Effect of COVID-19 on vaccination coverage in Brazil

During the COVID-19 pandemic, recommendations for maintaining physical distance, restricted mobility measures, as well as fear of mass transmission by going to health centers have significantly contributed to the general vaccination coverage, which by and large is decreasing worldwide; thus, favoring the potential re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases. In this study, we have used the existing data on vaccination coverage during the pre-pandemic (2019) as well as the pandemic (2020) period to evaluate the impact of coronavirus outbreaks during the vaccination drive in Brazil. Furthermore, we have accumulated data since 2015 among the different regions of the country to acquire more consistent information. The various vaccines analyzed in our study were meningococcal C conjugate, Triple antigen vaccine, 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate, and BCG; subsequently, the data were obtained from the National Disease Notification System. This study revealed that the ongoing immunization drive saw a steep decline of around 10 to 20% during the (2019–2020) pandemic period in Brazil. These results provide strong evidence towards the decreasing trends following the vaccination programs during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Brazil. Furthermore, our results also highlight the importance of adopting widespread multi-component interventions to improve vaccination uptake rates.

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Sustained Vaccination Coverage during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic in the Republic of Korea

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9010002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Jeong Hee Yu ◽

Hang jin Jeong ◽

Seon Ju Kim ◽

Jae Young Lee ◽

Young June Choe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Vaccination Rate ◽

Republic Of Korea ◽

Korean Children ◽

Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽

The Republic ◽

The Impact

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination coverage may decline due to limited accessibility to healthcare. We assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vaccination coverage and the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in the Republic of Korea. National vaccination coverage of 10 essential vaccines administered to children between January–June 2019 and January–June 2020 was analyzed. The national incidence of selected VPDs was compared for the corresponding periods. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the vaccination rate in children aged 0–35 months in Korea did not decrease significantly, whereas the vaccination rate for children aged 4–6 years decreased by 1.4–1.9%. The overall incidence of VPDs decreased by 10–50% between 2019 and 2020, especially with varicella. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in a decrease in vaccination coverage among Korean children, which prevented a surge in VPD incidence. Maintaining essential vaccination coverage without interruption is important during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Level and Factors Associated with the Satisfaction of Teaching Staff with the COVID-19 Vaccination Program.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-898481/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Natividad Algado-Selles ◽

Pablo Chico-Sánchez ◽

Paula Gras-Valentí ◽

Natali Juliet Jiménez-Sepúlveda ◽

Isel Lilibeth Gómez-Sotero ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vaccination Coverage ◽

User Satisfaction ◽

School Personnel ◽

University Hospital ◽

Vaccination Program ◽

Teaching Staff ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Level Of Satisfaction ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background The impact of COVID-19 triggered an unparalleled effort towards the development of a vaccine given that vaccination is currently the most important strategy available for controlling the pandemic. Achieving high levels of vaccination coverage is key to this approach, and requires knowledge of user satisfaction levels. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the levels of satisfaction with the COVID-19 vaccination program among vaccinated school workers.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study which included the staff from educational centres invited for vaccination over 4 days at the Hospital General University Hospital of Alicante. The survey included sociodemographic variables, 13 questions on satisfaction with the vaccination program, and one open question for further suggestions. Satisfaction was calculated globally for each question and specifically by employing Student t-tests; the association between each variable and a high level of satisfaction was analysed with Chi-squared tests. Results Of 9,869 professionals invited, 9,261 attended the appointment; 5,756 were offered the possibility of participating in this survey and 2,989 (51.9%) accepted. The highest overall scores were assigned to the treatment patients received at the ‘registration point’ and the care they received from nurses during the vaccination. The aspect for which the lowest levels of satisfaction were registered was for the information received prior to vaccination. Sex and place of work were significantly associated with a high degree of satisfaction.Conclusions Understanding people’s perception of vaccination programs is essential to implementing improvements and to increase vaccination coverage. The level of satisfaction among school personnel was remarkably high, especially in relation to the treatment and attention they received at different points during the vaccination care circuit.

