Decision-making in a pandemic can never be perfect, but it can be timely

Pediatricians in the Austrian capital will authorize the off-label use of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine for children starting next Friday.

The role of algorithms in propelling conspiracy theories and radicalisation has been brought into sharp focus by the interlocking crises of the past 12 months. Social media platforms have sought to tamp down on algorithmic recommendation of conspiracy theories and extremist content. This briefing uses Amazon’s book sales platform to illustrate how these problems with algorithmic recommendation extend far beyond the social media platforms. At the core of this issue is the failure to consider what a system designed to upsell customers on fitness equipment or gardening tools would do when unleashed on products espousing conspiracy theories, disinformation or extreme views. The entirely foreseeable outcome is that Amazon’s platform is inadvertently but actively promoting these ideas to their customers. The question of banning books is contentious and demands a broader conversation. However, there is a relatively simple solution to the problem of algorithmic amplification: turning recommendations off on these products, to avoid actively promoting harmful content and also avoid funnelling extra money into the pockets of its creators.

There is a growing concern that e-commerce platforms are amplifying vaccine-misinformation. To investigate, we conduct two-sets of algorithmic audits for vaccine misinformation on the search and recommendation algorithms of Amazon—world’s leading e-retailer. First, we systematically audit search-results belonging to vaccine-related search-queries without logging into the platform—unpersonalized audits. We find 10.47% of search-results promote misinformative health products. We also observe ranking-bias, with Amazon ranking misinformative search-results higher than debunking search-results. Next, we analyze the effects of personalization due to account-history, where history is built progressively by performing various real-world user-actions, such as clicking a product. We find evidence of filter-bubble effect in Amazon’s recommendations; accounts performing actions on misinformative products are presented with more misinformation compared to accounts performing actions on neutral and debunking products. Interestingly, once user clicks on a misinformative product, homepage recommendations become more contaminated compared to when user shows an intention to buy that product.

Both the problem and the intervention have long histories

The US vaccine approval for five- to 11-year-olds has brought an end to speculation and dither – and joy to parents

A recent flurry of social media activity regarding the Pfizer vaccine seems aimed at worsening vaccine hesitancy among Christians, particularly evangelicals.

Estimating ‘excess’ fatalities, a more robust analysis method, puts the pandemic’s grim toll between 10m and 19m people

Objective: To offer a quantitative risk–benefit analysis oftwo doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among adolescentsin England.Setting: England.Design: Following the risk–benefit analysis methodologycarried out by the US Centers for Disease Control, wecalculated historical rates of hospital admission, IntensiveCare Unit admission and death for ascertained SARS-CoV-2 cases in children aged 12–17 in England. We then usedthese rates alongside a range of estimates for incidence oflong COVID, vaccine efficacy and vaccine-induced myocar-ditis, to estimate hospital and Intensive Care Unit admis-sions, deaths and cases of long COVID over a period of 16weeks under assumptions of high and low case incidence.Participants: All 12–17 year olds with a record of con-firmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in England between 1 July2020 and 31 March 2021 using national linked electronichealth records, accessed through the British HeartFoundation Data Science Centre.Main outcome measures: Hospitalisations, Intensive CareUnit admissions, deaths and cases of long COVID avertedby vaccinating all 12–17 year olds in England over a 16-week period under different estimates of future caseincidence.Results: At high future case incidence of 1000/100,000population/week over 16 weeks, vaccination could avert4430 hospital admissions and 36 deaths over 16 weeks.At the low incidence of 50/100,000/week, vaccinationcould avert 70 hospital admissions and two deaths over16 weeks. The benefit of vaccination in terms ofhospitalisations in adolescents outweighs risks unless caserates are sustainably very low (below 30/100,000 teen-agers/week). Benefit of vaccination exists at any case ratefor the outcomes of death and long COVID, since neitherhave been associated with vaccination to date.Conclusions: Given the current (as at 15 September 2021)high case rates (680/100,000 population/week in 10–19year olds) in England, our findings support vaccination ofadolescents against SARS-CoV2.

With Covid cases rising in the UK, should the government be moving forward with Plan B of restrictions?

Nisreen A Alwan questions whether the current rates of covid infection in UK school children are acceptable when we have emerging evidence of the virus's lingering health effects

Those suffering from long-term symptoms could qualify for workplace and school accommodations and other support under federal law.

Errors are an inevitable consequence of human fallibility, and researchers are no exception. Most researchers can recall major frustrations or serious time delays due to human errors while collecting, analyzing, or reporting data. The present study is an exploration of mistakes made during the data-management process in psychological research. We surveyed 488 researchers regarding the type, frequency, seriousness, and outcome of mistakes that have occurred in their research team during the last 5 years. The majority of respondents suggested that mistakes occurred with very low or low frequency. Most respondents reported that the most frequent mistakes led to insignificant or minor consequences, such as time loss or frustration. The most serious mistakes caused insignificant or minor consequences for about a third of respondents, moderate consequences for almost half of respondents, and major or extreme consequences for about one fifth of respondents. The most frequently reported types of mistakes were ambiguous naming/defining of data, version control error, and wrong data processing/analysis. Most mistakes were reportedly due to poor project preparation or management and/or personal difficulties (physical or cognitive constraints). With these initial exploratory findings, we do not aim to provide a description representative for psychological scientists but, rather, to lay the groundwork for a systematic investigation of human fallibility in research data management and the development of solutions to reduce errors and mitigate their impact.

Downing Street fear hospitalisations and deaths among double-vaccinated could rise due to waning immunity

Mandatory vaccination to be introduced for NHS England’s 1.2 million full-time staff from next year

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has revealed critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of and a need to update the traditional view of transmission pathways for respiratory viruses. The long-standing definitions of droplet and airborne transmission do not account for the mechanisms by which virus-laden respiratory droplets and aerosols travel through the air and lead to infection. In this Review, we discuss current evidence regarding the transmission of respiratory viruses by aerosols—how they are generated, transported, and deposited, as well as the factors affecting the relative contributions of droplet-spray deposition versus aerosol inhalation as modes of transmission. Improved understanding of aerosol transmission brought about by studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection requires a reevaluation of the major transmission pathways for other respiratory viruses, which will allow better-informed controls to reduce airborne transmission.

SummaryBackgroundIn the USA, COVID-19 vaccines became available in mid-December, 2020, with adults aged 65 years and older among the first groups prioritised for vaccination. We estimated the national-level impact of the initial phases of the US COVID-19 vaccination programme on COVID-19 cases, emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and deaths among adults aged 65 years and older.MethodsWe analysed population-based data reported to US federal agencies on COVID-19 cases, emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and deaths among adults aged 50 years and older during the period Nov 1, 2020, to April 10, 2021. We calculated the relative change in incidence among older age groups compared with a younger reference group for pre-vaccination and post-vaccination periods, defined by the week when vaccination coverage in a given age group first exceeded coverage in the reference age group by at least 1%; time lags for immune response and time to outcome were incorporated. We assessed whether the ratio of these relative changes differed when comparing the pre-vaccination and post-vaccination periods.FindingsThe ratio of relative changes comparing the change in the COVID-19 case incidence ratio over the post-vaccine versus pre-vaccine periods showed relative decreases of 53% (95% CI 50 to 55) and 62% (59 to 64) among adults aged 65 to 74 years and 75 years and older, respectively, compared with those aged 50 to 64 years. We found similar results for emergency department visits with relative decreases of 61% (52 to 68) for adults aged 65 to 74 years and 77% (71 to 78) for those aged 75 years and older compared with adults aged 50 to 64 years. Hospital admissions declined by 39% (29 to 48) among those aged 60 to 69 years, 60% (54 to 66) among those aged 70 to 79 years, and 68% (62 to 73), among those aged 80 years and older, compared with adults aged 50 to 59 years. COVID-19 deaths also declined (by 41%, 95% CI –14 to 69 among adults aged 65–74 years and by 30%, –47 to 66 among those aged ≥75 years, compared with adults aged 50 to 64 years), but the magnitude of the impact of vaccination roll-out on deaths was unclear.InterpretationThe initial roll-out of the US COVID-19 vaccination programme was associated with reductions in COVID-19 cases, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions among older adults.FundingNone.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theorists have exploited the provisional nature of scientific consensus and the realities of how science is conducted to paint scientists and public health leaders as malign actors. Download PDF

