scholarly journals An Analysis of the Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy. Can the World Learn from the US Experience?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Dr. Simran Kahai ◽  
Dr. Gayle Herrington ◽  
Domenico Folino
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Vaccination Rate ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Median Income ◽  
Positive Direction ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Usa

While efforts to vaccinate the general public have been trending in a positive direction, Vaccine Hesitancy is a global issue. Many infectious disease physicians, epidemiologists, and Public Health Authorities fear that Vaccine Hesitancy will indefinitely prolong the pandemic, as the Delta Variant currently ravages through the unvaccinated population. In an attempt to understand this global phenomenon, we looked at the United States’ vaccine rollout. In particular, we examined the determinants of vaccine hesitancy in the USA. Our empirical model reveals that Vaccine Hesitancy is significantly impacted by factors such as Median Income, Political Affiliation, Percentage of population that is White/Caucasian, Total Cases, Individuals without Health Insurance, and Education level. We use data from all 50 states in the US. Policy makers in other countries can greatly benefit from the findings of our empirical results. Some incentive structures should be introduced as quickly as possible to achieve a high vaccination rate in the country. Our goal is to use the United State’s experience of Vaccine Hesitancy as a baseline of sorts for the greater global community to understand, and reduce hesitancy in their vaccine rollouts.

Portion Sizes of Ultra-Processed Foods in the United States, 2002 to 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 2223-2226
Author(s):  
Lisa R. Young ◽  
Marion Nestle
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Portion Size ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Fast Foods ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
The Us ◽  
Portion Sizes ◽  
Public Health Authorities

Objectives. To assess the US food industry’s response to calls from public health authorities to reduce portion sizes by comparing current with past sizes of selected examples of single-serve ultra-processed packaged and fast foods. Methods. We obtained manufacturers’ information about current portion sizes and compared it with sizes when first introduced and in 2002. Results. Few companies in our sample reduced portion sizes since 2002; all still sold portions of ultra-processed foods in up to 5-times-larger sizes than when first introduced. Conclusions. Policies and practices focused on reducing portion size could help discourage the consumption of excessive amounts of ultra-processed foods. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(12):2223–2226. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306513 )

scholarly journals Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients infected with enterovirus D68, France, July to December 2014

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schuffenecker ◽  
Audrey Mirand ◽  
Laurence Josset ◽  
Cécile Henquell ◽  
Denise Hecquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
The United States ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Clade B ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Enterovirus D68 ◽  
Viral Protein 1 ◽  
Tract Infections

In 2014, the United States (US) experienced a nationwide outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infection with 1,152 cases reported mainly in hospitalised children with severe asthma or bronchiolitis. Following the US alert, 11 laboratories of the French enterovirus (EV) surveillance network participated in an EV-D68 survey. A total of 6,229 respiratory samples, collected from 1 July to 31 December 2014, were screened for EV-D68 resulting in 212 EV-D68-positive samples. These 212 samples corresponded to 200 EV-D68 cases. The overall EV-D68 positivity rates among respiratory samples were of 5% (184/3,645) and 1.1% (28/2,584) in hospitalised children and adults respectively. The maximum weekly EV-D68 positivity rates were of 16.1% for children (n = 24/149; week 43) and 2.6% for adults (n = 3/115; week 42). Of 173 children with EV-D68 infection alone, the main symptoms were asthma (n = 83; 48.0%) and bronchiolitis (n = 37; 21.4%). One child developed acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) following EV-D68-associated pneumonia. Although there was no significant increase in severe respiratory tract infections reported to the French public health authorities, 10.7% (19/177) of the EV-D68 infected children and 14.3% (3/21) of the EV-D68 infected adults were hospitalised in intensive care units. Phylogenetic analysis of the viral protein 1 (VP1) sequences of 179 EV-D68 cases, revealed that 117 sequences (65.4%), including that of the case of AFP, belonged to the B2 variant of clade B viruses. Continuous surveillance of EV-D68 infections is warranted and could benefit from existing influenza-like illness and EV surveillance networks.

Interaction of Ukrainian Diaspora and the USA Government Regarding Celebration of Ukrainian Independence Day on January 22

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Halyna Shchyhelska
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The United States ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Totalitarian Regime ◽  
The Public ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Usa

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Ukrainian independence. OnJanuary 22, 1918, the Ukrainian People’s Republic proclaimed its independence by adopting the IV Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, although this significant event was «wiped out» from the public consciousness on the territory of Ukraine during the years of the Soviet totalitarian regime. At the same time, January 22 was a crucial event for the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA. This article examines how American Ukrainians interacted with the USA Government institutions regarding the celebration and recognition of the Ukrainian Independence day on January 22. The attention is focused on the activities of ethnic Ukrainians in the United States, directed at the organization of the special celebration of the Ukrainian Independence anniversaries in the US Congress and cities. Drawing from the diaspora press and Congressional Records, this article argues that many members of Congress participated in the observed celebration and expressed kind feelings to the Ukrainian people, recognised their fight for freedom, during the House of Representatives and Senate sessions. Several Congressmen submitted the resolutions in the US Congress urging the President of United States to designate January 22 as «Ukrainian lndependence Day». January 22 was proclaimed Ukrainian Day by the governors of fifteen States and mayors of many cities. Keywords: January 22, Ukrainian independence day, Ukrainian diaspora, USA, interaction, Congress

scholarly journals Trends in educational mobility: How does China compare to Europe and the United States?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-240
Author(s):  
Rob J Gruijters ◽  
Tak Wing Chan ◽  
John Ermisch
Keyword(s):  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Educational Mobility ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Economic Boom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Large Decline ◽  
Inequality Of Educational Opportunity

