scholarly journals Mass production methods for mass vaccination: improving flow and operational performance in a COVID-19 mass vaccination centre using Lean

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. e001525
Author(s):  
Iain M Smith ◽  
David T L Smith
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Waiting Times ◽  
Mass Vaccination ◽  
Client Experience ◽  
Cycle Times ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Queueing Time ◽  
Operational Processes

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected tens of millions of people worldwide causing many deaths. Healthcare systems have been stretched caring for the most seriously ill and lockdown measures to interrupt COVID-19 transmission have had adverse economic and societal impacts. Large-scale population vaccination is seen as the solution.In the UK, a network of sites to deploy vaccines comprised National Health Service hospitals, primary care and new mass vaccination centres. Due to the pace at which mass vaccination centres were established and the scale of vaccine deployment, some sites experienced problems with queues and waiting times. To address this, one site used the Lean systematic improvement approach to make rapid operational improvements to reduce process times and improve flow.The case example identifies obstacles to flow experienced by a mass vaccination centre and how they were addressed using Lean concepts and techniques. Process cycle times were used as a proxy metric for efficiency and flow. Based on daily demand volume and open hours, takt time was calculated to give a process completion rate to achieve flow through the vaccination centre.The mass vaccination centre achieved its aim of reducing process times and improving flow. Administrative and clinical cycle times were reduced sufficiently to increase throughput and the number of queues and queueing time were reduced improving client experience.The design and operational management of vaccination centre processes contribute to client experience, efficiency and throughput. Lean provides a systematic approach that can improve operational processes and facilitate client flow through mass vaccination centres.

scholarly journals BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in a Nationwide Mass Vaccination Setting: A Note

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuval Arbel ◽  
Yifat Arbel ◽  
Eldar Kerner ◽  
Amichai Kerner
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Mass Vaccination ◽  
Matched Pair ◽  
Effectiveness Rate ◽  
Scale Population

Abstract In their important and innovative study, Dagan et al. (2021) were the first to provide evidence on the effectiveness of BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine on a large scale population. The authors used a matched pair Israeli sample of 596,618 individuals belonging to the vaccinated group and 596,618 individuals with similar characteristics belonging to the unvaccinated group. Based on the information obtained in Figure 2 of Dagan et al. (2021) on cumulative events 14, 21 and 28 days after the first dose, the authors of this Note found inconsistencies between the calculated effectiveness of the dose from Figure 2, and the reported effectiveness rates in Table 2. Compared to the effectiveness rate reported by Dagan et al. (2021), and referring to the criteria of: documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, symptomatic Covid-19 and severe Covid-19, 14-20 days after the first dose, according to the CDC formula, our calculations suggest an elevated effectiveness of the vaccine ranging between 1.75%-4.67%. Referring to the criteria of Covid-19 hospitalization and death, 14-20 days after the first dose, our calculations suggest a reduced effectiveness of the vaccine ranging between minus 2.77% and minus 2%. Given the widespread public vaccination resistance, transparency and accuracy in vaccination effectiveness might prove to be especially important. As of October 31, 2021, the official accumulated Covid-19 cases are 247,376,970 and deaths worldwide are approx. 5 million persons. Consequently, the implication of a 2% gap after 21 days is 4.947 million cases and 100,000 deaths.

The Emperor’s New Genes

2015 ◽  
Vol 661 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruha Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
State Recognition ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Third ◽  
New Genes ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Human Difference ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Population Mapping

This article addresses the politics of genomics through three diagnoses: The first, diagnosing objectivity, discusses how researchers involved in a large-scale population mapping initiative distinguish genomics as relatively objective, compared to other forms of knowledge production. The second case, diagnosing nationality, examines an attempt by the UK Border Agency to use genetic ancestry testing to vet asylum claims. The third case, diagnosing indigeneity, considers how indigenous councils in southern Africa engage genomic science in their struggle for state recognition and rights. I argue that genomics’ allure of objectivity lends itself to such diagnostic attempts among both powerful and subaltern social actors and suggest that developing “technologies of humility” may provide one safeguard against the increasing uptake of genomics as the authority on human difference.

scholarly journals Large Scale Population Assessment of Physical Activity Using Wrist Worn Accelerometers: The UK Biobank Study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. e0169649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiden Doherty ◽  
Dan Jackson ◽  
Nils Hammerla ◽  
Thomas Plötz ◽  
Patrick Olivier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Population Assessment ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
The Uk

Hydrodynamics and larval dispersal: a population model of Acanthaster planci on the Great Barrier Reef

1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
JP Scandol ◽  
MK James
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Larval Transport ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Acanthaster Planci ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Transport Models ◽  
Southward Shift ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Flow Through

This paper presents results of a modelling study of the large-scale population dynamics of Acanthaster planci in the central Great Barrier Reef. Dispersal patterns generated by larval transport models are used to drive the simulation. Population flow through the reef matrix during outbreaks is simulated by using an elementary representation of the starfish life cycle. Features of the results include the following: (I) Population patterns generated by the model are consistent with observations of starfish outbreaks. (2) The overall impact of starfish populations undergoing an outbreak on the reef system decreases with a southward shift in the location of initial outbreaks. (3) Within the central Great Barrier Reef, outbreak populations of starfish generally occur more frequently on the inner- and central-matrix reefs than on the outer-matrix reefs.