Pregnant women are vulnerable to COVID-19, with increased risk of more severe illness and pregnancy complications, particularly if infected during the third trimester.1Allotey J Stallings E Bonet M et al.Clinical manifestations, risk factors, and maternal and perinatal outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnancy: living systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ. 2020; 370m3320Crossref PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar Based on prior experience with vaccines in pregnancy, and with no hypothesised mechanisms for fetal harm, similar efficacy and side-effects to the non-pregnant population were anticipated with vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy. Current, albeit limited, data support this; no major safety signals were observed in animal reproductive toxicology studies or with post-marketing surveillance. However, until recently, there was little consensus regarding routine vaccination in pregnancy, and vaccine hesitancy in pregnant women remains high.2Skjefte M Ngirbabul M Akeju O et al.COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women and mothers of young children: results of a survey in 16 countries.Eur J Epidemiol. 2021; 36: 197-211Crossref PubMed Scopus (25) Google Scholar

Local outlets may lack audience size, but they can can provide a veneer of legitimacy to fringe groups, experts say

(CNN)Join Big Bird, Elmo and Rosita for "The ABCs of Covid Vaccines: A CNN/Sesame Street Townhall for Families" this Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET, hosted by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Erica Hill. What questions do you or your kids have about Covid-19 vaccines? Share them below.

During the COVID-19 pandemic social consequences in day-to-day decisions might not have been salient to the decider and thus egoistic. How can prosocial intentions be increased? In an experimental vignette study with N = 206, we compared the likelihood that parents send sick children to kindergarten after four interventions (general information about COVID-19, empathy, reflection of consequences via mental simulation, and control group). Independent of the intervention, empathic concern with individuals who were affected by COVID-19 and the salience of social consequences were high. The reported likelihood of sending a sick child to kindergarten was somewhat reduced in the control group and even more reduced in the reflection and empathy group, but not in the information group.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 broke out in China at the end of 2019 and spread rapidly around the world. In response, many countries have adopted social distancing and lockdown measures. But restrictive measures resulted in many unwanted psychological consequences, including mental fatigue. Mental fatigue in turn is very likely to cause psychopathological disorders and cognitive malfunctions. A cognitive ability that is likely to be affected by mental fatigue is reasoning, while high reasoning ability is a prerequisite for compliance with restrictive measures. The present study aims to explore the association between mental fatigue and reasoning under the impact of long-term restrictive measures. The findings indicated that mental fatigue correlates negatively with cognitive reflection, while it has no significant association with general reasoning. The results also showed that mental fatigue correlates positively with the misperception of the preventive measures and negatively with the incomprehension of the restrictive measures. The implications of the results have been discussed.

There is widespread concern about fake news and other misinformation circulating on social media. In particular, many argue that the context of social media itself may make people particularly susceptible to the influence of false claims. Here, we test that claim by asking whether simply considering whether to share news on social media reduces people’s ability to identify truth versus falsehood. In a large online experiment (N=3,157 Americans quota-matched to the national distribution of age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic region) examining COVID-19 and political news, we find support for this possibility. Compared to a baseline where participants judged only the accuracy of each headline, we observed worse truth discernment when participants also indicated their sharing intentions. Conversely, sharing discernment was substantially higher when participants also rated accuracy, relative to a baseline where sharing intentions were elicited without rating accuracy. These results suggest people may be particularly vulnerable to believing false claims on social media due to fundamental features of these platforms – which is particularly concerning given that it is hard to imagine social media without sharing.

Trust in automation, is of concern in computer science and cognitive systems engineering, as well as the popular media (e.g., Chancey et al., 2015; Hoff and Bashir 2015; Hoffman et al., 2009; Huynh et al., 2006; Naone, 2009; Merritt and Ilgen, 2008; Merritt et al. 2013, 2015a; Pop et al. 2015; Shadbolt, 2002; Wickens et al. ,2015; Woods and Hollnagel 2006). Trust is of particular concern as more AI systems are being developed and tested (Schaefer et al., 2016).

What was claimed £37 billion was found to pay Serco for a failed track and trace system. Our verdict £37 billion is the two-year budget for Test and Trace. The vast majority is spent on testing not tracing and does not go to Serco.

What was claimed The Track and Trace app cost £37 billion. Our verdict The NHS Covid-19 app cost around £76 million in the first year. £37 billion is the total budget for NHS Test and Trace in its first two years.

What was claimed £37 billion has been spent on NHS Test and Trace so far. Our verdict This is not true. £37 billion is the budget for the project’s first two years. We don’t know exactly how much was spent by early March, but it will be much less.

Misinformation and disinformation campaigns have contributed to the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. Internists can effectively counter this and encourage vaccinations.

ONS figures suggest proportion of people following rules has slipped since summer

To explain the observed phenomenon that most SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs indoors whereas its outdoor transmission is rare, a simple macroscopic aerosol balance model is developed to link short- and long-range airborne transmission. The model considers the involvement of exhaled droplets with initial diameter ≤50 µm in the short-range airborne route, whereas only a fraction of these droplets with an initial diameter within 15 µm or equivalently a final diameter within 5 µm considered in the long-range airborne route. One surprising finding is that the room ventilation rate significantly affects the short-range airborne route, in contrast to traditional belief. When the ventilation rate in a room is insufficient, the airborne infection risks due to both short- and long-range transmission are high. A ventilation rate of 10 L/s per person provides a similar concentration vs distance decay profile to that in outdoor settings, which provides additional justification for the widely adopted ventilation standard of 10 L/s per person. The newly obtained data do not support the basic assumption in the existing ventilation standard ASHRAE 62.1 (2019) that the required people outdoor air rate is constant if the standard is used directly for respiratory infection control. Instead, it is necessary to increase the ventilation rate when the physical distance between people is less than approximately 2 m.

Survey results show that many white-tailed deer, a familiar sight on US lawns and golf courses, have antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19.

It was the first country to vaccinate, the first to reopen, then the first to widely implement a booster shot. Now Israel is returning to life close to normal only six weeks after the peak of its worst COVID-19 wave yet.In mid-September, new infections of the Delta variant had surpassed 10,000 per day and hospitals were groaning under the pressure.But today, its restaurants are bustling, cinemas and theatres are packed, university lecture halls are full and the major airport is heaving.Deaths and new infections have plummeted to the single and triple digits, and the country will be welcoming overseas tourists from November 1.As Australia prepares to begin delivery of a third dose of the vaccine from next week, Israel's turnaround offers a glimpse into a possible future of the pandemic.So how did the country go from a cautionary tale to a success story in less than two months? The answer lies only partially in vaccines.

Newly-published minutes from JCVI meetings show that the group first looked at whether letting 12 to 15-year-olds catch Covid naturally was better than vaccinating them on May 13 (shown above). It looked at a range of reasons against vaccinating people in the age group, which included the argument that natural infection might be better and less risky ‘Zero Covid’ scientists have slammed the Government’s coronavirus vaccine advisory panel as being ‘anti-vax’ for considering the benefits of herd immunity over vaccination in children.

This week, two Tennessee state representatives introduced bills that would restrict the state's physician licensing board when attempting to discipline doctors who spread inaccurate information about COVID-19 and COVID vaccines. Katrina Green, MD, is concerned about the bills. She is an emergency physician in Nashville and Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and also part of a group called Protect Our Care, which advocates for public health measures in the state.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 231 million people globally, with more than 4.7 million deaths recorded by the World Health Organization as of 26 September 2021. In response to the pandemic, some countries (New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and others) have pursued suppression strategies, so-called Zero COVID policies, to drive and maintain infection rates as close to zero as possible and respond aggressively to new cases. In comparison, European countries and North America have adopted mitigation strategies (of varying intensity and effectiveness) that aim primarily to prevent health systems from being overwhelmed. With recent advances in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and its biology, and the increasing recognition there is more to COVID-19 beyond the acute infection, we offer a perspective on some of the long-term risks of mutational escape, viral persistence, reinfection, immune dysregulation and neurological and multi-system complications (Long COVID).