Despite an impressive rise in school enrolment rates over the past few decades, there are concerns about growing inequality of educational opportunity in China. In this article, we examine the level and trend of educational mobility in China, and compare them to the situation in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. Educational mobility is defined as the association between parents’ and children’s educational attainment. We show that China’s economic boom has been accompanied by a large decline in relative educational mobility chances, as measured by odds ratios. To elaborate, relative rates of educational mobility in China were, by international standards, quite high for those who grew up under state socialism. For the most recent cohorts, however, educational mobility rates have dropped to levels that are comparable to those of European countries, although they are still higher than the US level.

scholarly journals Users’ Beliefs Toward Physical Distancing in Facebook Pages of Public Health Authorities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Early 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812110144
Author(s):  
Soon Guan Tan ◽  
Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar ◽  
Hwee Lin Wee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Belief Model ◽  
United States Public Health ◽  
Health Belief ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
The Health Belief Model

This study aims to describe Facebook users’ beliefs toward physical distancing measures implemented during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic using the key constructs of the health belief model. A combination of rule-based filtering and manual classification methods was used to classify user comments on COVID-19 Facebook posts of three public health authorities: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, Public Health England, and Ministry of Health, Singapore. A total of 104,304 comments were analyzed for posts published between 1 January, 2020, and 31 March, 2020, along with COVID-19 cases and deaths count data from the three countries. Findings indicate that the perceived benefits of physical distancing measures ( n = 3,463; 3.3%) was three times higher than perceived barriers ( n = 1,062; 1.0%). Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 ( n = 2,934; 2.8%) was higher compared with perceived severity ( n = 2,081; 2.0%). Although susceptibility aspects of physical distancing were discussed more often at the start of the year, mentions on the benefits of intervention emerged stronger toward the end of the analysis period, highlighting the shift in beliefs. The health belief model is useful for understanding Facebook users’ beliefs at a basic level, and it provides a scope for further improvement.

scholarly journals Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production in the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7804
Author(s):  
Christoph Falter ◽  
Andreas Sizmann
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Fossil Energy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Solar Thermochemical

Hydrogen produced from renewable energy has the potential to decarbonize parts of the transport sector and many other industries. For a sustainable replacement of fossil energy carriers, both the environmental and economic performance of its production are important. Here, the solar thermochemical hydrogen pathway is characterized with a techno-economic and life-cycle analysis. Assuming a further increase of conversion efficiency and a reduction of investment costs, it is found that hydrogen can be produced in the United States of America at costs of 2.1–3.2 EUR/kg (2.4–3.6 USD/kg) at specific greenhouse gas emissions of 1.4 kg CO2-eq/kg. A geographical potential analysis shows that a maximum of 8.4 × 1011 kg per year can be produced, which corresponds to about twelve times the current global and about 80 times the current US hydrogen production. The best locations are found in the Southwest of the US, which have a high solar irradiation and short distances to the sea, which is beneficial for access to desalinated water. Unlike for petrochemical products, the transport of hydrogen could potentially present an obstacle in terms of cost and emissions under unfavorable circumstances. Given a large-scale deployment, low-cost transport seems, however, feasible.

The Influence of Personal Factor on US Foreign Policy (Secretary of State John Kerry)

2014 ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
A. Borisova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa

The last five years defined an alternative course in the US foreign policy. Obama's reelection caused staff transfers which notably influenced the course. This comprehensive process is based on tremendous work conducted by the Administration of Barak Obama, in particular by John Kerry, who was appointed as a Secretary of State in 2013. His personality plays a significant role in American domestic and foreign policy interrelation. Adoption or rejection of the bills, which are well-known today, depended in large on a range of circumstances, such as personality, life journey and political leader career of the today's Secretary of State. John Kerry’s professional life is mainly associated with domestic policy; nevertheless, he has always been interested in foreign relations and national security issues. Those concerns generally included: non-proliferation, US security, ecological problems, fight against terrorism. The article is intended to highlight Kerry’s efforts in each of these fields, showing not only his actions, but also difficult process of adoption or banning bills in the USA. The author tried to display the whole complicated decision-making process among different parties, businessmen and politicians, law and money clashes. The results of many former endeavors can be seen today, in the modern US policy. Based on assumptions about Secretary of State’s beliefs, certain road map can be predicted. In conclusion, the article offers several courses, where the United States are likely to be most active during the next few years. It can be judged exactly which way some current political issues will develop, how the US foreign policy will be shaped by today's decision-makers in the White House.

