Forecasting COVID-19 Vaccination Rates using Social Media Data

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global community, and vaccination has been recognized as a crucial intervention. To gain insight into public perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines, survey studies and the analysis of social media platforms have been conducted. However, existing methods lack consideration of individual vaccination intentions or status and the relationship between public perceptions and actual vaccine uptake. To address these limitations, this study proposes a text classification approach to identify tweets indicating a user's intent or status on vaccination. A comparative analysis between the proportions of tweets from different categories and real-world vaccination data reveals notable alignment, suggesting that tweets may serve as a precursor to actual vaccination status. Further, regression analysis and time series forecasting were performed to explore the potential of tweet data, demonstrating the significance of incorporating tweet data in predicting future vaccination status. Finally, clustering was applied to the tweet sets with positive and negative labels to gain insights into underlying focuses of each stance. © 2023 ACM.

Coronavirus-Related Searches on the Internet Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in the Real World: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective.

According to the smoke detector and functional flexibility principles of human behavioral immune system (BIS), the exposure to COVID-19 cues could motivate vaccine uptake. Using the tool of Google Trends, we tested that coronavirus-related searches-which assessed natural exposure to COVID-19 cues-would positively predict actual vaccination rates. As expected, coronavirus-related searches positively and significantly predicted vaccination rates in the United States (Study 1a) and across the globe (Study 2a) after accounting for a range of covariates. The stationary time series analyses with covariates and autocorrelation structure of the dependent variable confirmed that more coronavirus-related searches compared with last week indicated increases in vaccination rates compared with last week in the United States (Study 1b) and across the globe (Study 2b). With real-time web search data, psychological scientists could test their research questions in real-life settings and at a large scale to expand the ecological validity and generalizability of the findings.

Post-COVID-19 syndrome and diabetes mellitus: a propensity-matched analysis of the International HOPE-II COVID-19 Registry.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most frequent comorbidities in patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with a higher rate of severe course of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, data about post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) in patients with DM are limited. Methods: This multicenter, propensity score-matched study compared long-term follow-up data about cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and other symptoms in 8,719 patients with DM to those without DM. The 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) according to age and sex resulted in 1,548 matched pairs. Results: Diabetics and nondiabetics had a mean age of 72.6 ± 12.7 years old. At follow-up, cardiovascular symptoms such as dyspnea and increased resting heart rate occurred less in patients with DM (13.2% vs. 16.4%; p = 0.01) than those without DM (2.8% vs. 5.6%; p = 0.05), respectively. The incidence of newly diagnosed arterial hypertension was slightly lower in DM patients as compared to non-DM patients (0.5% vs. 1.6%; p = 0.18). Abnormal spirometry was observed more in patients with DM than those without DM (18.8% vs. 13; p = 0.24). Paranoia was diagnosed more frequently in patients with DM than in non-DM patients at follow-up time (4% vs. 1.2%; p = 0.009). The incidence of newly diagnosed renal insufficiency was higher in patients suffering from DM as compared to patients without DM (4.8% vs. 2.6%; p = 0.09). The rate of readmission was comparable in patients with and without DM (19.7% vs. 18.3%; p = 0.61). The reinfection rate with COVID-19 was comparable in both groups (2.9% in diabetics vs. 2.3% in nondiabetics; p = 0.55). Long-term mortality was higher in DM patients than in non-DM patients (33.9% vs. 29.1%; p = 0.005). Conclusions: The mortality rate was higher in patients with DM type II as compared to those without DM. Readmission and reinfection rates with COVID-19 were comparable in both groups. The incidence of cardiovascular symptoms was higher in patients without DM.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Retrenchment, Vaccinations, and Global Happiness

COVID-19's impacts have spread widely in all directions such as economy, people's lifestyles and well-being. Though existing studies have highlighted such an impact, it remains unclear how the current COVID-19 situation has affected the retrenchment, vaccination and global happiness. In this paper, we present an automated tool enables the public to view various insight. In particular, we integrate and analyze the data from various data sources and show how the COVID19 has impacted Singapore and globally. We employ the regression models to identify the correlation between Human Development Index, Stringency Index, Gross Domestic Product per Capita, Total Deaths from COVID-19, and Total Cases of COVID-19;the rate of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy;and the factors to positively correlate to the global happiness. The insight provided adds values to better fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and future global crisis. © 2023 IEEE.

