scholarly journals Needlestick Injuries Among Healthcare Workers Administering COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Eric Persaud ◽  
Amber Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Bloodborne Pathogens ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Engineering Controls ◽  
Prevention Act ◽  
Twentieth Anniversary ◽  
Institutional Controls ◽  
Sharps Injury ◽  
Culture And Climate ◽  
Roll Out

As mass COVID-19 vaccination programs roll out across the country, we are potentially faced with compromising workers’ health for the sake of the broader public health, as it relates to occupational exposure to contaminated needles and syringes. We have the opportunity to provide recommendations that advance protection of workers through the industrial hygiene hierarchy of controls, especially in light of the twentieth anniversary of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. Specifically, greater focus on institutional controls that can dictate the safety culture and climate of institutions that roll out COVID-19 vaccination programs, while maintaining careful focus on preventing sharps injuries and blood exposure. In addition, we provide suggestions for the role that engineering controls, such as devices with sharps injury prevention features play in protecting workers from exposure to bloodborne pathogens, as well as the importance of ongoing injury incident surveillance.

scholarly journals Strategies for Disseminating and Implementing the COVID-19 Vaccines in Rural Areas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Prusaczyk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Urban Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Vaccine Information ◽  
Roll Out

Abstract The United States has well-documented rural-urban health disparities and it is imperative that these are not exacerbated by an inefficient roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines to rural areas. In addition to the pre-existing barriers to delivering and receiving healthcare in rural areas, such as high patient:provider ratios and long geographic distances between patients and providers, rural residents are significantly more likely to say they have no intention of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to urban residents. To overcome these barriers and ensure rural residents receive the vaccine, officials and communities should look to previous research on how to communicate vaccine information and implement successful vaccination programs in rural areas for guidance and concrete strategies to use in their local efforts.

scholarly journals Review of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273

2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110096
Author(s):  
Shyh Poh Teo
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Safety Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Safety Surveillance ◽  
Mass Immunization ◽  
United States Food ◽  
States Food

The United States Food and Drug Administration recently issued emergency use authorization for 2 mRNA vaccines for preventing COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus infections. BNT162b2 from Pfizer-BioNTech and mRNA-1273 by Moderna are planned for use in mass-immunization programs to curb the pandemic. A brief overview of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is provided, describing the SARS-CoV-2 RNA, how mRNA vaccines work and the advantages of mRNA over other vaccine platforms. The Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration journey to short-list mRNA vaccine candidates and finally selecting BNT162b2 based on safety data is outlined, followed by the Phase 3 study of BNT162b2 demonstrating 95% efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infections. Studies regarding mRNA-1273 (Moderna) are described, including extended immunogenicity data up to 119 days. The Phase 3 COVE study of mRNA-1273 eventually showed vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. Recommendations for future mRNA vaccine development are provided, including ongoing safety surveillance, evaluation in under-represented groups in previous studies and improving mRNA vaccine thermostability. Finally, further logistical considerations are required for manufacturing, storing, distribution and implementing mass vaccination programs to curb the pandemic.

ЮНВТО Всемирная туристская Барометр, и статистическое приложение Обновленная информация, ИСентябрь 2021 года

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
International Tourism ◽  
Modest Improvement ◽  
International Tourist ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Roll Out ◽  
Made In

International tourism shows slight recovery in June and July 2021 driven by vaccinations and border reopening International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) in the first seven months of 2021 were 40% below the levels of 2020, and still 80% down when compared to the same period of pre-pandemic year 2019. After a weak start of the year, international tourism saw a modest improvement during the months of June and July 2021. The small improvement in June and July was underpinned by the reopening of many destinations to international travel, mostly in Europe and the Americas. The relaxation of travel restrictions to vaccinated travellers, coupled with progress made in the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, contributed to ease travel restrictions, lift consumer confidence and gradually restore safe mobility in Europe and other parts of the world. Small islands in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific, together with a few small European destinations recorded the best performance in June and July, with arrivals coming close to, or sometimes exceeding pre-pandemic levels. July (-67%) saw comparatively better performance than June (-77%), making it the best month so far since April 2020. Asia and the Pacific continued to suffer the weakest results in January-July 2021, with a 95% drop in international arrivals compared to the same period in 2019. The Middle East (-82%) recorded the second largest decline, followed by Europe and Africa (both -77%). The Americas (-68%) saw a comparatively smaller decrease. Although destinations continued to report very weak international tourism revenues in the first seven months of 2021, several countries recorded a modest improvement in the months of June and July, and some even surpassed the earnings of 2019. The same is true for outbound travel. Among the larger source markets, France (-35% over 2019) and the United States (-49%) saw a small rebound in expenditure in July. Despite the relative improvement over the low levels of 2020, international tourism remained well below 2019 levels. This is also reflected in the evaluation made by the UNWTO Panel of Experts in the September survey, showing mixed results for the period May-August 2021. Looking ahead, most experts continue to expect a rebound in 2022, driven by unleashed pent-up demand, mostly during the second and third quarter of that year. Nearly one-third of respondents expect a potential rebound in 2023. Almost half of all experts continue to see a return of international arrivals to 2019 levels in 2024 or later.