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COVID-19 and Vaccination Campaigns as “Western Plots” in Pakistan: Government Policies, (Geo-)politics, Local Perceptions, and Beliefs

Frontiers in Sociology ◽

10.3389/fsoc.2021.608979 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Author(s):

Inayat Ali ◽

Salma Sadique ◽

Shahbaz Ali

Keyword(s):

Routine Vaccination ◽

Cultural Economic ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽

Multiple Context ◽

Supplementary Immunization Activities ◽

The Government ◽

Context Specific ◽

Vaccination Campaigns ◽

The Impact

Vaccination encounters multiple context-specific challenges—socio-cultural, economic, and political—that substantially affect its uptake. Likewise, natural disasters and health emergencies considerably impact immunization endeavors, such as the coronaviurs 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has overwhelmed the entire world. It was already anticipated that the pandemic would severely affect Pakistan's vaccination programs due to interruptions in routine vaccination and the overstretching of healthcare systems. Consequently, there are anticipations of outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Yet empirical evidence is missing. Drawing on qualitative research, this article focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on routine vaccination programs in Pakistan. Our data come from a small village located in Pakistan's Sindh province where local people refused the routine polio vaccine that was stopped for a while, then resumed in July 2020. They suspected both the vaccine and COVID-19 to be a “Western plot.” We argue that these perceptions and practices can be seen against the backdrop of economic, socio-cultural, and (geo)political forces, which are encoded in “societal memory.” Not only is there a need to reverse the significant impacts of COVID-19 on routine vaccination by arranging supplementary immunization activities (SIAs), but also the government must deal with other pressing issues that affect the vaccination programs in the country.

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Effectiveness of Mandatory and Incentive-Based Routine Childhood Immunization Programs in Europe: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9101173 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 1173

Author(s):

Lidia Kuznetsova ◽

Giorgio Cortassa ◽

Antoni Trilla

Keyword(s):

Vaccine Coverage ◽

Childhood Vaccination ◽

World Health ◽

Childhood Immunization ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽

Routine Childhood ◽

Vaccine Mandates ◽

Health Organization ◽

The Impact

There is a lack of comprehensive and systematic data and evidence regarding the effectiveness of mandatory and incentive-based vaccination schemes. The results of such programs in some countries have not been adequately studied. A number of countries have recently introduced tightening vaccination measures, and it is important to analyze and assess the results of these programs. The unprecedented situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mass vaccination made the topic of the effectiveness of vaccination policies and mandates even more relevant. The aim of the study is to assess childhood vaccination programs implemented in selected countries. The study focuses on initiatives implemented in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 466 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 26 articles on seven countries were included in the synthesis. Additionally, we obtained and performed an analysis of data on the impact of COVID-19 on vaccine coverage and incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, and the implementation of vaccine mandates in the selected countries. The evidence collected and analyzed in this review allowed us to conclude that the introduction of children routine vaccination mandates increases vaccine coverage and reduces the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases when compared to the situation before the introduction of the mandates.

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Protection to Six Vaccinable Pathogens in Paired Plasma/DBS and HIV Impact in Infected and Uninfected Children From Kinshasa

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1019015/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rodríguez-Galet Ana ◽

Rubio-Garrido Marina ◽

Valadés-Alcaraz Ana ◽

Rodríguez-Domínguez Mario ◽

Galán Juan Carlos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Test Performance ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Roc Curves ◽

Paediatric Population ◽

Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽

Resource Limited ◽

Republic Of The Congo ◽

Coverage Rates ◽

The Impact

Abstract Child vaccination reduces infant mortality rates. HIV-infected children present higher risk of diseases than non-infected. We report the protection coverage rates to 6 vaccine-preventable diseases in a paediatric population from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the impact of HIV infection, providing the first data on the validity of dried blood samples (DBS) to monitor the immune protection. During 2016-2018 DBS from 143 children/adolescents were collected in Kinshasa (DRC), being 52 HIV-infected. Forty-two had a paired plasma sample. Protective IgG was quantified (VirClia®IgG,Vircell) to obtain the optimal cut-off in IgG detection in DBS. ROC curves were generated with R software and statistical analyses with Stata. Protective IgG levels varied across pathogens, not reaching the herd immunity. HIV-infected presented lower vaccine protection than uninfected for all analysed pathogens, except rubella, with statistically significant differences for measles (30.8% vs. 53.8%;p=0.008) and tetanus (3.8% vs. 22%;p=0.004). New cut-offs were calculated when using DBS to improve test performance. We reinforce the necessity to increase pediatric vaccination coverage in Kinshasa, specially in HIV seropositive, with less capacity to maintain adequate antibody levels. DBS were useful to monitor vaccination coverage in seroprevalence studies in resource-limited settings, after optimizing the cut-off value for each pathogen.

