![COVID-19 Vaccine Inequities and Hesitancy in Iraq [EN/AR] – Iraq – ReliefWeb](https://www.vaccine.tv/wp-content/themes/lz-real-blog-pro/images/default-gray.png)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, experts from Drexel Universitys Dornsife School of Public Health have researched disparities in testing, vaccination, health care access and other markers of the pandemic response. The latest study, this month in the American Journal of Epidemiology, harkens back to December 2020 through September 2021, when the United States first started distributing the COVID-19 vaccines, and looked at full vaccination rates in neighborhoods of 16 large U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago and New York City.
Researchers at Drexels Urban Health Collaborative used the CDCs Social Vulnerability Index a measure that includes socioeconomic, housing, minority status, language and other factors to assess a communitys resilience against human suffering and financial loss when faced with a crisis and looked at its association with COVID-19 vaccination in zip codes of the 16 cities. The team found wide disparities in vaccination, with neighborhoods with higher levels of social vulnerability having the lowest vaccination rates.
Shortly after the paper was published, Anthony Fauci, MD, the U.S. Presidents chief medical advisor, made a comment this week that our country is no longer in a pandemic, but a transitional phase, perhaps toward endemicity.
So, with a hopeful tone, the Drexel News Blog checked in with the papers lead author Usama Bilal, PhD, an assistant professor at Dornsife, about his teams recent findings and the current state of the pandemic locally and internationally.
We are in a better situation than one year ago, but we are still in a tough one. 362 daily deaths for a year is 132,000 deaths, which is thesame number of people that died from Alzheimers in 2019, and almost thrice the influenza/pneumonia deaths in 2019. The pandemic has also slowly moved further away towards the margin, affecting more rural and disadvantaged populations over time. Moreover, as a pandemic is a global phenomenon, it is still raging in many places, and will continue doing so at least until we achieve global vaccine equity.
We found that neighborhoods with higher levels of social vulnerability had lower likelihood of full vaccination. This pattern mirrors what we have described before with COVID-19 itself, which tends to be higher infection rates and its effect worse in those same areas. Given what we know about public health, that it affects the most vulnerable, poor and oppressed, this is not surprising. What was surprising is the degree of variability, as we found cities with much wider disparities than others.
We found that some cities in California, along with our own city of Philadelphia had a narrower gap between neighborhoods. We did not study factors driving these narrower inequalities, but we know that California has an extensive COVID-19 equity plan and that some of its cities (e.g., San Francisco) made an effort to vaccinate people in the more vulnerable neighborhoods.
Here in Philadelphia, there have been several efforts that would be great to evaluate and, if found to be effective, scale up in other locations, including the efforts of theBlack Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, thecoordinated effortsof community organizations to vaccinate Latino individuals, and some prioritization efforts towards low vaccinated zip codes in April 2021, when criteria for vaccination was more restrictive. We cannot know for sure with our data whether these efforts were the reason for Philadelphias narrower gap in vaccination, but they are definitely very important initiatives.
Many people that work in vaccines and communication were already talking about this at the beginning of the vaccination rollout, because these are issues we have seen with other interventions. If you think about the politization of mask use, vaccines have followed a similar trend.
However, I want to point out that we should not just focus on hesitancy and mistrust, but also on access. In many cities, getting an appointment to be vaccinated was challenging, vaccination sites were far away from where many people live and public transit options were scarce. There were also some immigrant populations being (incorrectly) asked for identification or insurance, which created very understandable concerns.
Public health is a collective effort, and its measures are collective by nature. Local public health departments, local and state governments, and the federal government itself, are the key agents driving public health measures. There has been a slow shift towards focusing just on personal responsibility, which is antithetical to the mission of public health. Pressuring your local governments to apply timely and adequate measures in times of high transmission, and supporting them when they do, may be a key strategy. If the last two years have taught us something, its that caring for each other is the only way out of this.
Media interested in talking with Bilal should contact Greg Richter, news manager, at gdr33@drexel.edu or 215-895-2614.
Like Loading...
Athens, AL (35611) Today
Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..
Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Updated: April 30, 2022 @ 5:53 am
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of April 29, 2022, there are currently 882 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There has been one death reported since the last report, with a total of 6,856 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
DHHR has confirmed the death of a 76-year old female from Raleigh County.
We mourn the loss of this West Virginian and extend our deepest sympathies to the family, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Please schedule a COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot to protect yourself and those around you.
CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (8), Berkeley (78), Boone (11), Braxton (4), Brooke (10), Cabell (39), Calhoun (21), Clay (0), Doddridge (1), Fayette (23), Gilmer (3), Grant (5), Greenbrier (32), Hampshire (13), Hancock (12), Hardy (5), Harrison (22), Jackson (2), Jefferson (29), Kanawha (83), Lewis (6), Lincoln (14), Logan (25), Marion (32), Marshall (24), Mason (6), McDowell (10), Mercer (21), Mineral (5), Mingo (3), Monongalia (48), Monroe (10), Morgan (11), Nicholas (11), Ohio (49), Pendleton (2), Pleasants (1), Pocahontas (25), Preston (12), Putnam (27), Raleigh (63), Randolph (15), Ritchie (2), Roane (3), Summers (0), Taylor (3), Tucker (1), Tyler (0), Upshur (12), Wayne (4), Webster (0), Wetzel (8), Wirt (6), Wood (17), Wyoming (5). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
West Virginians ages 5 years and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination; after the primary series, first booster shots are recommended for those 12 and older. Second booster shots for those age 50 and over that are 4 months or greater from their first booster have been authorized by FDA and recommended by CDC, as well as for younger individuals over 12 years old with serious and chronic health conditions that lead to being considered moderately to severely immunocompromised. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.
Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Lewis, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Raleigh, Randolph, Taylor, Upshur, Wayne, and Wood counties.
Barbour County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Community Market, 107 South Main Street (across the street from Walgreens), Philippi, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVBBC)
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Berkeley County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Airborne Church, 172 Creative Place, Martinsburg, WV
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM, Shenandoah Community Health, 99 Tavern Road, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Braxton County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Braxton County Memorial Hospital (parking lot), 100 Hoylman Drive, Gassaway, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=Braxton)
Cabell County
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Marshall University Campus (parking lot), 1801 6th Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Cabell-Huntington Health Department (parking lot), 703 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Clay County
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Lizemores Volunteer Fire Department, 13175 Clay Highway, Lizemores, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVClayCounty)
Fayette County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Fayette County Health Department, 5495 Maple Lane, Fayetteville, WV
Gilmer County
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Minnie Hamilton Health System (parking lot), 921 Mineral Road, Glenville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMHCT11)
Grant County
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Petersburg City Parking Lot, South Main Street (across from Walgreens), Petersburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Greenbrier County
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM, State Fair of WV, 891 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVGBC)
Hampshire County
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hampshire Memorial Hospital, 363 Sunrise Boulevard, Romney, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Hancock County
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Hancock County Health Department, 100 North Court Street, New Cumberland, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Jefferson County
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Lewis County
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM, City Parking Lot, 95 West Second Street, Weston, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavLewis1)
Logan County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Town of Man Fire Department, Administration Building, 110 North Bridge Street, Man, WV
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Old 84 Lumber Building, 100 Recovery Road, Peach Creek, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Marion County
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Dunbar School Foundation, 101 High Street, Fairmont, WV
Marshall County
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Benwood City Building, 430 Main Street, Benwood, WV
Mason County
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Krodel Park, 1186 Charleston Road, Point Pleasant, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavCOUNTY12)
Morgan County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, The Blue (of First United Methodist Church), 440 Fearnow Road, Berkeley Springs, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavMorgan1)
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, War Memorial Hospital, 1 Health Way, Berkeley Springs, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Nicholas County
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Summersville Regional Medical Center, 400 Fairview Heights Road, Summersville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVNL)
Ohio County
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Ohio Valley Medical Center (back parking lot at the top of 22nd Street), 2000 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Raleigh County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department, 1602 Harper Road, Beckley, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavBeckleyRaleigh)
Randolph County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Davis Health Center, 812 Gorman Avenue, Elkins, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVRDC)
Taylor County
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Grafton-Taylor Health Department, 718 West Main Street (parking lot at Operations Trailer), Grafton, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Upshur County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Buckhannon Fire Department (parking lot), 22 South Florida Street, Buckhannon, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVUSC)
Wayne County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Wayne County Health Department, 217 Kenova Avenue, Wayne, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Wood County
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Vienna Baptist Church, 3401 Grand Central Avenue, Vienna, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavWood1)
Please check with the testing site, DHHRs social media pages and the COVID-19 website https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx for any last minute cancellations, and to find other free testing opportunities across West Virginia.
After being at low levels for months, coronavirus prevalence doubled at both Portland Water District wastewater treatment plant locations this week.
The levels, measured in copies of coronavirus per liter of wastewater, were at about 1 million at the East End plant as of Friday, and 1.3 million at the Westbrook plant. Thats far below levels seen in late January and early February, when virus prevalence was about 2 million or higher, or at the peak of more than 5 million in late December and early January.
