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Showing results for tags 'Vaccination'.
Found 452 results
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Content ArticleWhatever your standpoint on whether the pandemic is over, or what “living with the virus” should mean, it is clear some manifestation of Covid-19 will be with us for some time to come. Not least for the estimated 1.7 million people in the UK living with Long Covid. This is a now a large, well-documented, convergent cluster of clear physiological symptoms, and it is common to every part of the globe affected by Covid-19. Many sufferers are now disabled and deprived of their former passions, while some are unable to resume their former professions. Doctors and scientists the world over now consider this a recognised part of the Sars-CoV-2 symptom profile. We thought that the number of Long Covid cases developing might be lower when most cases were breakthrough cases in the vaccinated, or infections in vaccinated or partially vaccinated children. Sadly, far from any subsidence in new Long Covid cases, the big, ongoing caseloads of the Delta, Omicron and BA.2 waves have brought a large cohort of new sufferers. These waves have disproportionately affected primary and secondary schools, and many of the new sufferers are children. In this Guardian article, Danny Altmann discusses why a failure to recognise the need for a response to Long Covid could be a blunder we rue for decades to come
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This visual guide by the UK Health Security Agency shows photographs of different vaccines used in the UK routine immunisation schedule and their packaging. It includes information on trade names and abbreviations, diseases each vaccine protects against and the age at which it should be administered. -
Content ArticleThese resources by the Royal College of Nursing provide practical and clinical guidance for vaccine administration. All information supports guidance in The Green Book - Immunisation against infectious disease published by the UK Health Security Agency.
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Content ArticleThe Green Book is published by the UK Health Security Agency and contains the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures for vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in the UK.
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Content ArticleThis guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should be used to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 in adult social care settings. It applies from 4 April 2022 and should be read in conjunction with: the infection prevention and control (IPC) resource for adult social care, which should be used as a basis for any infection prevention and control response the adult social care testing guidance, which details the testing regimes for all staff, as well as any resident and outbreak testing where applicable.
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Content ArticleGovernment must take a cautious and evidence-based approach to exiting the pandemic, factoring in six key elements for a fail-safe exit strategy.
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Content ArticleMore and more people have been asking for a return to normal, and with omicron waning, governments are starting to act. The UK is removing its remaining public health measures, including mandatory self-isolation of COVID cases and free testing. However, the inescapable truth is that – unless the virus mutates to a milder form – the “normal” life we are returning to will be shorter and sicker on average than before. This article in The Conversation looks at how we need to live post-Covid.
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Content ArticleThis preprint study aimed to assess whether there is a change in the incidence of cardiac and all-cause death in young people following Covid-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated individuals. The authors concluded that there is no evidence of an association between Covid-19 vaccination and an increased risk of death in young people. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with substantially higher risk of cardiac related death and all-cause death.
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Content ArticleAll big experiences in our lives have two realities. There is what really happened. And there is the narrative, the story we tell ourselves and each other about what happened. Of the two, psychologists say it’s the narrative that matters most. Creating coherent stories about events allows us to make sense of them. It is the narrative that determines our reactions, and what we do next. Two years after the World Health Organization (WHO) finally used the word “pandemic” in its own story about the deadly new virus from Wuhan, narratives have multiplied and changed around the big questions. How bad is it? What should we do about it? When will it be over? The stories we embraced have sometimes been correct, but others have sown division, even caused needless deaths. Those stories aren’t finished – and neither is the pandemic. As we navigate what could be – if we are lucky – Covid’s transition to a present but manageable disease, it is these narratives we most need to understand and reconcile. What has really happened since 2020? And how does it still affect us now?
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Content ArticleThis analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development provides the latest comparable data and trends on the performance of health systems in OECD countries and key emerging economies. It examines performance indicators that suggest the following trends: Overall health status in the United Kingdom is close to the OECD average Overweight/obesity and alcohol consumption are higher than the OECD average Population coverage is high, with high satisfaction and strong financial protection The United Kingdom performs well on many key indicators of care quality, though avoidable hospital admissions could be further reduced Health and long-term care spending are above average, though hospital beds and the number of doctors and nurses are slightly below the OECD average The analysis also looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on deaths, health spending, life expectancy, healthcare activity and mental health.
