal events (7; 5.6%).

Conclusion

Most of the AEFI were mild and transient, resolved without any medical management. This study warrants active reporting of AEFI, public release of safety, and efficacy data. Primary care physicians can play a pivotal role by targeted awareness campaigns and trust-building activities to alleviate fear and anxiety related to vaccine.

Mind the "Vaccine Fatigue"

Background

Omicron scares and speculations are gaining momentum. Amid the nonstop debates and discussions about COVID-19 vaccines, the "vaccine fatigue" phenomenon may become more prevalent. However, to date, no research has systematically examined factors that shape people's vaccine fatigue. To bridge the research gap, this study aims to investigate the antecedents that cause or catalyze people's vaccine fatigue.

Methods

A narrative literature review was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO to identify factors that shape people's vaccine fatigue. The search was completed on December 6, 2021, with a focus on scholarly literature published in English.

Results

A total of 37 articles were reviewed and analyzed. Vaccine fatigue was most frequently discussed in the context of infectious diseases in general at the pre-vaccination stage. Vaccine fatigue has been identified in the general public, the parents, and the doctors. Overall, a wide range of antecedents to vaccine fatigue has been identified, ranging from the frequency of immunization demands, vaccine side effects, misconceptions about the severity of the diseases and the need for vaccination, to lack of trust in the government and the media.

Conclusion

Vaccine fatigue is people's inertia or inaction towards vaccine information or instruction due to perceived burden and burnout. Our study found that while some contributors to vaccine fatigue are rooted in limitations of vaccine sciences and therefore can hardly be avoided, effective and empathetic vaccine communications hold great promise in eliminating preventable vaccine fatigue across sectors in society.

Users opinion and emotion understanding in social media regarding COVID-19 vaccine

Online social platforms or social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have become popular platforms for a public discussion about social topics. Recent studies show that there is a growing tendency for people to talk about COVID-19 pandemic in these online channels. The rapid growth of the infected cases by COVID-19 pandemic makes a lots of anxiety and fear among people. With the recent released of Pfizer vaccine, people start posting a lot of rumors regarding the safety concerns of the vaccine, especially among the elderly people. The aim of this study is to bring out the fact that tweets containing all pertinent details about the COVID-19 vaccine and provides an analysis and understanding of users emotions regarding the recent release of COVID-19 vaccine. This study starts with the collection of tweets related to COVID-19 vaccine and then cleaning the dataset from redundant tweets. In this study, we use Twitter API and Web Scraping techniques to obtain a sample of 50,000 tweets talking about COVID-19 vaccine.Further, The analysis of users emotions is achieved by manually labeling and classifying the tweets to either positive or negative. Then, a deep learning based model is used to train the data and classify the people opinion about COVID-19 vaccine. The experimental results illustrate that high percentage of people have shown a positive attitude towards COVID1-19 vaccine. The proposed method is validated over Twitter datasets and the results also demonstrate that use of deep learning classifier can successfully improve the accuracy of people emotions analysis with an accuracy up to 98% for training set and the accuracy for testing set is 73%.

Effect of a Concise Educational Program on COVID-19 Vaccination Attitudes

Background: Vaccination has been recognized as a vital step for containing the COVID-19 outbreak. To ensure the success of immunization efforts as a public health containment measure, a high level of public vaccination compliance is essential. Targeted educational programs can be utilized to improve attitudes toward vaccination and improve the public's uptake of protective measures.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of a concise educational program on perceived knowledge regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine importance and trust, protection and fear from COVID-19, trust in authorities, as well as individual resilience.

Results: The study evaluated 503 participants that completed the questionnaire before and after viewing a concise video tutorial on vaccination. Following the educational program, scores of five variables increased significantly compared to their pre-viewing level: knowledge, personal resilience, trust in authorities, vaccine importance, as well as perceived protection. Those that were vaccinated and/or intend to be vaccinated (N = 394) report higher levels of knowledge, trust in authorities, vaccine importance, vaccine trust, and fear of being infected as compared to those that are unwilling to get vaccinated. Positive significant correlations were found between resilience and trust in authorities (r = 0.169, p < 0.001), vaccine importance (r = 0.098, p = 0.028), and feeling protected (r = 0.310, p < 0.001). Trust in authorities was positively correlated with vaccine importance (r = 0.589, p < 0.001) and vaccine trust (r = 0.177, p < 0.001). Vaccine importance was positively correlated with vaccine trust (r = 0.149, p = 0.001), but not correlated with knowledge score.