But even compared with a week to 10 days ago, levels have doubled at the Portland Water District plants. Wastewater testing is considered a leading indicator of the presence in communities of the coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Results were mixed at other sewage plants where wastewater testing is occurring. Brunswick and Presque Isle have experienced sharp decreases this week, while Bangor also declined slightly after seeing its numbers vary significantly over the past week. Lewiston-Auburn recorded a steep increase this week, while York showed a slight increase.
Dr. Yolanda Brooks, an assistant professor of biology at St. Josephs College in Standish who did the coronavirus testing for Yarmouths wastewater program, said the increases in Portland have persisted over at least three testing periods, which is a little concerning even though levels are still far below what was seen in January.
Brooks said its hard to know what is driving the increases, as there could be other reasons besides more people contracting the virus. For instance, Portland is a hub for workers, and with more employees returning to the office, that could be impacting the volume of people using Portlands wastewater system.
Its also the beginning of tourist season, and more visitors could be using the system, she said. The recent K-12 spring break also could have affected the numbers.
Brooks said another dynamic is that in smaller systems, the numbers bounce around more. Even though Portland is Maines largest city, the wastewater system is still small compared to those in major urban centers such as Boston and New York.
Theres more variability in smaller systems, Brooks said. Fewer people getting infected and shedding the virus can affect the measurements in smaller systems.
Despite the increases in Portland, Brooks said that with high vaccination rates and Maine having recently gone through the omicron wave, she doesnt anticipate a return to the states winter virus surge.
Maine reported 470 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with one additional death.Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 244,062 cases of COVID-19 and 2,283 deaths.
Hospitalizations increased to 143 on Friday from 132 on Thursday. There were 34 patients in critical care Friday and five on ventilators.
Maines COVID-19 hospitalizations had remained nearly flat since mid-March, hovering between 90 and 100 patients before rising sharply this week. The current total is still down dramatically from this years peak of 436 hospitalizations on Jan. 13.
Unvaccinated people represented roughly two-thirds of the COVID-19 patients treated in Maine hospitals from when vaccines became readily available through April 15, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention website.
MODERNA SEEKS VACCINE AUTHORIZATION
Meanwhile, Moderna announced Thursday that it is seeking emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months through 5 years old. No COVID-19 vaccine for toddlers and infants has been approved despite adults having access to vaccines for about a year. A vaccine developed by Pfizer was approved for children ages 5 to 11 in the fall.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it plans to convene a panel of vaccine experts in June to review applications from both Moderna and Pfizer for child vaccines, The Associated Press reported. The dates are not final, and the FDA said it will provide additional details as each company completes its application.
The Moderna vaccine proved effective in a two-dose regimen given 28 days apart, according to a Moderna study of 6,700 children.
We are proud to share that we have submitted for authorization for our COVID-19 vaccine for young children, Moderna CEO Stphane Bancel said in a statement. We believe (the vaccine) will be able to safely protect these children against SARS-CoV-2, which is so important in our continued fight against COVID-19, and will be especially welcomed by parents and caregivers.
The vaccines effectiveness is 51 percent for children ages 6 months to under 2 years, and 37 percent for ages 2 to 6, according to a company statement.
That means that youre going to reduce your chances of getting disease by about a half, Dr. Paul Burton, Modernas chief medical officer, told NPR in an interview. Thats very important for these kids.
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.
Previous
Next
Payment integrity continues to be a pressing issue with pandemic relief funds, the Government Accountability Office said in its 10th comprehensive report on the federal governments coronavirus response released on Wednesday.
The watchdog reiterated its previous recommendations that Congress consider amending the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 to designate all new executive agency programssuch as those created specifically to respond to the COVID-19 pandemicmaking more than $100 million annually in payments as susceptible to significant improper payments for their initial years of operation. GAO also recommended that the Office of Management and Budget require agencies to certify the reliability of submitted improper payment data; OMB neither agreed nor disagreed.
Other recommendations in the new report involved the Federal Emergency Management Agencys COVID funeral assistance program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 surveillance and data collection efforts.
Moderna is now formally asking the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its vaccine for young children. The company said in a press release on Thursday that the submission will be complete next week. Dr. Robert Califf, FDA commissioner, said during a hearing on Thursday that the agency will move along to review Modernas application and not wait for Pfizer/BioNTechs submission, which was a potential previous plan, ABC News reported.
Also, Peter Marks, director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told The Washington Post in an interview published on Friday, We are not going to delay things unnecessarily here.
In other vaccine news, Pfizer/BioNTech submitted an application to the FDA on Tuesday for emergency use authorization for a booster shot for kids ages five to 11, following a strong immune response in phrase two/three clinical trials.
