ABSTRACT
Vaccines for COVID-19 in India have been allowed to be administered among large pool of adult population. In-depth knowledge regarding the adverse effect of vaccine is scarce till date, mainly due to the lack of reporting, analysing and making the data publicly available. Informed choice by the recipients is totally barred and further, compensation associated with the vaccination is also compromised. These important issues need to be highlighted in the public forum for greater awareness and action.
ABSTRACT
Vaccines have taken the centre stage in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, and in reducing hospitalisation and associated mortality. Countries around the world are heavily dependent on the successful rollout of their vaccination programmes to open up the societies and re-start their economies. However, the success of any vaccine programme, to a large extent, depends upon the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. Given that UK has been way ahead in vaccinating its population, is considered a successful model compared to other countries in Europe and elsewhere and has a yellow card reporting system for adverse events, we use UK as an example to understand the side effects and fatal outcomes following vaccinations. Our results show that AstraZeneca seems to be underperforming in terms of overall reporting of minor adverse events, serious incidents and fatal outcomes following vaccination. The risk of serious anaphylactic reaction and fatal outcome was 1.36 and 1.17 times more in case of AstraZeneca vaccine when compared with Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The analysis has implications for vaccine policies and programmes both at nation-state and global levels.
ABSTRACT
Vaccines have taken the centre stage in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, and in reducing hospitalisation and associated mortality. Countries around the world are heavily dependent on the successful rollout of their vaccination programmes to open up the societies and re-start their economies. However, the success of any vaccine programme, to a large extent, depends upon the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. Given that UK has been way ahead in vaccinating its population, is considered a successful model compared to other countries in Europe and elsewhere and has a yellow card reporting system for adverse events, we use UK as an example to understand the side effects and fatal outcomes following vaccinations. Our results show that AstraZeneca seems to be underperforming in terms of overall reporting of minor adverse events, serious incidents and fatal outcomes following vaccination. The risk of serious anaphylactic reaction and fatal outcome was 1.36 and 1.17 times more in case of AstraZeneca vaccine when compared with Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The analysis has implications for vaccine policies and programmes both at nation-state and global levels.
ABSTRACT
Vaccines for COVID-19 in India have been allowed to be administered among large pool of adult population. In-depth knowledge regarding the adverse effect of vaccine is scarce till date, mainly due to the lack of reporting, analysing and making the data publicly available. Informed choice by the recipients is totally barred and further, compensation associated with the vaccination is also compromised. These important issues need to be highlighted in the public forum for greater awareness and action.
ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aims to conduct a review of the existing literature about incubation period for COVID-19, which can provide insights to the transmission dynamics of the disease. Methods: A systematic review followed by meta-analysis was performed for the studies providing estimates for the incubation period of COVID-19. The heterogeneity and bias in the included studies were tested by various statistical measures, including I2 statistic, Cochran's Q test, Begg's test and Egger's test. Results: Fifteen studies with 16 estimates of the incubation period were selected after implementing the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooled estimate of the incubation period is 5.74 (5.18, 6.30) from the random effects model. The heterogeneity in the selected studies was found to be 95.2% from the I2 statistic. There is no potential bias in the included studies for meta-analysis. Conclusion: This review provides sufficient evidence for the incubation period of COVID-19 through various studies, which can be helpful in planning preventive and control measures for the disease. The pooled estimate from the meta-analysis is a valid and reliable estimate of the incubation period for COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as Pandemic. The estimation of transmission dynamics in the initial days of the outbreak of any infectious disease is crucial to control its spread in a new area. The serial interval is one of the significant epidemiological measures that determine the spread of infectious disease. It is the time interval between the onset of symptoms in the primary and secondary case. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed at the qualitative and quantitative synthesis of the currently available evidence for the serial interval of COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: Data on serial intervals were extracted from 11 studies following a systematic review. A meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled estimate of the serial interval. The heterogeneity and bias in the included studies were tested by various statistical measures and tests, including I2 statistic, Cochran's Q test, Egger's test, and Beggs's test. RESULT: The pooled estimate for the serial interval was 5.40 (5.19, 5.61) and 5.19 (4.37, 6.02) days by the fixed and random effects model, respectively. The heterogeneity between the studies was found to be 89.9% by I2 statistic. There is no potential bias introduced in the meta-analysis due to small study effects. CONCLUSION: The present review provides sufficient evidence for the estimate of serial interval of COVID-19, which can help in understanding the epidemiology and transmission of the disease. The information on serial interval can be useful in developing various policies regarding contact tracing and monitoring community transmission of COVID-19.