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Content Article500,000 immunocompromised people, who are at particularly high risk from Covid, live in the UK. Because their weakened immune systems meant they were less likely to have been protected by the first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine than the general population, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended they have a ‘third primary dose’ eight weeks after their second dose (whereas other groups were to get a booster six months after their second dose). But the complexity of this system meant that huge numbers of immunocompromised people were left waiting for a vaccine invitation that never came. In this blog for The King's Fund, Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK, examines the challenges people with blood cancer and others with compromised immunity faced during the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. She argues that NHS England must fix these issues by establishing a register of immunocompromised people and a reliable way of contacting them, tackling misinformation and publicly acknowledging the issues people with compromised immune systems have faced to date.
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Content ArticleThis guide by the non-profit organisation US Pharmacopeia highlights the global challenge of substandard and falsified Covid-19 vaccines and the impact this has on individuals, the ability to control the pandemic, larger societal health, public trust and social justice. It outlines strategies to help prevent, detect and respond to substandard and falsified vaccines, in line with existing World Health Organization processes.
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Content ArticleLast month, Boris Johnson argued that the downward trends in Covid cases and hospitalisations meant that it was time to scrap restrictions. Now both are rising. But the government is ending testing and most surveillance studies. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said that the rise was “to be expected” – though this foresight did not extend to having a plan to deal with the increase in infections. Instead, he dismissed the concern about the new Deltacron variant. The health secretary seemed nonchalant about the threat the virus now posed. Sajid Javid may be right that the country has weathered the worst of the pandemic, but Covid is not yet in retreat. It makes no sense to withdraw funding from a series of studies that allow the spread of the virus to be mapped in detail. Without the data, experts won’t be able to effectively monitor the disease. The country will be less effective in responding and adjusting to future waves of infection. Individuals will be less able to make informed choices about the risks involved. The clinically vulnerable face being cut off from everyday life. “It is like turning off the headlights at the first sign of dawn,” Stephen Reicher, a psychologist at the University of St Andrews, told the Guardian. “You can’t see what’s coming and you don’t know when it makes sense to turn them on again.”
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Content ArticleThe Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing health inequalities for refugees and migrants. These populations have shown lower rates of Covid-19 vaccination uptake, and may face a range of individual, social, practical and logistical barriers to accessing vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed this guide to provide practical recommendations, strategies and good practice for understanding and addressing barriers to Covid-19 vaccination among refugee and migrant populations. It is intended to support all stakeholders responsible for the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to refugee and migrant populations.
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ECRI: Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2022
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
ECRI's annual Top 10 list helps organisations identify imminent patient safety challenges. The 2022 edition features many first-time topics, and emphasis is on potential risks that could have the biggest impact on patient health across all care settings. The number one topic on this year’s list has been steadily growing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts patients and staff on all levels: staffing shortages. Prior to 2021, there was a growing shortage of both clinical and non-clinical staff, but the problem has grown exponentially. In early January 2022, it was estimated that 24% of US hospitals were critically understaffed, while 100 more facilitates anticipated facing critical staff shortages within the following week. The list includes diagnostic and vaccine-related errors that can impact patient outcomes. In addition, several topics on this year's list reflect challenges that have arisen as a result of the stresses associated with delivering care during a global pandemic. -
Content ArticleThis study in PLOS Medicine looked at the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine in different ethnic groups in Manchester between 1 December 2020 and 18 April 2021. Covid-19 vaccine uptake is lower amongst most minority ethnic groups compared to the White British group in England, despite higher Covid-19 mortality rates. This study adds to existing evidence by estimating inequalities for 16 minority ethnic groups, examining ethnic inequalities within population subgroups, and comparing the scale of ethnic inequalities in Covid-19 vaccine uptake to those for routine seasonal influenza vaccine uptake. The authors of the study found that ethnic inequalities in Covid-19 vaccine uptake exceeded those for influenza vaccine uptake. existed amongst those recently vaccinated against influenza. were widest amongst those with greatest Covid-19 risk. This suggests the Covid-19 vaccination programme has created additional, different health inequalities. They suggest that further research and policy action is needed to understand and remove barriers to vaccine uptake, and to build trust and confidence amongst minority ethnic communities.