What I learned from getting polio 70 years ago? Amnesia is a traitor that lets old enemies through the gates.

During a pandemic of an airborne disease like COVID-19, nearly all unvaccinated individuals will eventually be infected. Most children in Australia are currently unvaccinated. If they are not protected, 1-3% of unvaccinated Australian children may become hospitalised with COVID-19, and more may suffer from ongoing symptoms lasting for a year or more. Paediatric wards, hospitals and health systems may become overwhelmed. School closures and educational disruption are likely. We still do not know enough about the long-term risks posed by COVID-19 to children, but given what is currently known, and based on the precautionary principle, we should do what we can to protect children. San Francisco is an example where children have been successfully protected, whilst keeping schools open. Protecting children requires vaccinating children when possible, ensuring access to safe air through ventilation, and, where there is community transmission, using high quality masks, letting families make their own decisions about attending in-person school, and protecting children’s mental health.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include children 5 through 11 years of age. The authorization was based on the FDA’s thorough and transparent evaluation of the data that included input from independent advisory committee experts who overwhelmingly voted in favor of making the vaccine available to children in this age group.

A position paper of the International Science Council

COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on both adults' and children's everyday lives. The conversations about biological processes such as virus, illness, health have started to occur more frequently in daily interactions. Although there are many guidelines for parents about how to talk to their children about coronavirus, only a few studies examine what children are actually curious about coronavirus and how they make sense of the changes in their everyday lives. This study addresses this need by examining children's questions and parents' responses about the Covid-19 Pandemic in Turkey. Using an online survey, we asked 183 parents of 3 to 12-year-olds to report their children's questions about coronavirus and their answers to these questions. We analyzed children's questions and parents' responses using several content categories (Menendez et al., 2020). The majority of children's questions were about the nature of the virus (34%), followed by lifestyle changes (20%). Older children were more likely to ask about school/work and less likely to ask about lifestyle changes than younger children. Parents responded to children's questions by providing realistic explanations (48%) and reassurance (20%). Only 18% of children's questions were explanation-seeking "why" and "how" questions. Parents were more likely to provide explanations if children's questions were explanation-seeking. Family activities such as playing games and cooking were the most common coping strategies reported by parents (69.2%). The findings have important implications for children's learning about coronavirus and how adults can support children's understanding and help them develop coping strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created heightened concern over SARS-CoV-2 transmission during athletic competitions and necessitated innovative mitigation solutions for protecting athletes, staff, and attendees.1,2 During sporting events, efforts like contact tracing pose unique challenges; namely, contact between athletes during play may be brief but recurring, while also challenging to track and triage, especially with interstate competitions. When the National Collegiate Athletic Association declared football a high-risk transmission sport, the Southeastern Conference (SEC), an intercollegiate athletic conference of 14 universities in 11 southern US states, responded with protocols aligned with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance to monitor, manage, and mitigate SARS-CoV-2 exposure.3,4 In part, traditional contact tracing was augmented using wearable, remote proximity loggers to document interpersonal contacts. In this cohort study, we analyzed SARS-CoV-2 contact exposures and transmission among opposing team players during college football games as the COVID-19 pandemic surged.

It’s possible that a good deal of the difference in the shots’ performance can be summed up with a simple phrase: More is better.

Vaccination efforts around the world are being restrained by a shortage of doses. Jane Feinmann looks at what is holding up the process

Only 26% of pregnant people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. We surveyed 500 pregnant people in the U.S. to understand why.

ODNI reject bioweapons claims but says origins of virus may never be known, barring dramatic breakthrough in Chinese cooperation

Facebook will also remind users that the vaccine is now available for kids

Our daily estimate of excess deaths around the world

Background A cluster of over a thousand infections with the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant was identified in a predominantly fully vaccinated population in Provincetown, Massachusetts in July 2021. Immune responses in breakthrough infections with the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant remain to be defined.Methods Humoral and cellular immune responses were assessed in 35 vaccinated individuals who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health outbreak investigation.Results Vaccinated individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated substantially higher antibody responses than vaccinated individuals who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, including 28-fold higher binding antibody titers and 34-fold higher neutralizing antibody titers against the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant. Vaccinated individuals who tested positive also showed 4.4-fold higher Spike-specific CD8+ T cell responses against the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant than vaccinated individuals who tested negative.Conclusions Fully vaccinated individuals developed robust anamnestic antibody and T cell responses following infection with the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant. These data suggest important immunologic benefits of vaccination in the context of breakthrough infections.

Community volunteer demands inquiry into impact of mistakes by privately-run Immensa lab after huge spike in COVID cases

Vaccine hesitancy among the general population has become a primary concern for contending with the COVID pandemic as policymakers continue to exhaust options to incentivize individuals and vaccination uptake begins stagnating. The current study explores the relative contributions of several potential predictors of vaccine hesitancy. In an online cross-sectional survey study, 917 individuals from the U.S. were assessed on general and COVID-specific vaccine attitudes, COVID conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs, trust in various sources of information about COVID, and health and safety concerns surrounding the COVID vaccination. COVID vaccine attitudes, as well as general vaccine attitudes and behaviors, explained a substantial amount of variance, with trust in various information sources being moderately predictive of COVID vaccine attitudes. The data indicated a weak relationship between conspiracy and pseudoscientific beliefs, which disappeared altogether upon controlling for other variables. These findings suggest that efforts to confront vaccine hesitancy should go beyond confronting misinformation and consider initiatives aimed at trust enhancement and attitude change in vaccine-hesitant individuals.

How do people reason in response to ambiguous messages shared by admirable individuals? Using behavioral markers and self-report questionnaires, in two experiments (N = 571) we examined the influence of speakers’ admirability on meaning-seeking and wise reasoning in response to pseudo-profound bullshit. In both studies, statements that sounded superficially impressive but lacked intent to communicate meaning generated meaning-seeking, but only when delivered by high admirability speakers (e.g., the Dalai Lama) as compared to low admirability speakers (e.g., Kim Kardashian). The effect of speakers’ admirability on meaning-seeking was unique to pseudo-profound bullshit statements and was absent for mundane (Study 1) and motivational (Study 2) statements. In Study 2, participants also engaged in wiser reasoning for pseudo-profound bullshit (vs. motivational) statements and did more so when speakers were high in admirability. These effects occurred independently of the amount of time spent on statements or the complexity of participants’ reflections. It appears that pseudo-profound bullshit can promote epistemic reflection and certain aspects of wisdom, when associated with an admirable speaker.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant school closures, social distancing measures, and restrictions placed on routine activities, the start of the academic year in September 2020 was a unique time for those transitioning to a new school. This study aimed to explore the experiences of parents who supported autistic children making a school transition in 2020, and to examine what impact parents perceived the COVID-19 pandemic had on their child’s school transition. Emphasis was placed on identifying facilitating factors that had benefitted school transitions, and barriers, which had negatively impacted these experiences. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 parents of autistic children in the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis was carried out to identify themes in interview data. Parents reported a variety of experiences, and factors that were perceived as facilitatory to some were observed to be barriers by others. For some parents, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted aspects of school transitions. For example, school closure in March 2020, being unable to visit their child’s new school, and social distancing measures were discussed as being barriers to an easy transition. However, other parents identified these factors as being facilitatory for their child or reported that these circumstances created opportunities to approach the school transition in a unique, improved manner. This paper sheds light on the heterogeneity of experiences and perceptions of parents of autistic children, and highlights the need to examine the impact of COVID-19 on school transitions, including practices which may be advantageous to retain.