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Potential use of Western Australia’s mandatory Midwives Notification System for routinely monitoring antenatal vaccine coverage

Communicable Diseases Intelligence ◽

10.33321/cdi.2019.43.21 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Author(s):

Annette Regan ◽

Paul V Effler ◽

Chloe Thomson ◽

Donna B Mak

Keyword(s):

Influenza Vaccination ◽

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Infant Health ◽

Vaccine Coverage ◽

Complete Information ◽

Vaccination Status ◽

Notification System ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Low Sensitivity ◽

Potential Use

Background Despite the maternal and infant health benefits of antenatal vaccines and availability of government-funded vaccination programs, Australia does not have a national system for routinely monitoring antenatal vaccination coverage. We evaluated the potential use of Western Australia’s mandatory Midwives Notification System (MNS) as a tool for routinely monitoring antenatal vaccination coverage. Methods Two hundred and sixty-eight women who gave birth to a live infant between August and October 2016 participated in a telephone survey of vaccines received in their most recent pregnancy. For women who reported receiving influenza and/or pertussis vaccine and whose vaccination status was documented by their vaccine provider, MNS vaccination data were compared with the vaccine provider’s record as the ‘gold standard.’ For women who reported receiving no vaccines, MNS vaccination data were compared with self-reported information. Results Influenza and pertussis vaccination status was complete (i.e. documented as either vaccinated or not vaccinated) for 66% and 63% of women, respectively. Sensitivity of MNS influenza vaccination data was 65.7% (95% CI 56.0-74.2%) and specificity was 53.0% (95% CI 42.4-63.4%). Sensitivity of MNS pertussis vaccination data was 62.5% (95% CI 53.3-70.9%) and specificity was 40.4% (95% CI 27.6-54.7%). There was no difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated women in the proportion of MNS records with missing or unknown vaccination information. When considering only MNS records with complete vaccination information, the sensitivity of the MNS influenza vaccination field was 91.8% (95% CI 83.0-96.9%) and the sensitivity of the MNS pertussis vaccination field was 88.0% (95% CI 76.7-95.5%). Conclusion Due to the high proportion of records with missing or unknown vaccination status, we observed low sensitivity and specificity of antenatal vaccination data in the MNS. However, given we did not observe differential ascertainment by vaccination status, MNS records with complete information may be reliable data source for routinely monitoring antenatal vaccine coverage.

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HIV population-level adaptation can rapidly diminish the impact of a partially effective vaccine

10.1101/110783 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joshua T. Herbeck ◽

Kathryn Peebles ◽

Paul T. Edlefsen ◽

Morgane Rolland ◽

James T. Murphy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vaccination Coverage ◽

Vaccine Efficacy ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Vaccine Trial ◽

Development Program ◽

Population Level ◽

Hiv Vaccine ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

The Impact

AbstractDevelopment of an HIV vaccine is essential to ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, vaccines can result in the emergence and spread of vaccine-resistant strains. Indeed, analyses of breakthrough infections in the HIV vaccine trial RV144 identified HIV genotypes with differential rates of transmission in vaccine and placebo recipients. We hypothesized that, for HIV vaccination programs based on partially effective vaccines similar to RV144, HIV adaptation will diminish the expected vaccine impact. Using two HIV epidemic models, we simulated large-scale vaccination programs and, critically, included HIV strain diversity with respect to the vaccine response. We show here that rapid population-level viral adaptation can lead to decreased overall vaccine efficacy and substantially fewer infections averted by vaccination, when comparing scenarios with and without viral evolution (depending on vaccination coverage, vaccine efficacy against the sensitive allele, and the initial resistant allele frequency). Translating this to the epidemic in South Africa, a scenario with 70% vaccination coverage may result in 250,000 new infections within 10 years of vaccine rollout that are due solely to HIV adaptation, all else being equal. These findings suggest that approaches to HIV vaccine development, program implementation, and epidemic modeling may require attention to viral evolutionary responses to vaccination.

