scholarly journals COVID-19 Vaccination: To Lead by Example or an Opportunity Lost

2021 ◽  
pp. 002203452110491
Author(s):  
M.S. Wolff ◽  
M. Glick

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created a global health emergency. Vaccine hesitancy and tremendous misinformation about the actual science are leaving the public with significant confusion. However, sound epidemiologic science is guiding us to a clear path toward mitigating this modern-day scourge. It is remarkable how putting an end to current COVID-19 outbreaks has such a simple solution—convincing the public to accept getting vaccinated. The dental research, dental education, and dental practice communities have a unique opportunity to act as trusted public exemplars as well as trusted interpreters of the science for the public.

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-191
Author(s):  
Ève Dubé ◽  
Jeremy K. Ward ◽  
Pierre Verger ◽  
Noni E. MacDonald

An often-stated public health comment is that “vaccination is a victim of its own success.” While the scientific and medical consensus on the benefits of vaccination is clear and unambiguous, an increasing number of people are perceiving vaccines as unsafe and unnecessary. The World Health Organization identified “the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite availability of vaccines” as one of the 10 threats to global health in 2019. The negative influence of anti-vaccination movements is often named as a cause of increasing vaccine resistance in the public. In this review, we give an overview of the current literature on the topic, beginning by agreeing on terminology and concepts before looking at potential causes, consequences, and impacts of resistance to vaccination.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Davide Gori ◽  
Chiara Reno ◽  
Daniel Remondini ◽  
Francesco Durazzi ◽  
Maria Pia Fantini

While the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to strike and collect its death toll throughout the globe, as of 31 January 2021, the vaccine candidates worldwide were 292, of which 70 were in clinical testing. Several vaccines have been approved worldwide, and in particular, three have been so far authorized for use in the EU. Vaccination can be, in fact, an efficient way to mitigate the devastating effect of the pandemic and offer protection to some vulnerable strata of the population (i.e., the elderly) and reduce the social and economic burden of the current crisis. Regardless, a question is still open: after vaccination availability for the public, will vaccination campaigns be effective in reaching all the strata and a sufficient number of people in order to guarantee herd immunity? In other words: after we have it, will we be able to use it? Following the trends in vaccine hesitancy in recent years, there is a growing distrust of COVID-19 vaccinations. In addition, the online context and competition between pro- and anti-vaxxers show a trend in which anti-vaccination movements tend to capture the attention of those who are hesitant. Describing this context and analyzing its possible causes, what interventions or strategies could be effective to reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy? Will social media trend analysis be helpful in trying to solve this complex issue? Are there perspectives for an efficient implementation of COVID-19 vaccination coverage as well as for all the other vaccinations?


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1020
Author(s):  
Richard Newton

This thought experiment in comparison ponders a Black man’s conviction that his Hebrew identity would make him immune to COVID-19. Surfacing the history of the claims and the scholar’s own suspicions, the paper examines the layered politics of identification. Contra an essentialist understanding of the terms, “Hebrew” and “Hebrews” are shown to be classificatory events, ones imbricated in the dynamics of racecraft. Furthermore, a contextualization of the “race religion” model of 19th century scholarship, 20th century US religio-racial movements, and the complicated legacy of Tuskegee in 21st century Black vaccine hesitancy help to outline the need for inquisitiveness rather than hubris in matters of comparison. In so doing, this working paper advances a model of the public scholar as a questioner of categories and a diagnostician of classification.


Author(s):  
Farah Yasmin ◽  
Waleed Asghar ◽  
Maryam Salma Babar ◽  
Hiba Khan ◽  
Shoaib Ahmad ◽  
...  

Developing countries like Pakistan have previously suffered from barriers to acceptance of vaccination by the public because of financial and belief barriers. This study aims to explore these beliefs and highlight concerns regarding vaccine hesitancy in the general population of Pakistan since they are a hindrance to an effective coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) immunization in the country. A cross-sectional study was performed involving 1,778 participants from all four provinces of Pakistan. Results from the study showed more than half of the participants to be unsure of the safety (50%) and efficacy (51%) of the vaccine, whereas 42% were concerned about the side effects of the vaccine. About 72% of the respondents planned to get vaccinated, whereas 28% refused to do so. Internationally made imported vaccines were more trusted by the participants. Forty-four percent of the participants agreed to receive the vaccine upon recommendation from a physician. Lastly, participants who believed in the efficacy of the polio vaccination also considered the COVID-19 vaccine to be safe and effective.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1069031X2110731
Author(s):  
James M. Leonhardt ◽  
Todd Pezzuti