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Content ArticleUp-to-date registers of clinically vulnerable patients must be created to ensure that those who are most at risk during Covid-19 and any future pandemics are protected and can access the support they need, a report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Vulnerable Groups to Pandemics has recommended. The report considered vulnerable people’s experiences during the pandemic and makes 16 recommendations on what the government and the health service can do better to plan and prioritise extremely vulnerable patients during further Covid-19 outbreaks and future pandemics.
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Content ArticleCovid-19 has infected more than 278 million people globally, with at least 5.4 million deaths recorded by the World Health Organization as of 26 December 2021. The omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern is spreading rapidly. Some countries view infection as a net harm and pursue strategies ranging from suppression to elimination. They seek to sustain low infection rates through a combination of vaccination, public health measures, and financial support measures (vaccines-plus). Other countries implemented mitigation strategies that aim to prevent health systems from being overwhelmed by building population immunity through a combination of infection and vaccination. These countries rely on a vaccines-only approach and seem willing to tolerate high levels of infection provided their healthcare systems can cope. In an open letter by a group of public health experts, clinicians, scientists, they suggest a vaccines-plus approach should be adopted globally.
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Content ArticleThe current debate about whether individuals should be entitled to work in the healthcare sector if they decline to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV2 has been largely informed by personal opinions and argument by analogy. In this BMJ opinion piece, Jeffrey K Aronson looks at a benefit:harm balance analysis which suggests that while vaccination has a highly favourable benefit:harm balance, the balance in instituting a “no jab, no job” policy is highly uncertain and may be unfavourable. Furthermore, there are practical difficulties and legal uncertainties. The much misunderstood precautionary principle dictates that if the benefit:harm balance of an intervention is unclear and may be unfavourable, the intervention should not be undertaken. Furthermore, the onus is on those who believe that the benefit:harm balance will be favourable to prove that it is so; it is not for the sceptics to prove that it isn’t. In the absence of good evidence in favour, this is an intervention that would be best avoided.
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Content ArticleAntibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon that happens when bacteria develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. This case study focuses on large outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant strains of cholera and typhoid in Zimbabwe. It describes the steps taken to tackle the outbreaks, including a mass typhoid Vi-conjugate vaccine (TCV) vaccination campaign from February to March 2019 in nine suburbs of Harare that were severely affected by the outbreak.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for The BMJ Opinion, John Middleton argues that the Government must act now, or be faced with much tougher decisions and less popular choices as the winter kicks in. He describes the increasing rates of Covid-19 in the UK and the need for action to avoid a healthcare crisis this winter, highlighting that the NHS and the BMA have both called for urgent action to protect the NHS. He urges the Government to take a multi-faceted approach and use the 'Swiss Cheese' model to combat the spread of coronavirus, rather than focusing on single measures. Living with the virus involves changes to normal life, but they are a small price to pay to save lives, protect people from the long term effects of Covid and prevent the evolution of new virus strains.
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Content ArticleThis animation by the Rockefeller Foundation explains how the 'Swiss Cheese' model can be applied to containing the spread of COVID-19. Combining different methods of infection control such as wearing face masks, social distancing and vaccination, creates a more solid and resilient barrier to transmission.
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Content ArticleIn this episode of the podcast Health on the Line, Professor Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford provides a scientific take on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on primary care and scientific innovation. The world-renowned professor and trained GP also offers her view on virtual care, vaccine inequity and why innovation happens at times of turbulence.
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Content ArticleEarly in the pandemic, the UK government recognised that certain patients with complex medical conditions, or who were immuno-suppressed through disease or medication, would be most at risk from the complications of COVID-19. These patients were advised to take careful infection control precautions, and were classed as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV). Among the advice given to them was to “shield” and to facilitate this, they were added to a “Shielding Patients List” (SPL) at their GP practices. Despite GP practices having robust disease registers and arranging seasonal flu vaccine recalls annually for mostly similar patients, NHS England decided to create centrally generated lists for CEV, and sent out letters to these patients. Unfortunately, NHS Digital wrote to many patients who probably should not have been included as CEV (for example those with a history of glandular fever; or with long resolved and fully treated cancers in full remission), and also failed to include many patients who should have been classed as CEV. Simon Hodes and Azeem Majeed look at the UK government's communication of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
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Content ArticleA new report from two House of Commons committees highlights the UK’s failed pandemic response. Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, unpicks the findings.