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Burden of Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) in Bangladesh: Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Transmission Modelling of Seroprevalence Studies

Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1871526518666181004092758 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 284-290

Author(s):

Jocelyn Chan ◽

Yue Wu ◽

James Wood ◽

Mohammad Muhit ◽

Mohammed K. Mahmood ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Deterministic Model ◽

Case Series ◽

Controlled Vocabulary ◽

Congenital Rubella Syndrome ◽

Free Text ◽

Childbearing Age ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Congenital Rubella ◽

The Impact

Background and Objectives: Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable congenital anomalies. Comprehensive country-level data on the burden of CRS in low and middle-income countries, such as Bangladesh, are scarce. This information is essential for assessing the impact of rubella vaccination programs. We aim to systematically review the literature on the epidemiology of CRS and estimate the burden of CRS in Bangladesh. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of existing literature and transmission modelling of seroprevalence studies to estimate the pre-vaccine period burden of CRS in Bangladesh. OVID Medline (1948 – 23 November 2016) and OVID EMBASE (1974 – 23 November 2016) were searched using a combination of the database-specific controlled vocabulary and free text terms. We used an age-stratified deterministic model to estimate the pre-vaccination burden of CRS in Bangladesh. Findings: Ten articles were identified, published between 2000 and 2014, including seven crosssectional studies, two case series and one analytical case-control study. Rubella seropositivity ranged from 47.0% to 86.0% among all age population. Rubella sero–positivity increased with age. Rubella seropositivity among women of childbearing age was 81.0% overall. The estimated incidence of CRS was 0·99 per 1,000 live births, which corresponds to approximately 3,292 CRS cases annually in Bangladesh. Conclusion: The estimated burden of CRS in Bangladesh during the pre-vaccination period was high. This will provide important baseline information to assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of routine rubella immunisation, introduced in 2012 in Bangladesh.

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Immunizations and vaccines: a decade of successes and reversals, and a call for ‘vaccine diplomacy’

International Health ◽

10.1093/inthealth/ihz024 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 331-333 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Peter J Hotez

Keyword(s):

Respiratory Virus ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Virus Infections ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽

Health Gains ◽

Potential Development ◽

Respiratory Virus Infections ◽

New Vaccines

Abstract Over the last decade we have seen extraordinary public health gains due to expansions in global vaccination programs led by United Nations (UN) agencies, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and the WHO. These initiatives have reduced childhood deaths from measles, tetanus and other vaccine-preventable diseases by almost one half. There is additional excitement over the potential development and introduction of new vaccines to prevent highly lethal respiratory virus infections, as well as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS and several neglected tropical diseases. However, these successes are under threat due to political instability, conflict and an accelerating antivaccine movement. New initiatives in vaccine diplomacy will be required to combat these challenges.

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Estimating asymptomatic, undetected and total cases for the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan: a mathematical modeling study

BMC Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1186/s12879-021-06078-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xi Huo ◽

Jing Chen ◽

Shigui Ruan

Keyword(s):

Disease Transmission ◽

Large Scale ◽

Transmission Rate ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Antibody Prevalence ◽

Screening Process ◽

Vaccination Programs ◽

Prevalence Level ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background The COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan started in December 2019 and was under control by the end of March 2020 with a total of 50,006 confirmed cases by the implementation of a series of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) including unprecedented lockdown of the city. This study analyzes the complete outbreak data from Wuhan, assesses the impact of these public health interventions, and estimates the asymptomatic, undetected and total cases for the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Methods By taking different stages of the outbreak into account, we developed a time-dependent compartmental model to describe the dynamics of disease transmission and case detection and reporting. Model coefficients were parameterized by using the reported cases and following key events and escalated control strategies. Then the model was used to calibrate the complete outbreak data by using the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) method. Finally we used the model to estimate asymptomatic and undetected cases and approximate the overall antibody prevalence level. Results We found that the transmission rate between Jan 24 and Feb 1, 2020, was twice as large as that before the lockdown on Jan 23 and 67.6% (95% CI [0.584,0.759]) of detectable infections occurred during this period. Based on the reported estimates that around 20% of infections were asymptomatic and their transmission ability was about 70% of symptomatic ones, we estimated that there were about 14,448 asymptomatic and undetected cases (95% CI [12,364,23,254]), which yields an estimate of a total of 64,454 infected cases (95% CI [62,370,73,260]), and the overall antibody prevalence level in the population of Wuhan was 0.745% (95% CI [0.693%,0.814%]) by March 31, 2020. Conclusions We conclude that the control of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan was achieved via the enforcement of a combination of multiple NPIs: the lockdown on Jan 23, the stay-at-home order on Feb 2, the massive isolation of all symptomatic individuals via newly constructed special shelter hospitals on Feb 6, and the large scale screening process on Feb 18. Our results indicate that the population in Wuhan is far away from establishing herd immunity and provide insights for other affected countries and regions in designing control strategies and planing vaccination programs.

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