Previous literature highlights the crucial role of economic inequality in triggering a range of negative societal outcomes. However, the relationship between economic inequality and the proliferation of conspiracy beliefs remains unexplored. Here, we explore the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs as an outcome of objective country-level (Study 1a, 1b, 1c), perceived (Study 2), and manipulated economic inequality (Studies 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b). In the correlational studies, both objective and perceived economic inequality were associated with greater conspiracy beliefs. In the experiments, participants in the high (compared to the low) inequality condition were more likely to endorse conspiratorial narratives. This effect was fully mediated by anomie (Studies 3a, 3b) suggesting that inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie), which in turn increases conspiratorial thinking, possibly in an attempt to regain some sense of order and control. Furthermore, the link between economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs was stronger when participants endorsed a conspiracy worldview (Studies 4a, 4b). Moreover, conspiracy beliefs mediated the effect of the economic inequality manipulation on willingness to engage in collective action aimed at addressing economic inequality. The results show that economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs go hand in hand: economic inequality can cause conspiratorial thinking and conspiracy beliefs can motivate collective action against economic inequality.

Catalogue of billions of phrases from 107 million papers could ease computerized searching of the literature.

In recent decades, the rapid growth of Internet adoption is offering opportunities for convenient and inexpensive access to scientific information. Wikipedia, one of the largest encyclopedias worldwide, has become a reference in this respect, and has attracted widespread attention from scholars. However, a clear understanding of the scientific sources underpinning Wikipedia's contents remains elusive. In this work, we explore Wikipedia's role in the public understanding of science from the perspective of its scientific sources. We rely on an open dataset of citations from Wikipedia, and use network analysis to map the relationship between Wikipedia articles and scientific journal articles. We find that most journal articles cited from Wikipedia belong to STEM fields, in particular biology and medicine (47.647.6\% of citations; 46.146.1\% of cited articles). Furthermore, Wikipedia's biographies play an important role in connecting STEM fields with the humanities, in particular history. Our results provide valuable insights into the reliance of Wikipedia on scientific sources, and its role in interconnecting knowledge across different topics.

People who are fully vaccinated against covid-19 are far less likely to infect others, despite the arrival of the delta variant, several studies show. The findings refute the idea, which has become common in some circles, that vaccines no longer do much to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Yet another version of the coronavirus is getting global attention, this one dubbed AY.4.2. It appears that it could be slightly more transmissible than the Delta variant — a marginal difference that experts say is more of a headache than a devastating gamechanger in the scope of the pandemic. Still, the emergence of AY.4.2 offers lessons about the ongoing evolution of the pathogen.

The mystery of COVID’s origins has reignited a contentious debate about potentially risky studies and the fuzzy terminology that describes them.

Fully vaccinated people with cancer who have no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection have much lower levels of neutralising antibodies against the delta variant (54%) than against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus (83%), a study has found.1The Capture study, conducted by the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, analysed the immune responses of 585 patients with different types of cancer after they received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine.The researchers found that just 31% of infection naive patients with blood cancer developed neutralising antibodies against the delta variant, compared with 62% of patients with solid cancers. The response was 68% overall in patients who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 50% in recipients of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.Patients were recruited from May 2020 to June 2021. The median age was 60, and 60% were male. Overall, 31% (181/585) had prior confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Around three quarters of participants (447/585) had a current diagnosis of a solid cancer, and 24% (138/585) had blood cancer.Rather than looking at covid-19 cases, the researchers used viral neutralisation assay tests to measure the levels of antibodies that block different variants of the virus. The researchers looked at whether patients had levels of neutralising antibodies that were sufficient to block at least 50% of virus infection under laboratory conditions.

With FDA authorization for a kid-size COVID vaccine pending, a pediatrician and infectious-disease expert weighs in on what’s next.

BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant is highly transmissible and spreading globally, including in populations with high vaccination rates. We aimed to investigate transmission and viral load kinetics in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals with mild delta variant infection in the community.MethodsBetween Sept 13, 2020, and Sept 15, 2021, 602 community contacts (identified via the UK contract-tracing system) of 471 UK COVID-19 index cases were recruited to the Assessment of Transmission and Contagiousness of COVID-19 in Contacts cohort study and contributed 8145 upper respiratory tract samples from daily sampling for up to 20 days. Household and non-household exposed contacts aged 5 years or older were eligible for recruitment if they could provide informed consent and agree to self-swabbing of the upper respiratory tract. We analysed transmission risk by vaccination status for 231 contacts exposed to 162 epidemiologically linked delta variant-infected index cases. We compared viral load trajectories from fully vaccinated individuals with delta infection (n=29) with unvaccinated individuals with delta (n=16), alpha (B.1.1.7; n=39), and pre-alpha (n=49) infections. Primary outcomes for the epidemiological analysis were to assess the secondary attack rate (SAR) in household contacts stratified by contact vaccination status and the index cases’ vaccination status. Primary outcomes for the viral load kinetics analysis were to detect differences in the peak viral load, viral growth rate, and viral decline rate between participants according to SARS-CoV-2 variant and vaccination status.FindingsThe SAR in household contacts exposed to the delta variant was 25% (95% CI 18–33) for fully vaccinated individuals compared with 38% (24–53) in unvaccinated individuals. The median time between second vaccine dose and study recruitment in fully vaccinated contacts was longer for infected individuals (median 101 days [IQR 74–120]) than for uninfected individuals (64 days [32–97], p=0·001). SAR among household contacts exposed to fully vaccinated index cases was similar to household contacts exposed to unvaccinated index cases (25% [95% CI 15–35] for vaccinated vs 23% [15–31] for unvaccinated). 12 (39%) of 31 infections in fully vaccinated household contacts arose from fully vaccinated epidemiologically linked index cases, further confirmed by genomic and virological analysis in three index case–contact pairs. Although peak viral load did not differ by vaccination status or variant type, it increased modestly with age (difference of 0·39 [95% credible interval –0·03 to 0·79] in peak log10 viral load per mL between those aged 10 years and 50 years). Fully vaccinated individuals with delta variant infection had a faster (posterior probability >0·84) mean rate of viral load decline (0·95 log10 copies per mL per day) than did unvaccinated individuals with pre-alpha (0·69), alpha (0·82), or delta (0·79) variant infections. Within individuals, faster viral load growth was correlated with higher peak viral load (correlation 0·42 [95% credible interval 0·13 to 0·65]) and slower decline (–0·44 [–0·67 to –0·18]).InterpretationVaccination reduces the risk of delta variant infection and accelerates viral clearance. Nonetheless, fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can efficiently transmit infection in household settings, including to fully vaccinated contacts. Host–virus interactions early in infection may shape the entire viral trajectory.FundingNational Institute for Health Research.

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Workers at the leading U.S. meatpacking plants experienced cases and death from COVID-19 that were up to three times previous estimates, according to a report by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis seen by Reuters.

he Independent SAGE +++ ‘We are following the ​science’ is the message the British public have been hearing from government since COVID-19 mitigating measures began. It says it is following the advice of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). But the activities of the committee have been kept secret and excluded from scrutiny by the public or wider scientific community. In response, on Monday May 4, the Independent SAGE convened as a group of preeminent experts from the UK and around the world. The aim of the Independent SAGE was and is to provide robust, independent advice to HM Government with the purpose of helping the UK navigate COVID-19 whilst minimising fatalities. The Independent SAGE is chaired by former HM Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir David King and draws on a range of international and British experts.

LIVE NOW: Independent SAGE with experts discussing how we can build a better NHS and create a health, care and support system that is resilient to future shocks. Guests: @HelenKillaspy @AdelinaCoHe @drmarielouise @NeenaModi1 @RobertAunger & Dr Tony O’Sullivan

After a summer of reports of breakthrough coronavirus infections, when it seemed that everyone knew someone who tested positive after vaccination, recently released federal data sheds light on how common these cases really were, how severe they became and who was most at risk.

Lab escape theories cannot clearly account for a virus that has evolved for human-to-human transmissibility.

