mRNA-based COVID-19 booster vaccination is highly effective and cost-effective in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Australia implemented an mRNA-based booster vaccination strategy against the COVID-19 Omicron variant in November 2021. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the booster strategy over 180 days. METHODS: We developed a decision-analytic Markov model of COVID-19 to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a booster strategy (administered 3 months after 2nd dose) in those aged ≥ 16 years, from a healthcare system perspective. The willingness-to-pay threshold was chosen as A$ 50,000. RESULTS: Compared with 2-doses of COVID-19 vaccines without a booster, Australia's booster strategy would incur an additional cost of A$0.88 billion but save A$1.28 billion in direct medical cost and gain 670 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in 180 days of its implementation. This suggested the booster strategy is cost-saving, corresponding to a benefit-cost ratio of 1.45 and a net monetary benefit of A$0.43 billion. The strategy would prevent 1.32 million new infections, 65,170 hospitalisations, 6,927 ICU admissions and 1,348 deaths from COVID-19 in 180 days. Further, a universal booster strategy of having all individuals vaccinated with the booster shot immediately once their eligibility is met would have resulted in a gain of 1,599 QALYs, a net monetary benefit of A$1.46 billion and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.95 in 180 days. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 booster strategy implemented in Australia is likely to be effective and cost-effective for the Omicron epidemic. Universal booster vaccination would have further improved its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

COVID-19 Vaccines Analysis to Predict Its Impact Across the World

In recent years, due to the widespread of COVID-19 pandemic, a large amount of data set is available about the various types of vaccines used by different countries for the protection of their citizens. So it is very important and useful if one is able to perform effective analysis of the same to make the awareness and the effectiveness of each vaccine known to mankind. It is found that COVID-19 vaccines increase the immune system, prepare the body to fight against the virus, and reduce the probability of contracting COVID-19.this can be done with the help of regression techniques such as The MAE, MSE, RMSE values to predict and evaluate the observations with more efficiency. The RMSE technique measures the standard deviation of results and provides more accuracy. This analysis helps to find out how COVID-19 vaccines are provided in various countries and the countries where 80% of the population is vaccinated. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Effective Analysis and Investigation in COVID-19 Prevention Policies Based on Population Dynamics Modeling and Simulation

The paper proposes a population dynamics model to simulate the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze the effectiveness of prevention policies in the early stage. The model is designed to aid the decision-making process of policy-making in the early stage. The model is formulated based on the SEIR model to simulate the spread of COVID19 from human to human. By implementing the data in the U.S., the model is first fitted to the data first. Then, the model simulates the number of infected people with the change of time under different levels of social distancing and mask-wearing. © 2022 IEEE.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of BNT162b2 COVID-19 booster vaccination in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a booster strategy in the United States. METHODS: We developed a decision-analytic Markov model of COVID-19 to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a booster strategy of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 (administered 6 months after the second dose) among older adults from a healthcare system perspective. RESULTS: Compared with 2 doses of BNT162b2 without a booster, the booster strategy in a 100,000 cohort of older adults would incur an additional cost of $3.4 million in vaccination cost but save $6.7 million in direct medical cost and gain 3.7 quality-adjusted life-years in 180 days. This corresponds to a benefit-cost ratio of 1.95 and a net monetary benefit of $3.4 million. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicates that a booster strategy has a high chance (67%) of being cost-effective. Notably, the cost-effectiveness of the booster strategy is highly sensitive to the population incidence of COVID-19, with a cost-effectiveness threshold of 8.1/100,000 person-day. If vaccine efficacies reduce by 10%, 30%, and 50%, this threshold will increase to 9.7/100,000, 13.9/100,000, and 21.9/100,000 person-day, respectively. CONCLUSION: Offering the BNT162b2 booster to older adults aged ≥65 years in the United States is likely to be cost-effective. Less efficacious vaccines and boosters may still be cost-effective in settings of high SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

The Cost Effectiveness of Ecotherapy as a Healthcare Intervention, Separating the Wood from the Trees.