The FDA announced on Friday a tentative schedule for its Vaccines and Related Biological Products advisory committee to meet to discuss forthcoming applications for vaccine authorizations. The agency is committed to a thorough and transparent process that considers the input of our independent advisors and provides insight into our review of the COVID-19 vaccines, Marks said in a statement. We intend to move quickly with any authorizations that are appropriate once our work is completed.
Earlier this week, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a report that argues Trump political appointees overruled Defense Department career officials in order to approve a $700 million loan to a trucking company for a CARES Act program for national security. The career officials assessed that the company, YRC Worldwide Inc. (now named Yellow Corporation) was not critical to national securitya requirement under the CARES Act, said a press release. Career officials found that Yellows services could be replaced by other companies and expressed concern about an ongoing Department of Justice lawsuit against Yellow for fraudulently overcharging DoD, which Yellow misleadingly described as merely a contractual dispute.
The Immigrationand Customs Enforcement processing center in South Texas (that is owned and operated by GEO Group Inc.) took some actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19; however, it didnt consistently enforce some guidelines, said a new report from the Homeland Security Department inspector general, based on an unannounced inspection in September 2021.
Dr. Deborah Birx, White House COVID-19 response coordinator under President Trump, told ABC News that she and the other doctors on the COVID-19 response team, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, agreed that if one of them were fired, then they would all resign.
In her newly released book, she wrote that the Trump administration should get credit for removing barriers and speeding up the process to develop vaccines and treatments through Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership. That being said, I was continually struck by the disconnect between words and actions with this administration and this president.
The White House released a report on Thursday about what the Biden administration has done to help small businesses, such as through COVID-19 relief programs. For example, the report outlines improvements made in 2021 to the Small Business Administration's COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program.
President Biden will skip the eating portions of the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday due to COVID-19 precautions, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week. Following the high number of COVID-19 positive cases after the Gridiron dinner earlier this month, there has been concern about the dinner and related events in Washington, D.C. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, backed out of the dinner due to his personal risk level.
Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.
Mumbai, in the meantime, on Friday reported 93 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 10,59,728, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19,562, a civic official said. Tamil Nadu recorded 54 new Covid-19 infections, pushing the total caseload in the state to 34,53,883.
In other news, at least 63 per cent parents say schools should make online classes available if district COVID-19 positivity rate crosses 5 per cent so that learning is not disrupted for impacted students, according to a new survey.
"Twenty-seven per cent of surveyed parents said once the Covid test positivity rate (TPR) in a district crosses 2 per cent, online classes should be started. While 63 per cent parents said if district TPR crosses 5 per cent, schools should make online classes also available so that learning is not disrupted for impacted students," it said.
The Standing Technical Sub-Committee of the NTAGI has recommended inclusion of the Serum Institutes Covovax in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme for children aged 12 to 17 years, sources said on Friday. Indias drug regulator had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28 last year and in the 12-17 age group, subject to certain conditions, on March 9.
The COVID-19 working group of the NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) had earlier reviewed data related to Covovax and okayed it. The NTAGIs Standing Technical Sub-Committee which met on Friday has recommended that the vaccine can be used for 12-17 years age group, an official source said.
READ | NTAGI panel recommends inclusion of Covovax in vaccination drive for 12-17 age group
BEIJING
China says it halted railroad freight traffic with North Korea as it deals with the spread of the coronavirus in the border town of Dandong.
The countries had reopened trade between Dandong and North Koreas Sinuiju in January after a two-year pause while the North imposed one of the worlds most restrictive pandemic border closures despite the strain on its broken economy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday the decision to suspend the freight services was taken in light of the current epidemic situation in Dandong, but he gave no other details.
The Dandong city government on Monday ordered all residents to swiftly return home and stay there to stem the spread of the virus. It said the government would make strenuous efforts to ensure the daily needs of residents but made no mention of links with North Korea and did not say when the lockdown would be lifted.
While many countries are dropping restrictions and trying to live with the virus, China has been sticking to a zero-COVID approach, which requires mass testing and lockdowns and keeping its international borders largely shut.
North Koreas decision to tentatively reopen cross-border trade with China, its main ally and economic lifeline, possibly reflected a growing urgency in its need for outside relief.
North Korea still claims to have a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19 from its territory a claim widely doubted. But the closure of its border to nearly all trade and visitors for two years further shocked an economy already damaged by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile program.
Experts say the North would have focused on importing fertilizers to boost food production, factory goods to spur dismal industrial production, and construction materials to support ambitious development projects that leader Kim Jong Un touts as major accomplishments.
The North has been accelerating its weapons tests in recent months, including its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 in March, as it revives brinkmanship to pressure the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and remove sanctions.