Determining policies to end the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will require an understanding of the efficacy and effectiveness (hereafter, efficacy) of vaccines. Beyond the efficacy against severe disease and symptomatic and asymptomatic infection, understanding vaccine efficacy against virus transmission, including efficacy against transmission of different viral variants, will help model epidemic trajectory and determine appropriate control measures. Recent studies have proposed using random virologic testing in individual randomized controlled trials to improve estimation of vaccine efficacy against infection. We propose to further use the viral load measures from these tests to estimate efficacy against transmission. This estimation requires a model of the relationship between viral load and transmissibility and assumptions about the vaccine effect on transmission and the progress of the epidemic. We describe these key assumptions, potential violations of them, and solutions that can be implemented to mitigate these violations. Assessing these assumptions and implementing this random sampling, with viral load measures, will enable better estimation of the crucial measure of vaccine efficacy against transmission.

Vaccine trials are generally designed to assess efficacy on clinical disease. The vaccine effect on infection, while important both as a proxy for transmission and to describe a vaccine’s total effects, requires frequent longitudinal sampling to capture all infections. Such sampling may not always be feasible. A logistically easy approach is to collect a sample to test for infection at a regularly scheduled visit. Such point or cross-sectional sampling does not permit estimation of classic vaccine effiacy on infection, as long duration infections are sampled with higher probability. Building on work by Rinta-Kokko and others (2009) we evaluate proxies of the vaccine effect on transmission at a point in time; the vaccine efficacy on prevalent infection and on prevalent viral load, VEPI and VEPV L, respectively. Longer infections with higher viral loads should have more transmission potential and prevalent vaccine efficacy naturally captures this aspect. We apply a proportional hazards model for infection risk and show how these metrics can be estimated using longitudinal or cross-sectional sampling. We also introduce regression models for designs with multiple cross-sectional sampling. The methods are evaluated by simulation and a phase III vaccine trial with PCR cross-sectional sampling for subclinical infection is analyzed.

This report has been published to continue to share the detailed variant surveillance analyses which contribute to the variant risk assessments and designation of new VOCs and VUIs. The specialist technical briefings contain early data and analysis on emerging variants and findings have a high level of uncertainty. A separate report is published covering surveillance data on all other VOCs and VUIs. In summary: 1. There are 4 current variants of concern (VOCs) and 11 variants under investigation (VUIs) (Table 1). There are no new VOCs or VUIs in the UK classification since the last briefing. 2. Delta remains the predominant variant accounting for approximately 99.8% of sequenced cases in England as of 25 October 2021. 3. The Delta sublineage AY.4.2 (VUI-21OCT-01) accounts for a slowly increasing proportion of cases in the UK. It accounts for 8.5% of Delta cases in the most recent complete week of sequencing (4 October 2021 to 10 October 2021). In more recent weeks, sequencing data are incomplete, however AY.4.2 accounts for 10.3% of Delta cases in the week 11 October 2021 to 17 October 2021 and 11.3% in the week 18 October 2021 to 24 October 2021. 4. The growth rate and secondary attack rates have been refreshed with new data and the findings remain the same as last week. Estimated growth rates remain slightly higher for AY.4.2 than for Delta, and the household secondary attack rate is higher for AY.4.2 cases than for other Delta cases. 5. A preliminary rapid vaccine effectiveness analysis does not suggest a significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness for AY.4.2 compared to Delta. However, a further analysis more comprehensive analysis using the standard test negative case control study design is being undertaken. 6. The UKHSA variant definition for VUI-21OCT-01 currently has 95.2% sensitivity and 97.5% specificity for sequencing data outside of the UK (GISAID). 7. AY.4.2 live virus isolates have been obtained from residual biological materials and assays are in process. Pseudovirus work has been initiated. All risk assessments are published separately online, except for Gamma, which was published within Technical Briefing 7 and Alpha within Technical Briefing 9. As Delta is the dominant variant in the UK, epidemiological data in the weekly surveillance report is also relevant

Rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines has helped mitigating SARS-CoV-2 spread, but more equitable allocation of vaccines is necessary to limit the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of additional variants of concern. We have developed a COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on Newcastle disease virus (NDV) that can be manufactured at high yields in embryonated eggs. Here, we show that the NDV vector expressing an optimized spike antigen (NDV-HXP-S) is a versatile vaccine inducing protective antibody responses. NDV-HXP-S can be administered intramuscularly as inactivated vaccine or intranasally as live vaccine. We show that NDV-HXP-S GMP-produced in Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil is effective in the hamster model. Furthermore, we show that intramuscular vaccination with NDV-HXP-S reduces replication of tested variants of concerns in mice. The immunity conferred by NDV-HXP-S effectively counteracts SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters.

Vaccination reduces but does not eliminate the risk of covid-19 transmission within households, a study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases has found.1 It showed that one in four vaccinated household contacts of a covid-19 positive case became infected compared with 38% of unvaccinated contacts.

BackgroundCOVID-19 is a pandemic respiratory and vascular disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is a growing number of sensory deficits associated with COVID-19 and molecular mechanisms underlying these deficits are incompletely understood.MethodsWe report a series of ten COVID-19 patients with audiovestibular symptoms such as hearing loss, vestibular dysfunction and tinnitus. To investigate the causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and audiovestibular dysfunction, we examine human inner ear tissue, human inner ear in vitro cellular models, and mouse inner ear tissue.ResultsWe demonstrate that adult human inner ear tissue co-expresses the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor for SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and FURIN cofactors required for virus entry. Furthermore, hair cells and Schwann cells in explanted human vestibular tissue can be infected by SARS-CoV-2, as demonstrated by confocal microscopy. We establish three human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived in vitro models of the inner ear for infection: two-dimensional otic prosensory cells (OPCs) and Schwann cell precursors (SCPs), and three-dimensional inner ear organoids. Both OPCs and SCPs express ACE2, TMPRSS2, and FURIN, with lower ACE2 and FURIN expression in SCPs. OPCs are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection; lower infection rates exist in isogenic SCPs. The inner ear organoids show that hair cells express ACE2 and are targets for SARS-CoV-2.ConclusionsOur results provide mechanistic explanations of audiovestibular dysfunction in COVID-19 patients and introduce hiPSC-derived systems for studying infectious human otologic disease.

Story Highlights 36% of U.S. workers say their employer is requiring COVID-19 vaccine More employees continue to favor than oppose mandates Employees strongly opposed to mandates inclined to look for other jobs

The spread of misinformation on social media and through other channels can affect COVID-19 vaccine confidence. Misinformation often arises when there are information gaps or unsettled science, as human nature seeks to reason, better understand, and fill in the gaps.

In England, masks are expected and recommended in crowded and enclosed spaces – but not legally required. Many have abandoned them altogether. What would convince everyone to put them back on?

Positief getest: 7.301 Totaal: 2.100.866 (+7.260 ivm -41 corr.) Perc. positief 19 okt - 25 okt: 15,7% Opgenomen: 113 Huidig: 659 (+2) Opgenomen op IC: 21 Huidig: 200 (+8) Overleden: 17 Totaal: 18.357Translated from Dutch by #COVID19NL Tested Positive: 7.301 Total: 2,100,866 (+7,260 due to -41 corr.) perc. positive Oct 19 - Oct 25: 15.7% Recorded: 113 Current: 659 (+2) Recorded on IC: 21 Current: 200 (+8)

An international team of researchers want to find people who are genetically resistant to SARS-CoV-2, in the hope of developing new drugs and treatments.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report based on an analysis of deaths involving COVID-19 that occurred between 2 January and 2 July 2021 in England, by vaccination status.

New paper on 10,024 breakthrough infections shows that vaccination does not prevent #LongCovid.

