Evidence is mounting that much of the concern about waning immunity to COVID-19 is overstated and that vaccines provide high levels of protection against the respiratory disease and its variants over the long-term. Immunologically, plasmablast and B-cell response after mRNA vaccination is long-lived and memory B cells increase over at least six months. And in […]
This BMJ editorial examines whether approaches better equipped to compare rates of menstrual variation in vaccinated versus unvaccinated populations are needed, based on the reports of changes to periods and unexpected vaginal bleeding after vaccination. The US has taken the first step, earmarking $1.67M from the National Institutes of Health to encourage research.
Source: MedPage Today (from JAMA Oncology)Design: Analysis was from a previously published prospective cohort study that evaluated the rates of antibody response to Pfizer’s vaccine in 102 cancer patients who were on active treatment compared with 78 healthy controls. A fourth of the patients were undergoing treatment for lung cancer, 26% for gastrointestinal cancers, and […]
Nearly a third of all Americans (100 million people) have now been infected with COVID-19. And scientific evidence shows that natural immunity from infection is durable and long-lasting. So why is it then that inoculations continue to be pushed for all people regardless of whether they have contracted COVID-19 or not? And why isn’t natural […]
The two new studies in the Morbidity and Mortality Report compared data from July and August 2021 – when delta was dominant to the earlier period in the pandemic – and found that about 1.4 of every 100,000 children/adolescents were hospitalized for COVID-19, nearly 5x the weekly rate in late June and close to the […]
Publication: JAMAMethod: Electronic health record (EHR) data from 8 health systems over seven 4-week surveillance periods to identify and assign gestational ages for spontaneous abortions and ongoing pregnancies; analyzed and compared odds of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in the 28 days prior to spontaneous abortion and ongoing pregnancies.Results: Of 105,446 unique pregnancies, 13,160 spontaneous abortions […]
As the influenza season will coincide with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perfect timing for the release of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) influenza vaccination updated guidance. The comprehensive report indicates that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered with other vaccines, including influenza vaccines like egg-based flu vaccines and cell culture-based inactivated and […]
The additional approval expands immunization coverage to the most at-risk group for acquiring shingles – the immunocompromised. It also shortens the time to the second dose in the 2-dose Shingrix schedule. Decision support based on the Zoster Efficacy Study in Patients Undergoing HSCT (ZOE-HSCT) phase III trial (JAMA).
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) stated goal for deploying a COVID-19 vaccine is “to decrease death and serious disease as much as possible.” According to José Romero, MD, Chair of the ACIP, the decision to vaccinate health care workers first is based on the actions that will help control the pandemic fastest.