The functions of masks and vaccines: whether they can be interchange with each other

The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on for three years since the novel Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. At first people didn't take it seriously and didn't take any precautions. The virus has spread around the world, causing dizziness, nausea and even kidney failure in severe cases. Today, as people's awareness of COVID-19 has increased, more and more people are willing to wear masks, but there are still many people who are unwilling to wear masks. Some people refuse to wear masks because they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccines do help in reducing transmission rates, but they are not 100% effective. Even vaccinated people can catch the virus and spread it to others. Analysis of data from Singapore over a period of time shows that masks and vaccines provide two different types of protection, one for the group and the other for the individual. Both masks and vaccines are necessary for the safety of individuals and others. © 2023 SPIE.

Potential relation between Covid-19 vaccines and Covid-19 death number

Starting from the year 2019, a newly developed respiratory diseases, SARS-CoV-2, have spread out globally. In order to control and eliminate this pandemic, vaccines have been widely investigated and taken by humans all over the world. This paper's work aims to formulate a linear regression model to test the pattern formed between vaccination number and death toll caused by newly developed viruses SARS-CoV-2. K-fold cross-validation method was used to justify the linear regression result with other support of different plots (residual and QQ plot). The result of this research seems contradict with prediction. The R-squared value from linear regression is not strong enough to support the prediction with super large MAE value from cross-validation. Residual plot is not evenly spreading and points on QQ-plot are not aligned with the trend line. All these results mean there are no evident linear regression relations between the independent variables and dependent variables, but a positive relation is discovered in a short period of time. More situations are needed to be considered under this circumstance. All the uncertainties mentioned above are factors that might influence the result and needed further investigation. The statistical research in this paper helps with the evaluation of vaccine efficacy so that safer and more effective vaccines can be selected to reduce mortality. © 2023 SPIE.

Analyzing the effects of quarantine, isolation, and vaccination on the spread of COVID-19 via a mathematical model

The main COVID-19 control strategies presently practiced are maintaining social distancing, quarantin-ing suspected exposures, and isolating infectious people. In this paper, a deterministic compartmental mathematical model is proposed considering these three control strategies. Based on the proposed model the effect of vaccination on the suppression of the disease is discussed. Critical vaccination rate and vaccinated population size relevant to disease suppression are determined based on the proposed mathematical model. Different forms of the most used key term in infectious disease modelling, reproduction number, are determined relevant to the proposed model. Sensitivity analysis of the reproduction numbers is done to identify model parameters mostly affecting the spread of the disease. Based on the reproduction number of the model disease controlling parameter regions are determined and graphical representations of those parameter regions are presented. Based on the results of the proposed mathematical model, it is observed that earlier implementation of the vaccination process is helpful to better control the disease. However, it takes considerable time to invent successful vaccinations for newly out-breaking diseases like COVID-19. Therefore, it took considerable time to start the vaccination process for COVID-19. It is observed that after starting a vaccination process at a particular rate it should continue until the vaccinated population reaches a critical size. © 2023, National Science Foundation. All rights reserved.

Estimating the time-dependent effective reproduction number and vaccination rate for COVID-19 in the USA and India.

The effective reproduction number, $ R_t $, is a vital epidemic parameter utilized to judge whether an epidemic is shrinking, growing, or holding steady. The main goal of this paper is to estimate the combined $ R_t $ and time-dependent vaccination rate for COVID-19 in the USA and India after the vaccination campaign started. Accounting for the impact of vaccination into a discrete-time stochastic augmented SVEIR (Susceptible-Vaccinated-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered) model, we estimate the time-dependent effective reproduction number $ (R_t) $ and vaccination rate $ (\xi_t) $ for COVID-19 by using a low pass filter and the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) approach for the period February 15, 2021 to August 22, 2022 in India and December 13, 2020 to August 16, 2022 in the USA. The estimated $ R_t $ and $ \xi_t $ show spikes and serrations with the data. Our forecasting scenario represents the situation by December 31, 2022 that the new daily cases and deaths are decreasing for the USA and India. We also noticed that for the current vaccination rate, $ R_t $ would remain greater than one by December 31, 2022. Our results are beneficial for the policymakers to track the status of the effective reproduction number, whether it is greater or less than one. As restrictions in these countries ease, it is still important to maintain safety and preventive measures.