Another explainer for anyone interested in mortality analysis and how stats can be highly misleading. TLDR - The claim that you're more likely to die of any cause after vaccinated is flawed. It is slightly complex to explain but I will try my best. 1/13

Another explainer for anyone interested in mortality analysis and how stats can be highly misleading. TLDR - The claim that you're more likely to die of any cause after vaccinated is flawed. It is slightly complex to explain but I will try my best. 1/13

China (pop. 1.4 billion) is still pursuing a zero covid strategy, which means 20% of the world's population still officially lives under such a strategy https://nytimes.com/2021/10/27/world/asia/china-zero-covid-virus.html… (not endorsing strategy here, just pointing out that "return of Elvis" maybe warped comparison?)

Health leaders agree that a world without COVID-19 will not be possible until everyone has equal access to vaccines. More than 4.6 million people have died from the virus since it swept across the globe from the beginning of 2020, but it’s expected that the rate of people dying will slow if more people are vaccinated. 

Richer countries must wake up and see the bigger Covid picture

Poor countries will bear the brunt of both tolls

As lockdowns ease in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, and people return to work and socialising, many of us will be mixing more with others, even though a section of the community is still unvaccinated.

BackgroundHomeless-experienced populations are at increased risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 due to their living environments and face an increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease due to underlying health conditions. Little is known about COVID-19 testing and vaccination acceptability among homeless-experienced populations.ObjectiveTo understand the facilitators and barriers to COVID-19 testing and vaccine acceptability among homeless-experienced adults.DesignWe conducted in-depth interviews with participants from July to October 2020. We purposively recruited participants from (1) a longitudinal cohort of homeless-experienced older adults in Oakland, CA (n=37) and (2) a convenience sample of people (n=57) during a mobile outreach COVID-19 testing event in San Francisco.ParticipantsAdults with current or past experience of homelessness.ApproachWe asked participants about their experiences with and attitudes towards COVID-19 testing and their perceptions of COVID-19 vaccinations. We used participant observation techniques to document the interactions between testing teams and those approached for testing. We audio-recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed all interviews and identified major themes and subthemes.Key ResultsParticipants found incentivized COVID-19 testing administered in unsheltered settings and supported by community health outreach workers (CHOWs) to be acceptable. The majority of participants expressed a positive inclination toward vaccine acceptability, citing a desire to return to routine life and civic responsibility. Those who expressed hesitancy cited a desire to see trial data, concerns that vaccines included infectious materials, and mistrust of the government.ConclusionsParticipants expressed positive evaluations of the incentivized, mobile COVID-19 testing supported by CHOWs in unsheltered settings. The majority of participants expressed a positive inclination toward vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy concerns must be addressed when designing vaccine delivery strategies that overcome access challenges. Based on the successful implementation of COVID-19 testing, we recommend mobile delivery of vaccines using trusted CHOWs to address concerns and facilitate wider access to and uptake of the COVID vaccine.

Freedom Day gave Covid-19 the freedom to spread again. Now, in the face of expert opinion, the prime minister drags his feet over the return of tougher restrictions.

The government, ignoring the science, talks of freedom. But true liberty comes from cutting infections so people feel safe

SummaryBackgroundEngland's COVID-19 roadmap out of lockdown policy set out the timeline and conditions for the stepwise lifting of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as vaccination roll-out continued, with step one starting on March 8, 2021. In this study, we assess the roadmap, the impact of the delta (B.1.617.2) variant of SARS-CoV-2, and potential future epidemic trajectories.MethodsThis mathematical modelling study was done to assess the UK Government's four-step process to easing lockdown restrictions in England, UK. We extended a previously described model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to incorporate vaccination and multi-strain dynamics to explicitly capture the emergence of the delta variant. We calibrated the model to English surveillance data, including hospital admissions, hospital occupancy, seroprevalence data, and population-level PCR testing data using a Bayesian evidence synthesis framework, then modelled the potential trajectory of the epidemic for a range of different schedules for relaxing NPIs. We estimated the resulting number of daily infections and hospital admissions, and daily and cumulative deaths. Three scenarios spanning a range of optimistic to pessimistic vaccine effectiveness, waning natural immunity, and cross-protection from previous infections were investigated. We also considered three levels of mixing after the lifting of restrictions.FindingsThe roadmap policy was successful in offsetting the increased transmission resulting from lifting NPIs starting on March 8, 2021, with increasing population immunity through vaccination. However, because of the emergence of the delta variant, with an estimated transmission advantage of 76% (95% credible interval [95% CrI] 69–83) over alpha, fully lifting NPIs on June 21, 2021, as originally planned might have led to 3900 (95% CrI 1500–5700) peak daily hospital admissions under our central parameter scenario. Delaying until July 19, 2021, reduced peak hospital admissions by three fold to 1400 (95% CrI 700–1700) per day. There was substantial uncertainty in the epidemic trajectory, with particular sensitivity to the transmissibility of delta, level of mixing, and estimates of vaccine effectiveness.InterpretationOur findings show that the risk of a large wave of COVID-19 hospital admissions resulting from lifting NPIs can be substantially mitigated if the timing of NPI relaxation is carefully balanced against vaccination coverage. However, with the delta variant, it might not be possible to fully lift NPIs without a third wave of hospital admissions and deaths, even if vaccination coverage is high. Variants of concern, their transmissibility, vaccine uptake, and vaccine effectiveness must be carefully monitored as countries relax pandemic control measures.FundingNational Institute for Health Research, UK Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Many countries have seen sharp falls in the number of measles cases as a result of covid-19 controls, but the pandemic has also interrupted immunisation programmes

These measures have clear downsides and little proven value

Physical, psychological and cognitive symptoms have been reported as post-acute sequelae for COVID-19 patients but are also common in the general, uninfected population. We aimed to calculate the excess risk and identify patterns of 22 symptoms up to 12 months after COVID-19 infection. We followed more than 70,000 participants in an ongoing cohort study, the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infected and non-infected cohort participants registered presence of 22 different symptoms in March 2021. One year after the initial infection, 13 of 22 symptoms were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on relative risks between infected and uninfected subjects. For instance, 17.4% of SARS-CoV-2 infected cohort participants reported fatigue that persist 12 months after infection, compared to new occurrence of fatigue that had lasted less than 12 months in 3.8% of non-infected subjects (excess risk 13.6%). The adjusted relative risk for fatigue was 4.8 (95 % CI 3.5 to 6.7). Two main underlying factors explained 50% of the variance in the 13 symptoms. Brain fog, poor memory, dizziness, heart palpitations, and fatigue had high loadings on the first factor, while shortness-of breath and cough had high loadings on the second factor. Lack of taste and smell showed low to moderate correlation to other symptoms. Anxiety, depression and mood swings were not strongly related to COVID-19. Our results suggest that there are clusters of symptoms after COVID-19 due to different mechanisms and question whether it is meaningful to describe long COVID as one syndrome.

Instead of sending doses to poor countries in short supply, we’re holding them past their point of expiration.

Following severe adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine1,2, European health authorities have recommended that patients under the age of 55 who received one dose of ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine receive a second dose of Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine as a booster. However, the effectiveness and the immunogenicity of this vaccination regimen have not been formally tested. Here, we show that the heterologous ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19/BNT162b2 combination confers better protection against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection than the homologous BNT162b2/BNT162b2 combination in a real-world observational study of healthcare workers (n=13121). To understand the underlying mechanism, we conducted a longitudinal survey of the anti-spike immunity conferred by each vaccine combination. Both combinations induced strong anti-spike antibody (Ab) responses but sera from heterologous vaccinated individuals displayed a stronger neutralizing activity, regardless of the SARS-CoV-2 variant. This enhanced neutralizing potential was correlated with increased frequencies of switched and activated memory B cells recognizing the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain (RBD). The ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine induced a weaker IgG response but a stronger T cell response than the BNT162b2 vaccine after the priming dose, which could explain the complementarity of both vaccines when used in combination. The heterologous vaccination regimen could therefore be particularly suitable for immune compromised individuals.