Conclusion: The findings of the study demonstrate the benefits of educational programs on improving attitudes toward vaccination acceptability. Incorporation of such concise educational programs by authorities may improve uptake of COVID-19 vaccination and help overcome public vaccine hesitancy. We recommend that such a concise and easily implementable educational program be incorporated as a response component to the current and future outbreaks.

Roborovski hamster (Phodopus roborovskii) strain SH101 as a systemic infection model of SARS-CoV-2

Severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently causing a worldwide threat with its unusually high transmission rates and rapid evolution into diverse strains. Unlike typical respiratory viruses, SARS-CoV-2 frequently causes systemic infection by breaking the boundaries of the respiratory systems. The development of animal models recapitulating the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 is of utmost importance not only for the development of vaccines and antivirals but also for understanding the pathogenesis. However, there has not been developed an animal model for systemic infection of SARS-CoV-2 representing most aspects of the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 with systemic symptoms. Here we report that a Roborovski hamster strain SH101, a laboratory inbred hamster strain of P. roborovskii, displayed most symptoms of systemic infection upon SARS-CoV-2 infection as in the case of the human counterpart, unlike current COVID-19 animal models. Roborovski hamster strain SH101 post-infection of SARS-CoV-2 represented most clinical symptoms of COVID-19 such as snuffling, labored breathing, dyspnea, cough, hunched posture, progressive weight loss, ruffled fur, and high fever following shaking chills. Histological examinations also revealed initial right-predominated pneumonia as well as slight organ damages in the brain and liver, manifesting systemic COVID-19 cases. Considering the merit of a small animal as well as its clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human, this hamster model seems to provide an ideal tool to investigate COVID-19.

COVID-19: risk factors for severe cases of the Delta variant

BACKGROUND

Since April 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.167) Delta variant has been rampant worldwide. Recently, this variant has spread in Guangzhou, China. Our objective was to characterize the clinical features and risk factors of severe cases of the Delta variant in Guangzhou.

METHODS

A total of 144 patients with the Delta variant were enrolled, and the data between the severe and non-severe groups were compared. Logistic regression methods and Cox multivariate regression analysis were used to investigate the risk factors of severe cases.

RESULTS

The severity of the Delta variant was 11.1%. Each 1-year increase in age (OR, 1.089; 95% CI, 1.035-1.147; P = 0.001) and each 1-μmol/L increase in total bilirubin (OR, 1.198; 95% CI, 1.021-1.406; P = 0.039) were risk factors for severe cases. Moreover, the risk of progression to severe cases increased 13.444-fold and 3.922-fold when the age was greater than 58.5 years (HR, 13.444; 95% CI, 2.989-60.480; P = 0.001) or the total bilirubin level was greater than 7.23 μmol/L (HR, 3.922; 95% CI, 1.260-12.207; P = 0.018), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Older age and elevated total bilirubin were independent risk factors for severe cases of the Delta variant in Guangzhou, especially if the age was greater than 58.5 years or the total bilirubin level was greater than 7.23 μmol/L.

Side Effects Following Administration of the First Dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield Vaccine in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

In response to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh started its vaccine administration in early 2021; however, due to the rapid development and launch of the vaccines in the market, many people had concerns regarding the safety of these vaccines. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the side effects that were experienced by the Bangladeshi residents after receiving the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine (ChAdOx1nCoV-19). The study was conducted using both online and printed questionnaires and the data were analysed using SPSS. The results included the responses of 474 vaccine recipients from March–April 2021. Pain at the site of injection, fever, myalgia, fatigue and headache were the most commonly reported symptoms, and the overall side effects were found to be significantly more prevalent in the younger population (p ≤ 0.05). These findings were consistent with the results indicated by the clinical trial of ChAdOx1nCoV-19. Logistic regression analysis further revealed that compared to people aged 70 years or above, the incidence of reported side effects was significantly higher in people aged 18–30 years (odds ratio (OR) = 8.56), 31–40 years, (OR = 5.05), 41–50 years (OR = 4.08), 51–60 years (OR = 3.77) and 61–70 years (OR = 3.67). In addition, a significantly higher percentage of female participants suffered from post-vaccination side effects compared to males (OR = 1.51). It was concluded that the Covishield vaccine was well-tolerated among people of different age groups. Nevertheless, further long-term follow-up study with a larger sample size is warranted to establish the long-term safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception towards COVID-19 Vaccination in Saudi Arabia

