The Guardian: Vaccinate vulnerable global poor before children in rich countries, WHO says
The World Health Organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom, has urged wealthy countries to donate COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations.
Of the 1.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered globally, 44% of those have been administered in high-income countries. Only 0.3% of vaccines have reached the 29 lowest income countries, where 9% of the world's population call home. The WHO has warned that this inequity in vaccine access could result in 2021 experiencing more death than in the first year of the pandemic. With wealthy countries now looking to vaccinate adolescents and children, the WHO are encouraging these countries to instead donate their vaccines through कोवैक्स. This would allow poorer nations to access vaccines and protect their healthcare workers and vulnerable priority groups.
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The Guardian: Vaccinate vulnerable global poor before children in rich countries, WHO says
New immunisation reference page: COVID-19 vaccination in children
COVID-19 infections have generally produced more severe disease outcomes in adults and the older population, with children generally experiencing milder symptoms. For this reason, initial COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and vaccine rollouts focused on the adult population. However, it is recognised that in order to achieve herd immunity within the community, the vaccination of children needs to be considered.
Our new reference page outlines the importance of conducting paediatric focused COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and summarises the trials that are currently underway.
अधिक पढ़ने के लिए नीचे दिए गए लिंक का अनुसरण करें:
MVEC: बच्चों में COVID-19 टीकाकरण
Australian Academy of Science- The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers
The Australian Academy of Science have released an updated edition of The Science of Immunisation- Questions and Answers. This resource has been developed to assist in the understanding of the scientific processes behind vaccination and to encourage trust in vaccines for COVID-19 and other diseases.
Topics include:
- What is immunisation?
- What is in a vaccine?
- Who benefits from vaccines?
- Are vaccines safe?
- What does the future hold for vaccination?
You can view this resource online via the following link:
Australian Academy of Science- The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers
Provisional determination granted to Pfizer in relation to COVID 19 vaccine, COMIRNATY - for use in individuals 12 years of age and older
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has granted provisional determination to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty™ as part of an application process to lower the approved age limit of vaccine administration from 16 years and above, to individuals aged 12 years and above.
Provisional determination is the first step in the provisional registration pathway. The provisional pathway for registration provides a formal and transparent mechanism for speeding up the registration of promising new medicines based on preliminary clinical data. Having provisional determination does not mean that provisional registration will be granted.
अधिक पढ़ने के लिए नीचे दिए गए लिंक का अनुसरण करें:
nature: COVID vaccines and kids- five questions as trials begin
With a number of COVID-19 vaccine trials now focusing on paediatric populations across various age groups, specific factors need to be considered.
The following article explores issues such as the consent process for paediatric involvment, the robust immune responses of children, and monitoring for signs of exacerbated immune responses and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
Whilst severe COVID-19 disease in children is rare, the immunisation of children against COVID-19 disease will play an important role in achieving herd immunity.
To read more, please read the article below:
nature: COVID vaccines and kids: five questions as trials begin
NEJM: Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants
The following article, published in the NEJM, assessed the vaccine efficacy of Comirnaty™ (BNT162b2) in Qatar where the predominant circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2 were the UK and South African variants.
By extracting information from the national COVID-19 databases, vaccine effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 (UK) strain was estimated at 89.5%, and 75.0% against the B.1.351 (South African) strain. Vaccine effectiveness against severe disease caused by infection with either variant strain was 97.4%.
For more information on these results refer to the link below:
NEJM: Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants
ऑस्ट्रेलिया मॉडर्ना टीकों को सुरक्षित करता है
ऑस्ट्रेलियाई सरकार ने मॉडर्न COVID-19 वैक्सीन की 25 मिलियन खुराक की आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित कर ली है। यह समझौता मौजूदा मॉडर्न वैक्सीन फॉर्मूलेशन (10 मिलियन डोज) के साथ-साथ वैक्सीन के वैरिएंट-विशिष्ट संस्करणों (15 मिलियन डोज) तक पहुंच की अनुमति देगा ताकि दीर्घकालिक प्रतिरक्षा और उभरते SARS-CoV-2 वेरिएंट की आवश्यकता को पूरा किया जा सके।
नैदानिक परीक्षण के परिणामों ने प्रदर्शित किया है कि मॉडर्न वैक्सीन में गंभीर COVID-19 रोग के खिलाफ 100% प्रभावकारिता है, साथ ही दूसरी खुराक के कम से कम 6 महीने बाद 90% की लंबी अवधि की प्रभावकारिता है। ऑस्ट्रेलिया को वैक्सीन की आपूर्ति तभी शुरू होगी जब थेराप्यूटिक गुड्स एडमिनिस्ट्रेशन (टीजीए) द्वारा मंजूरी प्रदान की जाएगी।
वैक्सीन की निरंतर आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित करने के लिए ऑस्ट्रेलिया के भीतर विनिर्माण सुविधाओं की स्थापना के संबंध में मॉडर्ना के साथ भी चर्चा चल रही है।
अधिक पढ़ने के लिए नीचे दिए गए लिंक का अनुसरण करें:
ऑस्ट्रेलिया मॉडर्ना टीकों को सुरक्षित करता है
NEJM: Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.351 Variant
Novavax have published preliminary phase 2a-b clinical trial results for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate (NVX-CoV2373), assessing vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants (B.1.351- South African strain). This vaccine candidate is a nanoparticle based vaccine containing pieces of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
In this study, participants aged between 18 and 84 years, received either a 2 dose course of the candidate vaccine or a 2 dose course of a placebo (normal saline). Approximately 30% of participants were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 prior to commencing the trial. Among the seronegative participants, approximately 94% were HIV-negative and 6% were HIV-positive.
A vaccine efficacy of 49.4% was seen among participants who were seronegative at baseline, regardless of HIV status. In the HIV-negative cohort, vaccine efficacy was 60.1%. A history of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection did not reduce the risk of subsequent infection with the new variants of SARS-CoV-2.
To read the article and view these results in full please refer to the below link:
NEJM: Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.351 Variant
New resource: Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout
For easily accessible information relating to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the Australian Government Department of Health have created a new resource page. This page will be updated daily and describes the number of vaccine doses administered via the various providers, makes comparisons to international COVID-19 vaccine programs, and provides other sources of useful data.
To view this page please refer to the link below:
Australian Government Department of Health: Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Guidance for differentiating anaphylaxis from acute stress response for vaccine providers and Emergency Departments
Anaphylaxis following immunisation is extremely rare but can be life-threatening if not managed effectively. There are many conditions with similar presentations to anaphylaxis without being true anaphylaxis (eg. vasovagal, anxiety, vocal cord dysfunction) which can make the diagnosis difficult.
The Department of Health and the VicSIS network have put together Guidance for differentiating anaphylaxis from acute stress response for vaccine providers and Emergency Departments. This helpful resource provides a comparison of signs and symproms, as well as highlights the importance of measuring tryptase levels in patients with suspected anaphylaxis.
This guidance can be found in the resources section of the below reference page:
एमवीईसी: कोविड-19 टीके और एलर्जी