Increasing human papillomavirus vaccination intent and knowledge through an educational intervention

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a widely discussed topic in healthcare as it affects patients of all genders and ages who partake in sexual activity. The most significant concern it poses to those at risk is HPV-related cancer. Fortunately, a vaccination exists that targets specific strains associated with these types of cancers. Despite evidence-based research supporting the vaccination's efficacy and safety, lack of awareness and misinformation diminish the receipt of the vaccine and drive the lack of protection. Thus, educational interventions directed at parents and caregivers, which aims to improve their understanding of HPV and the vaccination's benefits, is key to increasing vaccination rates. This project aims to answer the PICOT question: Does HPV education given to parents and caregivers of children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 17 result in higher HPV vaccination intent and knowledge? Evidence-based articles that use education to improve vaccination rates, intent, or knowledge using different forms of education and different target populations were located. Overall, research supports education to promote HPV-awareness and increasing vaccination uptake to decrease HPV-related cancers. The use of technology to increase knowledge is essential today as the coronavirus pandemic has driven our nation to accomplish social distancing measures while still performing everyday activities. To increase HPV knowledge and vaccination intent through a technology-based educational intervention, Lewin's Change Theory and the Iowa Model were used to help guide the project using a step-by-step process. For this DNP project, a video on HPV education was delivered and change in HPV knowledge and vaccination intent was measured through Qualtrics XM surveys, which were accessible through a link provided on social media and pediatrician offices. Results revealed that there was no statistical significance amongst demographics, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, and marital status, and a change in overall HPV iv knowledge. However, when analyzing vaccination intent pre-and post-survey, statistical significance (p = 0) was evident as 14/36 (38.89%) of the participants changed whether they intended to vaccinate their child or adolescent from "no" to "yes" after receiving the educational intervention. The project facilitator also found statistical significance (p < 0.001) amongst HPV Knowledge Survey scores from the pre- and post-survey answers as there was a mean increase of -1.22, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from -1.76 to -0.69). Overall, the project addresses the problem of the lack of HPV-related knowledge and vaccination intent amongst caregivers of adolescents and children and furthermore, has the capability of increasing HPV vaccination rates. Nevertheless, limitations and recommendations enhancing implementation and driving sustainability to improve patient outcomes in the future are addressed further. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

COVID-19 vaccination status in people with spinal cord injury: Results from a cross-sectional study in Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: To assess COVID-19 vaccination status among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Twelve hospitals from all regions of Thailand. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and eighty people with SCI were randomly selected from the Thai SCI registry database. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome, which was the COVID-19 vaccination status, and the secondary outcomes, which were the number of vaccination doses, satisfaction and dissatisfaction aspects, and barriers to vaccination, were recorded using a specifically developed questionnaire over the telephone during February to March 2022. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyses, bivariate, and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Of the 96 people with SCI who were able to respond, the prevalence of receiving at least one dose was 77% but the prevalence of receiving a booster dose was 20%. Being non-traumatic SCI correlated negatively with having received any vaccination doses when compared to traumatic SCI. Most of the participants were satisfied with the government provision of COVID-19 vaccines. The major barriers to vaccination were problems related to a negative attitude toward the vaccination, followed by transportation difficulties and wheelchair-inaccessible vaccination sites. CONCLUSIONS: Seventy-seven percent of people with SCI participating in this study received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas only 20% of them received a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. To increase the prevalence of vaccination, healthcare providers should deliver the fact regarding COVID-19 vaccination to reduce negative attitudes, as well as remove physical barriers to vaccination places for people with SCI.

COVID-19 vaccination in people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in China: A cross-sectional study.

