Vaccinations, Mobility and COVID-19 Transmission.

In order to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 52.4% of the world population had received at least one dose of a vaccine at17 November 2021, but little is known about the non-pharmaceutical aspect of vaccination. Here we empirically examine the impact of vaccination on human behaviors and COVID-19 transmission via structural equation modeling. The results suggest that, from a non-pharmaceutical perspective, the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines is related to human behaviors, in this case, mobility; vaccination slows the spread of COVID-19 in the regions where vaccination is negatively related to mobility, but such an effect is not observed in the regions where vaccination and mobility have positive correlations. This article highlights the significance of mobility in realizing the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines; even with large-scale vaccination, non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing, are still required to contain the transmission of COVID-19.

Resumption of the treatment of non-COVID-19 gynecologic patients after lifting lockdown: Triage and infection prevention experiences from Wuhan.

AIM: To share our experiences of resuming the treatments for gynecologic patients after lifting the lockdown in a hotspot area for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: The triage process used to resume medical activities for gynecologic patients at the Wuhan Union Hospital after a 76-day lockdown of the city is described, and its effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 nosocomial transmission is shown. RESULTS: Nonemergency patients were pretriaged based on their contact history and body temperature at an outpatient clinic, and negative COVID-19 screening test results were required for admission to the buffering rooms at the gynecologic department. The buffering lasted at least 3 days for symptom monitoring, and a second round of COVID-19 testing was required before patients could be transferred to the regular gynecologic wards. For patients who needed emergency surgery, the first screening was completed at the isolation wards after surgery, followed by buffering at the gynecologic department. We received 19 298 outpatient visits, admitted 326 patients, and performed 223 operations in the first 2 months after the lockdown was lifted. No COVID-19 cases occurred in the hospitalized patients, while the proportion of potentially high-risk patients with cancer and severe anemia was increased in comparison to that observed during the same period in 2019 and the first 2 months of 2020 before the lockdown. CONCLUSIONS: We provide an effective triage system with buffering at two levels to guarantee safe and timely treatment for non-COVID-19 gynecologic patients in the postlockdown phase.