Adverse Effects of Pfizer (BioNTech), Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 CoV-19), and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines among the Adult Population in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has caused massive damage to the global healthcare system and economy. To compete with the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, several vaccines have been proposed to immunize the population. The present study aimed to investigate the adverse effects following the three doses of COVID-19 vaccination, Pfizer (BioNTech), (Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 CoV-19), and Moderna among the adult population in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. In this study, the total number of participants were 426, among them 277 (65%) were females and 149 (35%) were males. An online survey using Google forms in the English language and translated into the Arabic language was used to record the information. The questionnaire was distributed to participants who received either Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines. The general characteristics of participants were obtained, alongside an evaluation of the vaccination's adverse effects. The results revealed that Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines caused significantly less adverse effects than Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1) and Moderna (p < 0.001), and females experienced more adverse effects after vaccination compared to males. Injection site pain was the most common adverse event among the participants (60.6%), followed by fatigue, headache, and pain (43.9%), muscle and joint pain (32.4%), increased body temperature and shivering (24.2%). In addition, the group of individuals under the age of sixty was more likely to experience side effects than the participants with other age groups. All three vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 CoV-19) and Moderna, cause post-vaccinal adverse effects; however, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1) causes adverse effects more frequently than the Pfizer-BioNTech.

Adverse Effects of Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine among Vaccinated Medical Students and Health Care Workers.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease caused a highly problematic situation worldwide. Various vaccines were launched to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the adverse effects of first and second doses of the Sinopharm vaccine among vaccinated medical and dental students and healthcare workers. A well-established questionnaire was distributed online, and 414 medical and dental students and healthcare workers (HCW) comprising 355 females (85.7%) and 59 males (14.3%) participated; all were vaccinated with two doses of Sinopharm. The most common side effect was pain at the injection site after dose one in 253 respondents (61.3%) and after dose two in 161 respondents (38.9%). Other symptoms included general lethargy in 168 (40.6%), myalgia/body pain in 99 (23.9%), low-grade fever in 93 (22.4%), and headache in 87 (21%) respondents. Common side effects reported after the second dose of the vaccine following pain at the injection site included general lethargy in 21.3% (88), headache in 10.4% (43), myalgia/body pain in 9.9% (41), and low-grade fever in 6.1% (25) of the respondents. In conclusion, common adverse effects of the Sinopharm vaccine were pain at the injection site, general lethargy, myalgia, body pain, low-grade fever, and headache. These adverse effects were mild in intensity for both doses but slightly more frequent and severe for the first dose than the second dose.

National COVID-19 Vaccine Program and Parent's Perception to Vaccinate Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Vaccinating children against COVID-19 is an essential public health strategy in order to reach herd immunity and prevent illness among children and adults. Parents are facing tremendous stress in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination program for children. In this study, we aimed to investigate parents' perceptions and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine for their children in Saudi Arabia. A well-designed, pre-validated, Google questionnaire was distributed to parents through social media websites. The selection of the participants was based on the simple random sample technique. The study sample size was 1304 participants, with 342 males (26.2%), and 962 females (73.8%). The personal information, perception about COVID-19, and their children's vaccination status were obtained. Among the participants, 602 (46.1%) were willing to get the COVID-19 vaccination for their children, whereas 382 (29.3%) were hesitant to inoculate their children for COVID-19 and 320 (24.4%) were unsure. Age (p = 0.004), gender (p = 0.001), occupation (0.004), income (p = 0.030), and vaccination status (p = 0.001) had an influence on the parents' acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination of their children. On the other hand, education level, number of children, and having been previously infected with COVID-19 had no statistically significant effect on the parent acceptance. The correlation of parents' knowledge about COVID-19 and their agreement to the vaccination of their children was statistically significant, along with gender (males were more knowledgeable, with p < 0.001), occupation, income (higher income showed a statistical difference, with p < 0.001), and vaccination status (p < 0.001). There was a decrease in parents' acceptance toward the COVID-19 children vaccine in Saudi Arabia, which requires more attention and focus from health providers to eliminate fear and anxiety among the parents through additional educational programs and events to decrease the resistance toward the vaccination of children. More emphasis is required to increase the awareness of parents and convey the importance of the vaccine for children. In addition, more studies are needed to ensure the vaccine's safety.

Sandstorm and its effect on particulate matter PM 2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone pollutants and SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths.

Sandstorms are a natural metrological phenomenon, frequently occurring in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The sandstorm dust contains environmental pollutants, microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These events are the primary sources of air pollution and its long-distance transport. Thus, sandstorms are becoming a greater concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this novel study aimed to investigate the effect of a sandstorm on "environmental pollutants particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and day-to-day new cases and deaths due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On March 12, 2021, a sandstorm occurred in the Riyadh region, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The data on PM 2.5, CO, NO2, and O3 were recorded three weeks before and three weeks after the onset of the sandstorm, from February 20, 2021, to March 12, 2021, and from March 13 to April 2, 2021. The daily PM2.5, CO, NO2, and O3 levels were documented from the metrological websites, and Air Quality Index-AQI, COVID-19 daily cases, and deaths were obtained from Saudi Arabia's official coronavirus website. After sandstorm, the air pollutants, CO level increased by 84.25%; PM2.5: 76.71%; O3: 40.41%; NO2: 12.03%; and SARS-CoV-2 cases increased by 33.87%. However, the number of deaths decreased by 22.39%. The sandstorm event significantly increased the air pollutants, PM2.5, CO, and O3, which were temporally associated with increased SARS-COV-2 cases. However, no significant difference was noticed in NO2 and the number of deaths after the sandstorm. The findings have an important message to health authorities to timely provide information to the public about the sandstorm and its associated health problems, including SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths.