scholarly journals Integrating Spatiotemporal Epidemiology, Eco-Phylogenetics, and Distributional Ecology to Assess West Nile Disease Risk in Horses

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1811
Author(s):  
John M. Humphreys ◽  
Angela M. Pelzel-McCluskey ◽  
Lee W. Cohnstaedt ◽  
Bethany L. McGregor ◽  
Kathryn A. Hanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Avian Host ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Phylogenetic Structure ◽  
Vaccination Programs

Mosquito-borne West Nile virus (WNV) is the causative agent of West Nile disease in humans, horses, and some bird species. Since the initial introduction of WNV to the United States (US), approximately 30,000 horses have been impacted by West Nile neurologic disease and hundreds of additional horses are infected each year. Research describing the drivers of West Nile disease in horses is greatly needed to better anticipate the spatial and temporal extent of disease risk, improve disease surveillance, and alleviate future economic impacts to the equine industry and private horse owners. To help meet this need, we integrated techniques from spatiotemporal epidemiology, eco-phylogenetics, and distributional ecology to assess West Nile disease risk in horses throughout the contiguous US. Our integrated approach considered horse abundance and virus exposure, vector and host distributions, and a variety of extrinsic climatic, socio-economic, and environmental risk factors. Birds are WNV reservoir hosts, and therefore we quantified avian host community dynamics across the continental US to show intra-annual variability in host phylogenetic structure and demonstrate host phylodiversity as a mechanism for virus amplification in time and virus dilution in space. We identified drought as a potential amplifier of virus transmission and demonstrated the importance of accounting for spatial non-stationarity when quantifying interaction between disease risk and meteorological influences such as temperature and precipitation. Our results delineated the timing and location of several areas at high risk of West Nile disease and can be used to prioritize vaccination programs and optimize virus surveillance and monitoring.

scholarly journals Pollution Prevention/Environmental Sustainability for Industry

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Bruce Dvorak
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Production Operation ◽  
Prevention Act

It has been 30 years since, in the United States, the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 focused attention on reducing pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use [...]

Barómetro OMT del Turismo Mundial y anexo estadístico, septiembre 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
International Tourism ◽  
Modest Improvement ◽  
International Tourist ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Roll Out ◽  
Made In

International tourism shows slight recovery in June and July 2021 driven by vaccinations and border reopening International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) in the first seven months of 2021 were 40% below the levels of 2020, and still 80% down when compared to the same period of pre-pandemic year 2019. After a weak start of the year, international tourism saw a modest improvement during the months of June and July 2021. The small improvement in June and July was underpinned by the reopening of many destinations to international travel, mostly in Europe and the Americas. The relaxation of travel restrictions to vaccinated travellers, coupled with progress made in the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, contributed to ease travel restrictions, lift consumer confidence and gradually restore safe mobility in Europe and other parts of the world. Small islands in the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific, together with a few small European destinations recorded the best performance in June and July, with arrivals coming close to, or sometimes exceeding pre-pandemic levels. July (-67%) saw comparatively better performance than June (-77%), making it the best month so far since April 2020. Asia and the Pacific continued to suffer the weakest results in January-July 2021, with a 95% drop in international arrivals compared to the same period in 2019. The Middle East (-82%) recorded the second largest decline, followed by Europe and Africa (both -77%). The Americas (-68%) saw a comparatively smaller decrease. Although destinations continued to report very weak international tourism revenues in the first seven months of 2021, several countries recorded a modest improvement in the months of June and July, and some even surpassed the earnings of 2019. The same is true for outbound travel. Among the larger source markets, France (-35% over 2019) and the United States (-49%) saw a small rebound in expenditure in July. Despite the relative improvement over the low levels of 2020, international tourism remained well below 2019 levels. This is also reflected in the evaluation made by the UNWTO Panel of Experts in the September survey, showing mixed results for the period May-August 2021. Looking ahead, most experts continue to expect a rebound in 2022, driven by unleashed pent-up demand, mostly during the second and third quarter of that year. Nearly one-third of respondents expect a potential rebound in 2023. Almost half of all experts continue to see a return of international arrivals to 2019 levels in 2024 or later.