South Koreas Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, didnt immediately provide more details on the suspension of freight traffic between North Korea and China.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) More Kansans tested positive for the coronavirus this week compared to last week. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) shows that 2,017 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the past seven days. That number is 443 higher than the previous seven days.
The KDHE said the seven-day average of cases is 259 which is 63 more than last week. The state did not release any new information about COVID-19 variant numbers.
COVID-19 hospitalizations did not fluctuate much. There are 81 people hospitalized with the virus this week, four more than last week. Of those, 75 are adults and six are children. Thirteen of the adults are in intensive care.
The Kansas COVID-19 death toll increased by 38, bringing it to 8,635. Only two of the deaths happened in the past week. When the death toll increases, it is sometimes because officials have finalized death certificates from older cases. The seven-day rolling average of daily new deaths decreased to zero.
The KDHE data shows more than 23,000 Kansans got COVID-19 vaccinations in the past week:
Of Kansans who are eligible to get vaccinated, 66.98% have received at least one dose, while 58.4% have completed a vaccine series.
The KDHE releases its coronavirus updates each Friday afternoon.
CDC Mask Guidelines based on community-level transmission:Low (green):No mask needed indoors (get tested if you have symptoms)Medium (yellow):Mask recommended for high-risk patients (discuss with your healthcare provider)High (orange):Should wear mask indoors in publicKansas coronavirus cases updated Apr. 29, 2022CDC Community transmission rates updated Apr. 29, 2022Sources:Kansas Department of Health and EnvironmentCenters for Disease Control
In a recent edition of eBioMedicine, researchers discussed the validity of the equation derived by Khoury et al.to predict the efficacy of new coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines, which was subsequently reported by Muena et al., in a real-world setting.
Khoury et al. derived an equation to predict the efficacy of new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines using the neutralizing antibody (Nab) titer ratio between vaccinated and naturally severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected individuals. They demonstrated a correlation between the mean Nab titer and vaccine efficacy against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection across the seven different vaccine platforms.
The efficacy estimates of seven COVID-19 vaccines were compared to Nab responses to identify an immunological correlate of protection (CoP) across different vaccine platforms. The researchers had made former estimates during the Phase III trials and the corresponding Nab responses during phase I/II trials.
Muena et al. investigated the dynamics of the antibody responses in naturally infected individuals in Chile. They compared this data to Nab titers elicited following vaccination with the CoronaVac and BNT162b2 vaccines.
Notably, the CoronaVac vaccine is an inactivated whole virus vaccine and BNT162b2 is a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based vaccine. The Nab titers elicited in response to both the vaccines during the vaccination campaign in Chile were compared with the efficacies predicted from these ratios using the equation derived by Khoury et al.
Muena et al. also assessed and compared the anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) antibody responses of SARS-CoV-2-infected and convalescent individuals. In particular, they assessed Nab titers in convalescent individuals vaccinated with the CoronaVac or BNT162b2 vaccines.
Similarly, they assessed Nab titers in infection-nave individuals who received two doses of CoronaVac or BNT162b2 vaccines to compare the difference in their Nab titers and estimate the efficacy of both the vaccines.
The efficacies predicted for CoronaVac and BNT162b2 were 65.9% and 92.6%, respectively, in the Chilean population. However, using the Khoury et al. equation, Muena et al. predicted effectiveness of around 50% and 97% for CoronaVac and BNT162b2, respectively. Likewise, the Nab titer ratios for CoronaVac and BNT162b2 were 0.2 and 5.2, respectively.
In naturally SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, Muena et al. found strong responses to the SARS-CoV-2 N antigen. However, there was little response after two doses of CoronaVac. Although CoronaVac has the whole SARS-CoV-2 virion, it appears that the N antigen is a poor stimulant for the B cell responses.
Therefore, the observed T cell responses were more pronounced following vaccination with CoronaVac than BNT162b2 in another study comparing the efficacy of two vaccines. This also explains the observed lower efficacy of CoronaVac based on Nab responses than observed in the Chilean population. Muena et al. also identified obesity as a risk factor for poor response to the CoronaVac vaccine.
Overall, the data from Muena et al. and published results of Phase III trials in Turkey and Indonesia revealed that the Khoury et al. equation underestimated the efficacy of CoronaVac.
In the future, more studies should examine the immunogenicity and effectiveness of different COVID-19 vaccines in a similar subset of the population. This could help validate the clinical benefits of vaccine booster doses against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC), based on Nab responses. An additional benefit could be aiding the development of COVID-19 vaccines incorporating viral antigens from VOCs based on the Khoury et al. model.
