Vaccine
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Researchers are working at unprecedented speed to develop a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We aimed to assess the value of a hypothetical vaccine and its potential public health impact when prioritization is required due to supply constraints. ⋯ A COVID-19 vaccine is predicted to be good value for money (cost per QALY gained <$50,000). The speed at which an effective vaccine can be made available will determine how much morbidity and mortality may be prevented in the US.
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COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill with a wave of destruction in country after country with tremendous loss of lives and livelihood in advanced to developing nations. Whole world is staring at the prospect of repeated lockdowns with another wave of COVID-19 predicted to hit the world in September of 2020. The second wave is assumed to be even more destructive with severe impact across much of the world. ⋯ Docking simulation assay revealed that above T-cell epitopes have minimum free binding energy and showed strong hydrogen bond interaction which strengthened its potential as being a T-cell epitope for the epitope-based novel vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. This study allows us to claim that B-cell and T-cell epitopes mentioned above provide potential pathways for developing an exploratory vaccine against spike surface glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 with high confidence for the identified strains. We will need to confirm our findings with biological assays.
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Vaccines for COVID-19 are anticipated to be available by 2021. Vaccine uptake rate is a crucial determinant for herd immunity. We examined factors associated with acceptance of vaccine based on (1). constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM), (2). trust in the healthcare system, new vaccine platforms and manufacturers, and (3). self-reported health outcomes. ⋯ Governmental recommendation is an important driver, whereas perceived susceptibility is not associated with acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine. These HBM constructs and independent predictors inform evidence-based formulation and implementation of vaccination strategies.
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Public polling indicates that vaccine uptake will be suboptimal when COVID-19 vaccines become available. Formative research seeking an understanding of weak vaccination intentions is urgently needed. ⋯ Demographic characteristics, vaccine knowledge, perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, risk factors for COVID-19, and politics likely contribute to vaccination hesitancy.