Comparison of Aerobic and Anoxic-Aerobic Digestion of Waste Activated Sludge

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1475-1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
A P. C. Warner ◽  
G. A. Ekama ◽  
G v. R. Marais
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Activated Sludge Process ◽  
Cycle Times ◽  
Waste Sludge ◽  
Volatile Solids ◽  
In Series ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Theoretical Simulations

The laboratory scale experimental investigation comprised a 6 day sludge age activated sludge process, the waste sludge of which was fed to a number of digesters operated as follows: single reactor flow through digesters at 4 or 6 days sludge age, under aerobic and anoxic-aerobic conditions (with 1,5 and 4 h cycle times) and 3-in-series flow through aerobic digesters each at 4 days sludge age; all digesters were fed draw-and-fill wise once per day. The general kinetic model for the aerobic activated sludge process set out by Dold et al., (1980) and extended to the anoxic-aerobic process by van Haandel et al., (1981) simulated accurately all the experimental data (Figs 1 to 4) without the need for adjusting the kinetic constants. Both theoretical simulations and experimental data indicate that (i) the rate of volatile solids destruction is not affected by the incorporation of anoxic cycles and (ii) the specific denitrification rate is independent of sludge age and is K4T = 0,046(l,029)(T-20) mgNO3-N/(mg active VSS. d) i.e. about 2/3 of that in the secondary anoxic of the single sludge activated sludge stystem. An important consequence of (i) and (ii) above is that denitrification can be integrated easily in the steady state digester model of Marais and Ekama (1976) and used for design (Warner et al., 1983).

Origin and distribution of dolomite in Permian Rotliegend siliciclastic sandstones (Dutch Southern Permian Basin)

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (10) ◽  
pp. 1055-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolaas Molenaar ◽  
Marita Felder
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
Advective Flow ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Carbonate Cement ◽  
Thin Section Petrography ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Pressure Dissolution ◽  
Dolomite Cement ◽  
Detrital Carbonate

ABSTRACT Dolomite is a common and volumetrically important mineral in many siliciclastic sandstones, including Permian Rotliegend sandstones (the Slochteren Formation). These sandstones form extensive gas reservoirs in the Southern Permian Basin in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and the UK. The reservoir quality of these sandstones is negatively influenced by the content and distribution of dolomite. The origin and the stratigraphic distribution of the dolomite is not yet fully understood. The aim of this study is to identify the origin of carbonate. The main methods used to achieve those aims are a combination of thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM and EDX), and XRD analyses. The present study shows that the typical dispersed occurrence of the dolomite is a consequence of dispersed detrital carbonate grains that served both as nuclei and source for authigenic dolomite cement. The dolomite cement formed syntaxial outgrowths and overgrowths around detrital carbonate grains. The study also shows that dolomite cement, often in combination with ankerite and siderite, precipitated during burial after mechanical compaction. Most of the carbonate grains consisted of dolomite before deposition. The carbonate grains were affected by compaction and pressure dissolution, and commonly have no well-defined outlines anymore. The distribution of dolomite cement in the Rotliegend sandstones was controlled by the presence of stable carbonate grains. Due to the restricted and variable content of carbonate grains and their dispersed occurrence, the cement is also dispersed and the degree of cementation heterogeneous. Our findings have important implications on diagenesis modeling. The presence of detrital carbonate excludes the need for external supply by any large-scale advective flow of diagenetic fluids. By knowing that the carbonate source is local and related to detrital grains instead of being externally derived from an unknown source, the presence of carbonate cement can be linked to a paleogeographic and sedimentological model.

scholarly journals Establishment and lineage dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the UK

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. eabf2946
Author(s):  
Louis du Plessis ◽  
John T. McCrone ◽  
Alexander E. Zarebski ◽  
Verity Hill ◽  
Christopher Ruis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Genetic Lineage ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Lineage Structure ◽  
And Control ◽  
Lineage Diversity

The UK’s COVID-19 epidemic during early 2020 was one of world’s largest and unusually well represented by virus genomic sampling. Here we reveal the fine-scale genetic lineage structure of this epidemic through analysis of 50,887 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, including 26,181 from the UK sampled throughout the country’s first wave of infection. Using large-scale phylogenetic analyses, combined with epidemiological and travel data, we quantify the size, spatio-temporal origins and persistence of genetically-distinct UK transmission lineages. Rapid fluctuations in virus importation rates resulted in >1000 lineages; those introduced prior to national lockdown tended to be larger and more dispersed. Lineage importation and regional lineage diversity declined after lockdown, while lineage elimination was size-dependent. We discuss the implications of our genetic perspective on transmission dynamics for COVID-19 epidemiology and control.

scholarly journals Collateral impact of COVID-19: why should children continue to suffer?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasad Nagakumar ◽  
Ceri-Louise Chadwick ◽  
Andrew Bush ◽  
Atul Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Collateral Effects ◽  
Rsv Infection ◽  
Syncytial Virus ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-COV-2 virus fortunately resulted in few children suffering from severe disease. However, the collateral effects on the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have had significant detrimental effects on children affected and young people. There are also some positive impacts in the form of reduced prevalence of viral bronchiolitis. The new strain of SARS-COV-2 identified recently in the UK appears to have increased transmissibility to children. However, there are no large vaccine trials set up in children to evaluate safety and efficacy. In this short communication, we review the collateral effects of COVID-19 pandemic in children and young people. We highlight the need for urgent strategies to mitigate the risks to children due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is Known:• Children and young people account for <2% of all COVID-19 hospital admissions• The collateral impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people is devastating• Significant reduction in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in the southern hemisphere What is New:• The public health measures to reduce COVID-19 infection may have also resulted in near elimination of influenza and RSV infections across the globe• A COVID-19 vaccine has been licensed for adults. However, large scale vaccine studies are yet to be initiated although there is emerging evidence of the new SARS-COV-2 strain spreading more rapidly though young people.• Children and young people continue to bear the collateral effects of COVID-19 pandemic

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