Comparison of the Safety and Immunogenicity of FAKHRAVAC and BBIBP-CorV Vaccines when Administrated as Booster Dose: A Parallel Two Arms, Randomized, Double Blind Clinical Trial.

Purpose: This study was completed to assess the immunogenicity and safety of the FAKHRAVAC and BBIBP-CorV vaccines as a booster dose in the population with a history of receiving two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine. Methods: In this double-blind, parallel clinical trial, we randomly assigned healthy adults with a history of receiving two doses of the BBIBP-CorV vaccine, who then received either the FAKHRAVAC or BBIBP-CorV vaccine as a booster dose. The trial is registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trial document depository (Code: IRCT20210206050259N4). Results: The outcomes that were monitored in this study were serum neutralizing antibody (Nab) activity, immunoglobulin G (IgG) level, local and systemic adverse reactions, serious adverse events, suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions, and medically attended adverse events. After administering vaccines to 435 participants, the most frequent local and systemic adverse reactions were tenderness and nausea in 23.7% and 1.4% of cases, respectively. All adverse events were mild, occurred at a similar incidence in the two groups, and were resolved within a few days. Conclusions: On the 14th day after the booster dose injection, the seroconversion rate (i.e., four-fold increase) of Nabs for seronegative participants were 87% and 84.6% in the FAKHRAVAC® and BBIBP-CorV groups, respectively. This study shows that the FAKHRAVAC® vaccine, as a booster dose, has a similar function to the BBIBP-CorV vaccine in terms of increasing the titer of virus-neutralizing antibodies, the amount of specific antibodies, and safety.

COVID-19 pandemic and death anxiety among intensive care nurses working at the Hospitals Affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Science.

INTRODUCTION: The unpredictable challenges and conditions of COVID-19 can cause mental health problems. In such a situation, one of the most important psychological problems is the fear and anxiety of death. Death anxiety can affect the quality of patient care services and the job satisfaction and mental health of nurses. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which 110 nurses working in the intensive care units of hospitals affiliated to the Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected by the convenience sampling method from April to September 2016. The data collection tools used in the study include a demographic questionnaire and a Templer death-anxiety questionnaire. FINDINGS: The results showed that the level of death anxiety in nurses working at COVID-19 intensive care units is associated with age, working hours per week, childbearing, several patients needing end-of-life care, cases of direct participation in resuscitation operations, cases of patient death observations, and satisfaction with personal protective equipment (P < o.o5). CONCLUSION: Increasing the nurses' awareness of the critical situations of COVID-19, management measures, improving the working environment, social support, and increasing personal protective equipment seem to be the effective factors in protecting the intensive care unit nurses against COVID-19 and reducing death anxiety.