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infection that mainly affects the respiratory system of patients. To date, more than 10 million people have been affected by this virus, and Saudi Arabia has also reported over 210 million cases. At present, there is no established treatment for COVID-19. Vaccination is one of the ways to defeat the pandemic. Recent reports have indicated rare but serious adverse events after vaccination, causing an anxious response from the general public worldwide. Therefore, this study was aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitude, and perception of the COVID-19 vaccine among the Saudi population. This study is a cross-sectional, web-based online survey conducted using a snowball sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire prepared in Arabic and English was used to collect feedback from the general population on their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants (n = 2022) from different regions of the country replied to the questions. The responses to the questions were recorded on a spreadsheet and analyzed using the SPSS software. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and non-parametric tests to draw conclusions about the results. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis was performed to determine the association between the knowledge, attitude, and perception scores and the demographic variables. p < 0.05 was used to indicate the significance of the data. The data from the study indicated that most of the participants were males (81%), between 18 and 59 years of age (85.9%), Saudi nationals (98.3%), and possessed graduation or above as a qualification (62.9%). The results suggest that a major portion of respondents have satisfactory knowledge (76%), a positive attitude (72.4%), and perception (71.3%) towards the use of COVID-19 vaccines. Their responses can be categorized as between 'good' and 'fair'. However, 30-40% of respondents lacked information about COVID-19 vaccination availability for under 18-year-olds as well as for pregnant women, in addition to the lack of knowledge about the serious unreported adverse reactions and long-term protection offered by the vaccine against coronavirus. The correlation analysis between the variables (p > 0.05) indicated that the response to the KAP domains has no direct relationship. The survey results suggest that most of the Saudi population has sound knowledge and a positive attitude and perception. Since the COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in pregnancy and above 12-year-old children by health authorities, the lack of information shown by a significant percentage of participants requires strategies to update this information. Awareness programs targeting all sections of the population must be continued to provide all the updates, including vaccinations for pregnant women and children.

Videos, Views, and Vaccines: Evaluating the Quality of COVID-19 Communications on YouTube

OBJECTIVES

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is introduced, it is critical to recognize that public opinion on vaccines is largely influenced by health communications, with YouTube being a major source of information and misinformation. This analysis graded the accuracy, quality, and reliability of the most viewed YouTube videos depicting COVID-19 and vaccinations over a 6-mo period.

METHODS

We collected hyperlinks for the 150 most viewed YouTube videos discussing COVID-19 from January through June 2020. Closed captioning data were searched for the term "vaccine," yielding 32 videos. This sample was evaluated for quality, accuracy, and reliability using a rubric that incorporated existing instruments: Global Quality Scale (GQS), JAMA Benchmark Criteria, and DISCERN.

RESULTS

These 32 videos had 139,764,188 views at the time of data collection. The majority of videos received low scores, with network news sources receiving the lowest scores overall.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall quality of COVID-19 YouTube videos related to vaccines may be low and raises a precautionary alert for the public consuming these videos and for health-care providers working to provide the best information to their patients. Existing scoring tools may not capture the complexities of social media. New tools could allow for a better understanding of the modern landscape of health communications.