Biological, molecular and pharmacological characteristics of chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, convalescent plasma, and remdesivir for COVID-19 pandemic: A comparative analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, also known as COVID-19 pandemic has caused an alarming situation worldwide. Since the first detection, in December 2019, there have been no effective drug therapy options for treating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, healthcare professionals are using chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, convalescent plasma and some other options of treatments. This study aims to compare the biological, molecular, pharmacological, and clinical characteristics of these three treatment modalities for SARS-COV-2 infections, Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine, Convalescent Plasma, and Remdesivir. METHODS: A search was conducted in the "Institute of Science Information (ISI)-Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Library databases, Scopus, and Google Scholar" for peer reviewed, published studies and clinical trials through July 30, 2020. The search was based on keywords "COVID-19" SARS-COV-2, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, convalescent plasma, remdesivir and treatment modalities. RESULTS: As of July 30, 2020, a total of 36,640 relevant documents were published. From them 672 peer reviewed, published articles, and clinical trials were screened. We selected 17 relevant published original articles and clinical trials: 05 for chloroquine and/or hydroxychloroquine with total sample size (n = 220), 05 for Remdesivir (n = 1,781), and 07 for Convalescent Plasma therapy (n = 398), with a combined total sample size (n = 2,399). Based on the available data, convalescent plasma therapy showed clinical advantages in SARS-COV-2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: All three treatment modalities have both favorable and unfavorable characteristics, but none showed clear evidence of benefit for early outpatient disease or prophylaxis. Based on the current available data, convalescent plasma therapy appears to show clinical advantages for inpatient use. In the future, ongoing large sample size randomized controlled clinical trials may further clarify the comparative efficacy and safety of these three treatment classes, to conclusively determine whom to treat with which drug and when to treat them.

Biological and Epidemiological Trends in the Prevalence and Mortality due to Outbreaks of Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 Medical education during pandemics: a UK perspective

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection outbreak has posed a major threat to international health system and economy. This study is aimed at investigating the biological and epidemiological trends in the prevalence and mortality due to outbreaks of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. The data on the global outbreak of COVID-19, were obtained from World Health Organization (WHO), Worldometer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and research institutes. The information was also recorded from research documents published in global scientific journals indexed in Pub Med and Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science on the trends in the prevalence and mortality due to COVID-19 infection outbreaks. The results show rising trends in the transmission, prevalence and mortality rate due to coronavirus COVID-19. During the period of December 29, 2019 through March 31, 2020, it has infected 750890 people worldwide, resulting in 36405 deaths with a mortality rate of 4.84%. The infections were more frequent among male gender with above 60 years of age. The mean growth rate index for total number of cases from January 23 to March 31, 2020 was 1.20 and growth rate index for mortality rate was 1.12. There was a positive association between the prevalence and mortality rate (R2=0.996). The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is highly contagious and has affected a large number of people worldwide. It is still spreading with mutable prevalence and mortality outbreak trends. The global health officials have taken priority measures to prevent the further outbreaks of this emerging pathogen across the globe. However, the rising number of cases and mortality risk estimates are demonstrating that enhanced public health mediations, good hygienic conditions, social distancing and movement limitations may control the COVID-19 epidemics.

Biological and epidemiological trends in the prevalence and mortality due to outbreaks of novel coronavirus COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection outbreak has posed a major threat to the international health system and economy. This study is aimed at investigating the biological and epidemiological trends in the prevalence and mortality due to outbreaks of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. The data on the global outbreak of COVID-19, were obtained from World Health Organization (WHO), Worldometer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and research institutes. The information was also recorded from research documents published in global scientific journals indexed in Pub Med and Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science on the trends in the prevalence and mortality due to COVID-19 infection outbreaks. The results show rising trends in the transmission, prevalence and mortality rate due to coronavirus COVID-19. During the period of December 29, 2019 through March 31, 2020, it has infected 750,890 people worldwide, resulting in 36,405 deaths with a mortality rate of 4.84%. The infections were more frequent among male gender over 60 years of age. The mean growth rate index for total number of cases from January 23 to March 31, 2020 was 1.20 and growth rate index for mortality rate was 1.12. There was a positive association between the prevalence and mortality rate (R2 = 0.996). The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is highly contagious and has affected a large number of people worldwide. It is still spreading with mutable prevalence and mortality outbreak trends. The global health officials have taken priority measures to prevent further outbreaks of this emerging pathogen across the globe. However, the rising number of cases and mortality risk estimates are demonstrating that enhanced public health mediations, good hygienic conditions, social distancing, and movement limitations may control the COVID-19 epidemics.