Internationally, shifts to more urbanised populations, and resultant reductions in engagements with nature, have been a contributing factor to the mental health crisis facing many developed and developing countries. While the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced recent trends in many countries to give access to green spaces more weight in political decision making, nature-based activities as a form of intervention for those with mental health problems constitute a very small part of patient pathways of care. Nature-based interventions, such as ecotherapy, are increasingly used as therapeutic solutions for people with common mental health problems. However, there is little data about the potential costs and benefits of ecotherapy, making it difficult to offer robust assessments of its cost-effectiveness. This paper explores the capacity for ecotherapy to be cost-effective as a healthcare intervention. Using a pragmatic scoping review of the literature to understand where the potential costs and health benefit lie, we applied value of information methodology to identify what research is needed to inform future cost-effectiveness assessments. We show that there is the potential for ecotherapy for people with mild to moderate common mental health problems to be cost-effective but significant further research is required. Furthermore, nature-based interventions such as ecotherapy also confer potential social and wider returns on investment, strengthening the case for further research to better inform robust commissioning.

Influenza vaccination should have no border: cost-effectiveness of cross-border subsidy.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality for Israel and the Palestinian territory. Given the extensive interaction between the two populations, vaccination in one population may indirectly benefit the other via reduced transmission. Due to the mobility and extensive contacts, Palestinians employed in Israel could be a prime target for vaccination. METHODS: To evaluate the epidemiological and the economic benefits conferred by vaccinating Palestinians employed in Israel, we developed a model of influenza transmission within and between Israel and the West Bank. We parameterized the contact patterns underlying transmission by conducting a survey among Palestinians employed in Israel, and integrating survey results with traffic patterns and socio-demographic data. RESULTS: Vaccinating 50% of Palestinian workers is predicted to reduce the annual influenza burden by 28,745 cases (95% CI: 15,031-50,717) and 37.7 deaths (95% CI: 19·9-65·5) for the Israeli population, and by 32,9900 cases (95% CI: 14,379-51,531) and 20.2 deaths (CI 95%: 9·8-31·5) for the Palestinian population. Further, we found that as the indirect protection was so substantial, funding such a vaccination campaign would be cost-saving from the Israeli Ministry of Health perspective. CONCLUSIONS: Offering influenza vaccination to Palestinians employed in Israel could efficiently reduce morbidity and mortality within both Israel and the Palestinian territory.

Avoiding a Med-Wreck: a structured medication reconciliation framework and standardized auditing tool utilized to optimize patient safety and reallocate hospital resources.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of preventable adverse drug events (ADE) is approximately one medication error per patient per hospital-day. A quality medication reconciliation (MedRec) process is a crucial intervention used to reduce ADE in the hospital and community setting. Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, preventing medication errors is vital to avoid patient readmission, reduce disease complications, and reduce cost and patient burden on the healthcare system. OBJECTIVES: To develop a standardized MedRec framework that can be implemented in all healthcare settings to reduce patient and staff harm during COVID-19. Also, to create a standardized auditing tool used to assess the quality of the MedRec process and allow for continuous quality improvement. METHODS: A multi-site gap analysis (MGA) was performed to collect observational data that were collected from four different healthcare sites (two hospitals, a long-term care facility, and a community pharmacy). MGA consists of collecting data across several sites which answer a standardized questionnaire. A standardized MedRec framework and auditing tool were developed based on the gaps observed in each site and literature reviews. RESULTS: A standardized MedRec process was not implemented in any of the observed sites. The healthcare sites lacked a designated MedRec team and training related to the MedRec process leading to multiple discrepancies at discharge. Patients were not counselled on changes to home medications, and a discharge report was often not provided upon discharge. Communication mechanisms between community pharmacies and hospital physicians are not available or easily accessible. CONCLUSION: The proposed structured MedRec framework is vital to reduce medication errors and patient harm amid COVID-19. Moreover, the comprehensive auditing tool developed in this study allows for continuous quality improvement resulting in superior quality care, reduction of workflow inefficiencies, cost savings on hospital readmissions, and overall enhanced healthcare system performance.