Intranasal Vaccination Strategy to Control the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Veterinary Medicine Perspective

Simple Summary

Intranasal vaccination is one of the methods used to stimulate mucosal immunity. It has been widely practised to control many human and animal respiratory diseases. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which resulted in a global pandemic. COVID-19 has reminded some veterinarians of various contagious veterinary diseases, including coronavirus infections in animals. This article discusses the control of highly contagious diseases of veterinary importance with emphasis on an intranasal vaccination approach, and the potential of implementing similar strategies in human medicine to control the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The world is currently facing an ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The disease is a highly contagious respiratory disease which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current control measures used by many countries include social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent hand washing, self-isolation, and vaccination. The current commercially available vaccines are injectable vaccines, although a few intranasal vaccines are in trial stages. The reported side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, perceptions towards the safety of the vaccines, and frequent mutation of the virus may lead to poor herd immunity. In veterinary medicine, attaining herd immunity is one of the main considerations in disease control, and herd immunity depends on the use of efficacious vaccines and the vaccination coverage in a population. Hence, many aerosol or intranasal vaccines have been developed to control veterinary respiratory diseases such as Newcastle disease, rinderpest, infectious bronchitis, and haemorrhagic septicaemia. Different vaccine technologies could be employed to improve vaccination coverage, including the usage of an intranasal live recombinant vaccine or live mutant vaccine. This paper discusses the potential use of intranasal vaccination strategies against human COVID-19, based on a veterinary intranasal vaccine strategy.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Azuay Province, Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

We investigated the COVID-19 vaccination acceptance level in Azuay province, Ecuador through an online survey from 12th to 26th February (before the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ecuador). Overall, 1219 respondents participated in the survey. The mean age was 32 ± 13 years; 693 participants (57%) were female. In total, 1109 (91%) of the participants indicated they were willing to be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, if the vaccine is at least 95% effective; 835 (68.5%) if it is 90% effective and 493 (40.5%) if it is 70% effective; 676 (55.5%) participants indicated they feared side effects and 237 (19.4%) thought the vaccine was not effective. Older age, having had a postgraduate education, a history of a negative COVID-19 test, a high level of worry of contracting COVID-19, believing that COVID-19 infection can be prevented with a vaccine and understanding there is currently an effective vaccine against COVID-19 were associated with higher vaccination acceptance. A vaccination education campaign will be needed to increase the knowledge of Ecuadorians about the COVID-19 vaccine and to increase their trust in the vaccine. People with a lower education level and living in rural areas may need to be targeted during such a campaign.

From Isolation to Containment: Perceived Fear of Infectivity and Protective Behavioral Changes during the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, maintenance of protective behavior is a continued challenge in the effort to contain the spread of the virus. A cross-sectional study via an internet questionnaire was utilized to elucidate changes in compliance to protective behavior among the Israeli population (n = 1120), after the beginning of the vaccination campaign. Comparison was made between individuals who were previously infected with the virus, those who received one dose of inoculation with the vaccine, and individuals that were neither infected or vaccinated. The study results indicate that those who were previously infected with the COVID-19 virus were less careful about mask wearing (18.8%) and social distancing (29.7%), as compared to the other examined groups (regarding mask wearing, 8.2% and 11.6% respectively, and with regard to social distancing 12.8% and 19.2%), and may require targeted risk communication campaigns to address this population. Furthermore, the study revealed that those that were non-Jewish (as compared to Jewish study counterparts) or that were older (19+) were more vigilant in their protective behavior (29.6% vs. 11.2% respectively for social distancing and 29.6% vs. 11.1% respectively for mask wearing). Despite a successful initial vaccination campaign in Israel, public health officials need to engage all members of the public to unremittingly observe compliance to directed health guidelines, to ensure that the results of previous governmental efforts in fighting the pandemic (such as lockdowns) will be effectively sustained, and the road to containment will be hastened.

Correlation Between SARS-Cov-2 Vaccination, COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality: Tracking the Effect of Vaccination on Population Protection in Real Time

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has struck the world since the ending of 2019. Tools for pandemic control were scarce, limited only to social distance and face mask usage. Today, upto 12 vaccines were approved and the rapid development raises questions about the vaccine efficiency. We accessed the public database provided by each country and the number of death, active cases, and tests in order to evaluate how the vaccine is influencing the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed distinct profiles across the countries and it was related to the vaccination start date and we are proposing a new way to manage the vaccination.