VLA2001 successfully met both co-primary endpoints Superior neutralizing antibody titer levels compared to active comparator vaccine, AstraZeneca’s AZD1222 (ChAdOx1-S) Neutralizing antibody seroconversion rate above 95% VLA2001 induced broad T-cell responses with antigen-specific IFN-gamma-producing T-cells against the S, M and N proteins. VLA2001 was well tolerated, demonstrating a statistically significant better tolerability profile compared to active comparator vaccine

In England, masks are expected and recommended in crowded and enclosed spaces – but not legally required. Many have abandoned them altogether. What would convince everyone to put them back on?

Researchers use AI – and witchcraft folklore – to map the coronavirus conspiracy theories that have sprung up

Following the Surgeon General’s July 15 advisory on health misinformation and social media, President Joe Biden remarked that Facebook and other social media platforms are “killing people.” Though Biden quickly backpedaled on his remark, Facebook rebutted it, citing instead its own study that showed increasing “vaccine acceptance” by U.S. Facebook users.So, does Facebook play a role in COVID-19 misinformation? New survey results from researchers at Northwestern, Harvard, Northeastern and Rutgers universities show that it does.

Department of Health bosses posted 223 fatalities today, up 23.2 per cent on last Tuesday 's figure of 181Cases also increased, with 43,738 new infections recorded, up 13.5 per cent on the 38,520 recorded last weekAnd the number of people being hospitalised spiked to 921 on Friday, the latest date data is available for

Confusion and controversy surrounding COVID-19 vaccine boosters underscore the importance of journalists’ role in clearly explaining the scientific process to the public. Here are four tips to help you with your reporting.

Deceit aside, it is challenging enough to decide when a strongly held view counts as ‘religious.’

TORONTO -- With Health Canada expected to soon begin considering COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for children aged five to 11 years, a new survey by the Angus Reid Institute says that more than half of Canadian parents plan to give their kids the jab as soon as they get the green light. However, in a sign of the divided opinions on vaccinations across the country, nearly one-quarter say they will not vaccinate their elementary school-aged children even if the vaccines are approved for the age group. The survey found that 51 per cent of parents plan to get their children vaccinated as soon as it is approved, while 18 per cent said they plan to eventually get their children vaccinated, but would wait a while first. Twenty-three per cent said they will not get their children vaccinated, and nine per cent said they weren’t sure.

Vaccine produced by French company uses inactivated Sars-CoV-2 virus and can be stored in fridge

Exclusive: NHS Confederation head fears efforts to tackle backlog of 5 million patients will be derailed

WASHINGTON — Among scientists, there’s little debate: People who get sick with Covid-19 develop at least some protection against being infected in the future. But exactly how much protection they have, and how long it lasts, are the subjects of the country’s latest Covid-19 controversy. For the past month, university employees, professional athletes, and conservative lawmakers across the country have argued they should be exempted from increasingly strict vaccine mandates because, scientifically speaking, they don’t need them: They’re already protected by their body’s own immune response.

A recent Editorial in this journal argued that, despite mixed reactions to the news that Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine was efficacious, immunogenic, and safe in children aged 12–15 years, “there might be a case for vaccinating children in the not-too-distant future”.1The Lancet Infectious DiseasesShould we vaccinate children against SARS-CoV-2?.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 889Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar The Editorial concluded with “whether at present the children of high-income countries should be prioritised for vaccination over vulnerable adults in LMICs is a matter for serious ethical and practical debate”. Yet, we would argue these debates must remain fair to children and refrain from deprioritising children on ethical and evidential reasoning that betrays a bias towards adults.

What is already known about this topic? Persons aged 12–18 years are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, data are lacking on real-world vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization in adolescents. What is added by this report? Among hospitalized U.S. patients aged 12–18 years, vaccine effectiveness of 2 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 hospitalization during June–September 2021, was 93% (95% confidence interval = 83%–97%). What are the implications for public health practice? This evaluation demonstrated that 2 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were highly effective in preventing COVID-19 hospitalization among persons aged 12–18 years. Findings reinforce the importance of vaccination to protect U.S. youths against severe COVID-19.

NHS England release statistics after evidence Covid can cause serious problems for mothers-to-be and their babies

A video on Facebook, performed in the style of a rap battle and viewed more than 36,000 times, makes a number of misleading claims about Covid-19 and the vaccines.  In it, the self-proclaimed “truther” tells their “vaxxer” alter-ego that Covid-19 is as deadly as the flu, alludes to ivermectin as an effective treatment for the virus and describes side effects reported through the Yellow Card system.  These claims, alongside others made in the video, are identical to misinformation we have seen circulating throughout the pandemic and subsequent vaccination programme.  Here are the facts on six key points made during the video. 

A video on Facebook, performed in the style of a rap battle and viewed more than 36,000 times, makes a number of misleading claims about Covid-19 and the vaccines. 

UK Health Security Agency monitoring AY.4.2 as daily cases at highest level since late July

With a dataset of testing and case counts from over 1,400 institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the United States, we analyze the number of infections and deaths from SARS-CoV-2 in the counties surrounding these IHEs during the Fall 2020 semester (August to December, 2020). We used a matching procedure designed to create groups of counties that are aligned along age, race, income, population, and urban/rural categories—socio-demographic variables that have been shown to be correlated with COVID-19 outcomes. We find that counties with IHEs that remained primarily online experienced fewer cases and deaths during the Fall 2020 semester; whereas before and after the semester, these two groups had almost identical COVID-19 incidence. Additionally, we see fewer deaths in counties with IHEs that reported conducting any on-campus testing compared to those that reported none. We complement the statistical analysis with a case study of IHEs in Massachusetts—a rich data state in our dataset—which further highlights the importance of IHE-affiliated testing for the broader community. The results in this work suggest that campus testing can itself be thought of as a mitigation policy and that allocating additional resources to IHEs to support efforts to regularly test students and staff would be beneficial to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the general population.

Are workplace vaccine mandates prompting some employees to quit rather than get a shot? A hospital in Lowville, New York, for example, had to shut down its maternity ward when dozens of staffers left their jobs rather than get vaccinated. At least 125 employees at Indiana University Health resigned after refusing to take the vaccine. And several surveys have shown that as many as half of unvaccinated workers insist they would leave their jobs if forced to get the shot, which has raised alarms among some that more mandates could lead to an exodus of workers in many industries. New York, for example, is preparing for an exodus of health care workers – and may even call in the National Guard to help – as its vaccine mandate takes effect on Sept. 27, 2021.

AbstractThe emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is jeopardizing the effectiveness of current vaccines and limiting the application of monoclonal antibody-based therapy for COVID-191,2. Here we analysed at single-cell level the memory B cells of five naive and five convalescent people vaccinated with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine to dissect the nature of the B cell and antibody response. Almost six-thousands cells were sorted, over three-thousand of them produced monoclonal antibodies against the spike protein and more than four hundred neutralized the original Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 virus. The B.1.351 (Beta) and B.1.1.248 (Gamma) variants showed to escape almost seventy per cent of these antibodies while a much smaller portion was impacted by the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.617.2 (Delta) variants. The overall loss of neutralization was always significantly higher in the antibodies from naive people. In part this was due to the IGHV2-5;IGHJ4-1 germline, which was found only in convalescent people and generated potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies. Our data suggest that people that are seropositive following infection or primary vaccination will produce antibodies with increased potency and breadth and will be able to better control SARS-CoV-2 emerging variants.