COVID-19 appears to put people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) at a higher risk of catastrophic consequences and mortality. However, investigations on the hesitancy and vaccination behavior of PLWHA in China were lacking compared to the general population. From January 2022 to March 2022, we conducted a multi-center cross-sectional survey of PLWHA in China. Logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated to vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Among 1424 participants, 108 participants (7.6%) were hesitant to be vaccinated while 1258 (88.3%) had already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Higher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was associated with older age, a lower academic level, chronic disease, lower CD4+ T cell counts, severe anxiety and despair, and high perception of illness. Lower education level, lower CD4+ T cell counts, and significant anxiety and depression were all associated with a lower vaccination rate. When compared to vaccinated participants, those who were not hesitant but nevertheless unvaccinated had a higher presence of chronic disease and lower CD4+ T cell count. Tailored interventions (e.g. targeted education programs) based on these linked characteristics were required to alleviate concerns for PLWHA in promoting COVID-19 vaccination rates, particularly for PLWHA with lower education levels, lower CD4+ T cell counts, and severe anxiety and depression.

Effect of vaccination patterns and vaccination rates on the spread and mortality of COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: Acquiring herd immunity through vaccination is the best way to curb the COVID-19 infection. Many countries have attempted to reach the herd immunity threshold as early as possible since the commencement of vaccination at the end of 2020. The purpose of this study is to (1) examine whether the pattern of vaccination rates affects the spread of COVID-19 and the consequent mortality and (2) investigate the level of cumulative vaccination rates that can begin to have an impact on reducing the spread and mortality of the pandemic. Methods: This study selected 33 countries with higher vaccination rates as its sample set, classifying them into three groups as per vaccination patterns. Results: The results showed that vaccination patterns have a significant impact on reducing spread and mortality. The full-speed vaccination pattern showed greater improvement in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic than the other two patterns, while the striving vaccination pattern improved the most in terms of mortality. Secondly, the spread and mortality of the COVID pandemic started to significantly decline when the average cumulative vaccination rate reached 29.06 doses per 100 people and 7.88 doses per 100 people, respectively. Conclusion: The study highlights the important role of vaccination patterns and the VTMR in reducing the epidemic spread and mortality.

Uptake of HPV vaccination among boys after the introduction of gender-neutral HPV vaccination in Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: HPV vaccination has been recommended and reimbursed for girls in Germany since 2007. In June 2018 the German Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommended the gender-neutral vaccination of adolescents aged 9 to 14 years with catch-up through age 17. Objectives of this study were to describe the uptake of vaccination in boys before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The study used data from a proprietary electronic medical record database and a database with information on nationally dispensed vaccine doses. The monthly number of first doses of HPV vaccinations in boys and girls aged 9-17 years in the period from 01/2018 to 12/2021 was determined. In addition, for boys the cumulative vaccination rates were calculated for initiated and completed vaccination series. RESULTS: Four months after the introduction of mandatory reimbursement for boys, the monthly numbers of first doses were comparable to that of girls. Compared to the same month in 2019, the number of first doses declined by up to 49% (girls) in 2020 and 71% (boys) in 2021. At the end of 2021, the vaccination rate for 15-year-old boys (2006 birth cohort) reached 44.4% for initiated and 26.4% for completed series. CONCLUSION: After an initial dynamic increase in HPV vaccinations in boys, the impact of COVID-19 was particularly strong in the second year of the pandemic. At the end of 2021 vaccination rates were still low. Efforts are needed to catch-up on adolescents that missed doses during the pandemic and to increase uptake.

The effect of vaccination during the COVID-19 for the restaurant industry.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether vaccination rates and the use of franchising have an impact on the volatility of stock returns in the restaurant industry. Based on the agency and resource scarcity theories, this study first examines the effect of vaccinations against COVID-19 on a restaurant firm's stock return volatilities caused by uncertainty during a crisis. The study further investigates whether firm-specific vaccination rates more greatly reduce stock return volatilities as the degree of franchising increases. With a two-way fixed-effects model, the study finds that the firm-specific vaccination rate reduces volatilities of the firm's stock returns. However, the study also finds an opposite direction to the moderating effect of franchising in that the more a restaurant firm franchises, the further the risk-reduction effect of its vaccination rate diminishes. Theoretical and practical implications along with limitations are discussed.

COVID-19 vaccine and booster hesitation around the world: A literature review.