scholarly journals The comparison of vaccine hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccination in China and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taoran Liu ◽  
Zonglin He ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Ni Yan ◽  
Qian Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Propensity Score ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Choice Experiments ◽  
The United States ◽  
Discrete Choice Experiments ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cost

AbstractObjectivesTo investigate the differences in vaccine hesitancy and preference of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines between two countries, viz. China and the United States (US).MethodA cross-national survey was conducted in both China and the US, and discrete choice experiments as well as Likert scales were utilized to assess vaccine preference and the underlying factors contributing to the vaccination acceptance. A propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to enable a direct comparison between the two countries.ResultsA total of 9,077 (5,375 and 3,702, respectively, from China and the US) respondents have completed the survey. After propensity score matching, over 82.0% respondents from China positively accept the COVID-19 vaccination, while 72.2% respondents form the US positively accept it. Specifically, only 31.9% of Chinese respondents were recommended by a doctor to have COVID-19 vaccination, while more than half of the US respondents were recommended by a doctor (50.2%), local health board (59.4%), or friends and families (64.8%). The discrete choice experiments revealed that respondents from the US attached the greatest importance to the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines (44.41%), followed by the cost of vaccination (29.57%), whereas those from China held a different viewpoint that the cost of vaccination covers the largest proportion in their trade-off (30.66%), and efficacy ranked as the second most important attribute (26.34%). Also, respondents from China tend to concerned much more about the adverse effect of vaccination (19.68% vs 6.12%) and have lower perceived severity of being infected with COVID-19.ConclusionWhile the overall acceptance and hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccination in both countries are high, underpinned distinctions between countries are observed. Owing to the differences in COVID-19 incidence rates, cultural backgrounds, and the availability of specific COVID-19 vaccines in two countries, the vaccine rollout strategies should be nation-dependent.

scholarly journals The Delta Variant Had Negligible Impact on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness in the USA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Blaiszik ◽  
Carlo Graziani ◽  
James L. Olds ◽  
Ian Foster
Keyword(s):  
Age Distribution ◽  
Vaccine Effectiveness ◽  
Vaccination Status ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
A Value ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Zero Baseline

The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was initially identified in India in December 2020. Due to its high transmissibility, its prevalence in the U.S.A. grew from a near-zero baseline in early May 2021 to nearly 100% by late August 2021, according to CDC tracking. We accessed openly available data sources from the public health authorities of seven U.S. states, five U.S. counties, and the District of Columbia on RT-PCR COVID-19 tests split by the COVID-19 vaccination status of individuals tested during this period. Together, these time series enable estimation and tracking of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE∗) (against RT-PCR diagnosed infection) concurrently with the growth of Delta variant prevalence in those locations. Our analyses reveal that in each locality the VE∗ for the combined set of all three US vaccines remained relatively stable and quite well-performing, despite the dramatic concurrent rise of Delta variant prevalence. We conclude that the Delta variant does not significantly evade vaccine-induced immunity. The variations in our measured VE∗ appear to be driven by demographic factors affecting the composition of the vaccinated cohorts, particularly as pertains to age distribution. We report that the measured VE∗, aggregated across the collected sites, began at a value of about 0.9 in mid-May, declined to about 0.76 by mid-July, and recovered to about 0.9 by mid-September.SummaryWe estimated local COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness using RT-PCR COVID-19 test data broken out by vaccination status from select localities in the U.S.A. between 15 May and 15 September 2021 while the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was ascending from essentially zero prevalence to total dominance of the genome, and showed that the rise of the Delta variant had negligible effect on vaccine effectiveness.

A brief history of Pakistan–USSR bilateral relations 1947–1991

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (01) ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
Muhammad Naveed Ul Hasan Shah ◽  
Muhammad Irfan Mahsud ◽  
Azadar Ali Hamza
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Western World ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Invasion ◽  
The Persian Gulf

Pakistan, since 1947 remains under the umbrella of US, as a result, relations of Pakistan were not smooth with anti US states including USSR. The US was to increase its role in the region in order to make secure the largest petroleum reserves in the Persian Gulf. Pakistan’s alignment with the western world was mainly to counter possible Indian aggression, not to lessen the Soviet influence in the region, but the approach was more or less thwarting Soviet interests in the region. Over 3 million Afghan refugees had travelled to Pakistan in the 1st year of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The main objective of the USA during the initial stages of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was primarily to ensure that the Soviet exercise would be a costly one. The United States of America supported Afghan militants with the help of Pakistan to organize them against the USSR. A general perception is that US did not want to be directly involved to thwart the Soviet invasion; rather USA handed over the operational aspect of the program to the Pakistan. The Pakistan was in charge of providing the funds and weapons to the mujahedin and setting up training camps. The US remained indecisive over the next course of action in Afghanistan and the Pakistan took the opportunity to carry out its own agenda in Afghanistan to promote their national interests.

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