SummaryBackgroundVaccine effectiveness studies have not differentiated the effect of the delta (B.1.617.2) variant and potential waning immunity in observed reductions in effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infections. We aimed to evaluate overall and variant-specific effectiveness of BNT162b2 (tozinameran, Pfizer–BioNTech) against SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related hospital admissions by time since vaccination among members of a large US health-care system.MethodsIn this retrospective cohort study, we analysed electronic health records of individuals (≥12 years) who were members of the health-care organisation Kaiser Permanente Southern California (CA, USA), to assess BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related hospital admissions for up to 6 months. Participants were required to have 1 year or more previous membership of the organisation. Outcomes comprised SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive tests and COVID-19-related hospital admissions. Effectiveness calculations were based on hazard ratios from adjusted Cox models. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04848584.FindingsBetween Dec 14, 2020, and Aug 8, 2021, of 4 920 549 individuals assessed for eligibility, we included 3 436 957 (median age 45 years [IQR 29–61]; 1 799 395 [52·4%] female and 1 637 394 [47·6%] male). For fully vaccinated individuals, effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infections was 73% (95% CI 72–74) and against COVID-19-related hospital admissions was 90% (89–92). Effectiveness against infections declined from 88% (95% CI 86–89) during the first month after full vaccination to 47% (43–51) after 5 months. Among sequenced infections, vaccine effectiveness against infections of the delta variant was high during the first month after full vaccination (93% [95% CI 85–97]) but declined to 53% [39–65] after 4 months. Effectiveness against other (non-delta) variants the first month after full vaccination was also high at 97% (95% CI 95–99), but waned to 67% (45–80) at 4–5 months. Vaccine effectiveness against hospital admissions for infections with the delta variant for all ages was high overall (93% [95% CI 84–96]) up to 6 months.InterpretationOur results provide support for high effectiveness of BNT162b2 against hospital admissions up until around 6 months after being fully vaccinated, even in the face of widespread dissemination of the delta variant. Reduction in vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infections over time is probably primarily due to waning immunity with time rather than the delta variant escaping vaccine protection.FundingPfizer.

SummaryBackgroundThe effectiveness of heterologous prime-boost Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination is currently unknown.MethodsFrom individuals vaccinated with two doses against Covid-19 in Sweden until July 5, 2021 (N=3,445,061), we formed a study cohort including 94,569 individuals that had received heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / BNT162b2 prime-boost vaccination, 16,402 individuals that received heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / mRNA-1273 prime-boost vaccination, and 430,100 individuals that received homologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 prime-boost vaccination. In addition, 180,716 individuals were selected who were unvaccinated at the date of vaccination in the corresponding case. Unvaccinated individuals were censored at first dose of any vaccine. Baseline was the date of the second dose of any vaccine, with the same date in the corresponding unvaccinated individual. The outcome included incident symptomatic Covid-19 infection occurring >14 days after baseline.FindingsDuring a mean follow-up time of 76 (range 1-183) days, symptomatic Covid-19 infection was confirmed in 187 individuals with heterologous vaccine schedules (incidence rate: 2.0/100,000 person-days) and in 306 individuals from the unvaccinated control group (incidence rate: 7.1/100,000 person-days). The adjusted vaccine effectiveness was 67% (95% CI, 59-73, P<0.001) for heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / BNT162b2 prime-boost vaccination, and 79% (95% CI, 62-88, P<0.001) for heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / mRNA-1273 prime-boost vaccination. When combined and analysed together, the two heterologous vaccine schedules had an effectiveness of 68% (95% CI, 61-74, P<0.001) which was significantly greater (Pinteraction<0.001) than the 50% effectiveness for homologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (95% CI, 41-58, P<0.001).InterpretationThe findings of this study suggest that the use of heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and mRNA prime-boost vaccination is an effective alternative to increase population immunity against Covid-19, including against the Delta variant which dominated the confirmed cases during the study period. These findings could have important implications for vaccination strategies and logistics, and consequently in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.Research in context Evidence before this studyAfter the rare thromboembolic events coupled to the first dose of vector-based vaccines towards Covid-19, heterologous vaccine schedules have been proposed as an option. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have suggested that heterologous vaccine schedules using ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 as the first dose, and either the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 as the second dose, elicit a stronger immune response compared with a homologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine schedule. However, data on the potential effectiveness of heterologous vaccine schedules against symptomatic Covid-19 infection is lacking. Added value of this studyIn this study, heterologous Covid-19 vaccination using ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 as a first dose followed by either the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 as the second dose, was associated with 67% to 79% effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19-infection. The effectiveness of the two heterologous schedules combined was significantly higher compared with the 50% effectiveness from homologous vaccination using ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 / ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. Implications of all the available evidenceThe use of heterologous vaccine schedules appears to be an effective alternative for increasing population immunity against Covid-19, including against the Delta variant which dominated the confirmed cases during the study period. These results could have important implications for vaccination strategies and consequently in the battle against the pandemic.

Importance  Recent data suggest a relatively low incidence of COVID-19 among children. The possible role that children attending primary school may play in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains poorly understood.Objective  To gain a better understanding of the possible role of children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.Design, Setting, and Participants  This prospective cohort study was conducted from September 21 to December 31, 2020, in a primary school in Liège, Belgium, among a volunteer sample of 181 children, parents, and school employees.Exposures  Participants were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection once a week for 15 weeks through throat washing, performed with 5 mL of saline and collected in a sterile tube after approximately 30 seconds of gargling. Quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection.Main Outcomes and Measures  In case of test positivity, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire aimed at determining the timing of symptom onset and symptom duration. SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequencing was also performed. Confirmed cases were linked based on available information on known contacts and viral sequences.Results  A total of 181 individuals participated in this study, including 63 children (34 girls [54.0%]; mean [SD] age, 8.6 [1.9] years [range, 5-13 years]) and 118 adults (75 women [63.6%]; mean [SD] age, 42.5 [5.7] years [range, 30-59 years]). Forty-five individuals (24.9%) tested positive: 13 children (20.6%; 95% CI, 10.6%-30.6%) and 32 adults (27.1%; 95% CI, 19.1%-35.7%) (P = .34). Children were more often asymptomatic compared with adults (6 [46.2%; 95% CI, 19.1%-73.3%] vs 4 of 31 [12.9%; 95% CI, 1.3%-24.5%]; P = .04). The median duration of symptoms was shorter in children than in adults (0.00 days [IQR, 0.00-1.00 days] vs 15.00 days [IQR, 7.00-22.00 days]). A reconstruction of the outbreak revealed that most transmission events occurred between teachers and between children within the school. Of the observed household transmission events, most seemed to have originated from a child or teacher who acquired the infection at school.Conclusions and Relevance  Despite the implementation of several mitigation measures, the incidence of COVID-19 among children attending primary school in this study was comparable to that observed among teachers and parents. Transmission tree reconstruction suggests that most transmission events originated from within the school. Additional measures should be considered to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at school, including intensified testing.

Novavax is just the latest vaccine maker to run into core production problems after promising to serve as a major vaccine contributor to the developing world.

(CNN)She was a frequent guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show -- an Ivy League-educated OB-GYN who often spoke about women's health and holistic medicine. She was a media darling, and in 2013 made Reader's Digest's annual list of 100 most trusted people in America. If you go to Dr. Christiane Northrup's Facebook page, her posts dispensing advice on health and aging to her 558,000 followers seem consistent with that persona of several years ago.But Northrup also uses her Facebook page to direct followers to Telegram, where another side of her is apparent. Here, on this platform with lax moderation, lies a miasma of misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Description Contents Resources Courses About the Authors How do we make sense of complex evidence? What are the cognitive principles that allow detectives to solve crimes, and lay people to puzzle out everyday problems? To address these questions, David Lagnado presents a novel perspective on human reasoning. At heart, we are causal thinkers driven to explain the myriad ways in which people behave and interact. We build mental models of the world, enabling us to infer patterns of cause and effect, linking words to deeds, actions to effects, and crimes to evidence. But building models is not enough; we need to evaluate these models against evidence, and we often struggle with this task. We have a knack for explaining, but less skill at evaluating. Fortunately, we can improve our reasoning by reflecting on inferential practices and using formal tools. This book presents a system of rational inference that helps us evaluate our models and make sounder judgments. Introduces the notion of causal thinking and the key role it plays in how people reason about evidence Highlights the pitfalls and dangers when people evaluate complex evidence or deal with uncertainty and unreliable sources Introduces a formal framework for causal modelling to improve reasoning about complex cases

Despite government narrative of a return to normality, schools in areas with high Covid rates lack support