The landscape of antibody binding in SARS-CoV-2 infection

The search for potential antibody-based diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics for pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has focused almost exclusively on the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. Coronavirus membrane (M), ORF3a, and ORF8 proteins are humoral immunogens in other coronaviruses (CoVs) but remain largely uninvestigated for SARS-CoV-2. Here, we use ultradense peptide microarray mapping to show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust antibody responses to epitopes throughout the SARS-CoV-2 proteome, particularly in M, in which 1 epitope achieved excellent diagnostic accuracy. We map 79 B cell epitopes throughout the SARS-CoV-2 proteome and demonstrate that antibodies that develop in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection bind homologous peptide sequences in the 6 other known human CoVs. We also confirm reactivity against 4 of our top-ranking epitopes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Illness severity correlated with increased reactivity to 9 SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in S, M, N, and ORF3a in our population. Our results demonstrate previously unknown, highly reactive B cell epitopes throughout the full proteome of SARS-CoV-2 and other CoV proteins.

Ongoing Clinical Trials of Vaccines to Fight against COVID-19 Pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has developed as a pandemic, and it created an outrageous effect on the current healthcare and economic system throughout the globe. To date, there is no appropriate therapeutics or vaccines against the disease. The entire human race is eagerly waiting for the development of new therapeutics or vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Efforts are being taken to develop vaccines at a rapid rate for fighting against the ongoing pandemic situation. Amongst the various vaccines under consideration, some are either in the preclinical stage or in the clinical stages of development (phase-I, -II, and -III). Even, phase-III trials are being conducted for some repurposed vaccines like Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, polio vaccine, and measles-mumps-rubella. We have highlighted the ongoing clinical trial landscape of the COVID-19 as well as repurposed vaccines. An insight into the current status of the available antigenic epitopes for SARS-CoV-2 and different types of vaccine platforms of COVID-19 vaccines has been discussed. These vaccines are highlighted throughout the world by different news agencies. Moreover, ongoing clinical trials for repurposed vaccines for COVID-19 and critical factors associated with the development of COVID-19 vaccines have also been described.

Potential SARS-CoV-2 Immune Correlates of Protection in Infection and Vaccine Immunization

Both SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccines induce robust immune responses. Current data suggested that high neutralizing antibody titers with sustained Th1 responses might correlate with protection against viral transmission and disease development and severity. In addition, genetic and innate immune factors, including higher levels of type I interferons, as well as the induction of trained immunity and local mucosal immunity also contribute to lower risk of infection and amelioration of disease severity. The identification of immune correlates of protection will facilitate the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics strategies.

The landscape of antibody binding in SARS-CoV-2 infection

The search for potential antibody-based diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics for pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has focused almost exclusively on the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. Coronavirus membrane (M), ORF3a, and ORF8 proteins are humoral immunogens in other coronaviruses (CoVs) but remain largely uninvestigated for SARS-CoV-2. Here we use ultradense peptide microarray mapping to show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust antibody responses to epitopes throughout the SARS-CoV-2 proteome, particularly in M, in which one epitope achieved excellent diagnostic accuracy. We map 79 B cell epitopes throughout the SARS-CoV-2 proteome and demonstrate that antibodies that develop in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection bind homologous peptide sequences in the six other known human CoVs. We also confirm reactivity against four of our top-ranking epitopes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Illness severity correlated with increased reactivity to nine SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in S, M, N, and ORF3a in our population. Our results demonstrate previously unknown, highly reactive B cell epitopes throughout the full proteome of SARS-CoV-2 and other CoV proteins.

A Telemedicine Approach to Covid-19 Assessment and Triage

Covid-19 is a new highly contagious RNA viral disease that has caused a global pandemic. Human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through oral and nasal droplets and possibly through the airborne route. The disease may be asymptomatic or the course may be mild with upper respiratory symptoms, moderate with non-life-threatening pneumonia, or severe with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The severe form is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. While patients who are unstable and in acute distress need immediate in-person attention, many patients can be evaluated at home by telemedicine or videoconferencing. The more benign manifestations of Covid-19 may be managed from home to maintain quarantine, thus avoiding spread to other patients and health care workers. This document provides an overview of the clinical presentation of Covid-19, emphasizing telemedicine strategies for assessment and triage of patients. Advantages of the virtual visit during this time of social distancing are highlighted.