Hate Crime Policy in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Osterbur
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Hate Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Crime Policy ◽  
Police Powers ◽  
Prevention Act ◽  
Crime Legislation ◽  
Hate Crime Laws

Hate crime policy has developed from the early legislation of the 1968 Civil Rights Act to the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, to be increasingly inclusive in terms of identity and comprehensive in terms of ramifications. Hence a body of scholarship around the trajectory and implications of hate crime laws has developed, as has a robust discourse on the definitions of hate crime itself and theories on who perpetrates bias-motivated violence and why it occurs. Between definitions of hate crime, a tension exists between legal definitions and those of theorists who are attempting incorporate understanding of context into the definition. Similarly, the theories on who perpetrates hate crimes and why they occur exhibit tensions between strain-based theories. While some scholars have deployed Merton’s (1938) strain theory associated with societal anomie, others point to changing norms. As hate crime laws have become more inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, avenues of research into the disparities in experience of bias-motivated crimes between enumerated categories has increased. Persistent in the research on hate crime is the deficiency of data on victimization and ramifications beyond direct victims. While data on the scope of the policies is clear, inconsistencies in data collection around victimization render available resources insufficient. Most recently, research on hate crime policy has intersected with queer theory to question whether hate crime laws are positive for the LGBTQ community or society at large. Organizations such as the Silvia Rivera Law Project, for example, have pushed back on calls for inclusive hate crime laws via challenging the propensity to provide additional resources to the prison-industrial complex. Furthermore, queer scholars of history find a disconnect between the origins of the LGBTI movement in resisting police powers to be antithetical to promoting increased police powers in the form of hate crime legislation.

Get Information or Get in Formation: The Effects of High-Information Environments on Legislative Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Trussler
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Internet Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Incumbency Advantage ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Congressional Districts ◽  
Roll Out

How does the changing information environment affect the degree to which voters make independent decisions for different offices on their ballots? Leveraging the gradual roll-out of broadband internet across the United States and across congressional districts, this study uses within-district variation over four election cycles to examine the effects of internet access on voting behavior in US legislative elections. The results show that the expansion of broadband resulted in less split-ticket voting and a lower incumbency advantage because voters exposed to increased high-speed internet voted in a more partisan fashion. Consistent with work demonstrating the effect of the internet on local news consumption, the results suggest that the change in the information environment resulting from enhanced internet access led voters to prioritize national considerations over local considerations. This has important consequences for not only how voters act, but the resulting incentives that elected officials confront.

Poverty and Progress: A Paradoxical Legacy

1986 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Michael Frisch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Small City ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twentieth Anniversary ◽  
Original Edition

My Copy of Poverty and Progress provides shocking evidence that we have moved far enough along in time to have the necessary perspective: the price on the jacket of this Harvard University Press original edition—hardcover—reads $5.95. There is similarly little doubt about the judgment of time, for I think there would be general agreement with the assessment offered by Michael Katz (1982) several years ago that “in the last two decades there have been two landmark books in the history of social structure, one each for Britain and the United States. Both reflect not only the talents of the author but the national/intellectual contexts as well. For Britain the book is E. P. Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class [1964]; for America it is Stephan Thernstrom’s Poverty and Progress [1964].”It is thus appropriate that we honor Stephan Thernstrom on the twentieth anniversary of a slim volume on a small city, which made a disproportionately big bang. We know he understands that to the extent that our honorific twenty-one gun salute may occasionally seem to be aimed not over but at him, this is only to keep him from feeling uncomfortably like the guest at his own funeral eulogies. Whatever the mix of criticism and praise, however, I suspect that he will be amused: all of this solemn discussion devoted to what was initially only a doctoral thesis which Professor Thernstrom, if he was anything like most of us, may have had to struggle, from time to time, to take altogether seriously.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document