How does culture influence vaccination acceptance? This is an important question facing managers, policymakers, and global health organizations. Even with effective vaccines for highly contagious diseases, humankind remains at risk from vaccine hesitancy. We conduct a largescale multilevel analysis of more than 400,000 survey respondents, finding that COVID-19 vaccination intentions are higher among people from countries higher in cultural collectivism (Study 1). Follow-up studies indicate that vaccination acceptance is higher among people that endorse collectivistic values because they feel more empathy for those afflicted by the disease (Studies 2a, 2b, 3), especially when victims of the disease have similar characteristics (e.g., political affiliation, lifestyle, personality) as themselves (Study 3). To encourage vaccination acceptance, we suggest promoting collectivistic values and empathic concern, as well as homophily through the portrayal of victims with characteristics like those hesitant to accept vaccination.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Lynn Janvrin ◽  
Jessica Korona-Bailey ◽  
Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos

BACKGROUND Early in the pandemic Koehlmoos et al (2020) completed a framework synthesis of currently available self-reported symptom tracking programs for COVID19. This framework described the programs, partners/affiliates, funding, responses, platform, and intended audience, among other considerations. OBJECTIVE This current study seeks to update the existing framework with the aim of identifying developments in the landscape and highlighting how programs have adapted to changes in pandemic response. METHODS Our team developed a framework to collate information on current COVD19 self-reported symptom tracking programs using the best-framework method. All programs from the previous article were included to document changes. New programs were discovered using a Google search for keywords. The time frame for the search for programs ranges from March 1, 2021, to May 6, 2021. RESULTS We screened 33 programs; 8 were included in our final framework synthesis. We identified multiple common data elements, including demographic information like race, age, gender, and affiliation (all were associated with universities, medical schools, or schools of public health). Dissimilarities included questions regarding vaccination status, vaccine hesitancy, social distancing adherence, testing, and mental health. CONCLUSIONS At this time, the future of self-reported symptom tracking for COVID-19 is unclear. Some sources have speculated that COVID-19 may become a yearly occurrence much like the flu, and if so, the data that these programs generate is still valuable. However, it is unclear if the public will maintain the same level of interest in reporting their symptoms on a regular basis if the COVID19 becomes more routine.


Dental Update ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 881-886
Author(s):  
Lakshman Samaranayake

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine story is continuously unfolding. Since our previous COVID-19 commentaries, much new information has transpired on the subject, and here we revisit this topic, which has practical implications for all stakeholders in dentistry, as well as the public. This article, on current vaccine epidemiology, provides an account of why vaccines fail in general, and the particular concerns in relation to the new Delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and related ‘variants of concern’. Issues related to vaccine failure are fundamentally dichotomous in nature, appertaining either to the vaccine strain (type) per se, and/or the numerous endogenous factors of the vaccine recipient/vaccinee. Societal factors such as vaccine hesitancy and its impact on herd immunity appear to overarch the long-term goal of total or partial global suppression of SARS-CoV-2, and its eventual endemicity. CPD/Clinical Relevance: To describe the reasons for the failure of currently administered COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in relation to the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 ‘variants of concern’, and discuss implications for clinical dental practice.


Author(s):  
Teodora Kiryakova-Dineva ◽  
Ruska Bozhkova

At a time of the global health pandemic, the most affected areas are economy and social life. Along with the practical limitations of travel, regarding personal security reasons and the objective risks for the environment, the world of tourism has changed. However, under the circumstances, some small accommodation units have managed to survive, like the Seamen between Scylla and Charybdis – the mythical situation. The purpose of this chapter is to delve into the public health risk environment for Bulgarian SMEs in tourism (guest houses and family hotels) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent of the analysis includes hotels and guest houses in the south-western part of Bulgaria that managed to keep operating despite the global pandemic situation.


Author(s):  
Melodie Yunju Song

North America has experienced a resurgence of measles outbreak due to unprecedentedly low Mumps-Measles and Rubella vaccination coverage rates facilitated by the anti-vaccination movement. The objective of this chapter is to explore the new online public space and public discourse using Web 2.0 in the public health arena to answer the question, ‘What is driving public acceptance of or hesitancy towards the MMR vaccine?' More specifically, typologies of online public engagement will be examined using MMR vaccine hesitancy as a case study to illustrate the different approaches used by pro- and anti-vaccine groups to inform, consult with, and engage the public on a public health issue that has been the subject of long-standing public debate and confusion. This chapter provides an overview of the cyclical discourse of anti-vaccination movements. The authors hypothesize that anti-vaccination, vaccine hesitant, and pro-vaccination representations on the online public sphere are reflective of competing values (e.g., modernism, post-modernism) in contemporary society.


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