The development of COVID-19 vaccines has helped limit the extent of the pandemic, which over the past 2 years has claimed the lived of millions of people. The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were the first to be manufactured using mRNA technology. Since then, other manufacturers have built their own vaccines which utilize adenovirus vector, whole inactivated coronavirus, and protein subunit methods. Given the continued mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a booster of the COVID-19 vaccine offers additional protection for citizens, especially those with comorbid conditions. However, uptake of the vaccine and booster has faced hurdles. This literature review aims to analyze the acceptance of the COVID-19 booster among different populations throughout the world. Keywords searched include "COVID-19 vaccine rates OR COVID-19 booster rates," "COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy," "COVID-19 booster hesitancy," "reasons against COVID-19 vaccine," "reasons for COVID-19 vaccine," and "COVID-19 vaccine acceptance" (for each country). Research articles indexed in PubMed, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library, and Google Scholar were included. Despite the proven effectiveness of the COVID-19 booster, vaccine hesitancy is still causing suboptimal compliance to the primary vaccine and booster, thus slowing down control of the pandemic. Reasons for vaccine hesitancy differ by country and acceptance is affected by misinformation, political circumstances, and cultural values. Among the most common reasons found are distrust in the government, a lack of safety information, and fear of side effects. Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine has also been delayed in low and middle income countries due to resource allocation and as a result, these countries have fallen behind vaccination benchmarks. The future of COVID-19 vaccination is unknown, but vaccine mandates and additional booster doses are a possibility. Determining the ethical impact that these policies could have will allow for the best implementation.

Vaccination and Mortality of Patients with a Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19): A Global Approach

Aim. The aim is to study the correlation between the vaccination rate (VR) and mortality rate of patients with COVID-19 (MpCOV). Methods. The countries with gross domestic product per capita corrected for purchasing power parity (GDP PPP) over $ 10,000 were selected for an ecologic study. The city-states and countries with a population of <1,000,000 were excluded. The number of patients who died from COVID-19 within a week was divided by the number of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 within a week 20 days earlier to calculate MpCOV. Results. We included 85 countries. VR (r = -0.604;p < 0.001) and GDPpcPPP level (r = -0.542;p < 0.001) significantly correlate with MpCOV. Multivariate analysis showed that VR (p = 0.001), rather than GDPpcPPP level (p = 0.202), is an independent determinant of MpCOV. There was no significant difference in MpCOV between groups of countries with VR <20 % and 20-39 % (1.96 [1.21;4.67] vs. 1.96 [1.01;3.36] %;p = 0.464). MpCOV was higher in countries where VR were lower when groups of countries with VR of 20-39 %, 40-59 %, 60-79 %, and ≥80 % were compared (1.96 [1.01;3.36] vs. 1.11 [0.76;1.64] vs. 0.50 [0.39;1.00] vs. 0.16 [0.10;0.21];p = 0.003;p = 0.020, and p = 0.008). Conclusions. An increase in VR correlates with a decrease in MpCOV. © 2022 Russian Journal of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Coloproctology

How to control the spatiotemporal spread of Omicron in the region with low vaccination rates.

Currently, finding ways to effectively control the spread of Omicron in regions with low vaccination rates is an urgent issue. In this study, we use a district-level model for predicting the COVID-19 symptom onset risk to explore and control the whole process of spread of Omicron in South Africa at a finer spatial scale. We found that in the early stage of the accelerated spread, Omicron spreads rapidly from the districts at the center of human mobility to other important districts of the human mobility network and its peripheral districts. In the subsequent diffusion-contraction stage, Omicron rapidly spreads to districts with low human mobility and then mainly contracts to districts with the highest human mobility. We found that increasing daily vaccination rates 10 times mainly reduced the symptom onset risk in remote areas with low human mobility. Implementing Alert Level 5 in the three districts at the epicenter, and Alert Level 1 in the remaining 49 districts, the spatial spread related to human mobility was effectively restricted, and the daily onset risk in districts with high human mobility also decreased by 20-80%.

Comparison of prevalence, clinical evolution, and vaccination rate against covid 19 in a population of patients diagnosed with dual depression and non-dual depression

Introduction: Since the beginning of the pandemic, 4,745,519 cases, 396,878 hospitalizations and 82,884 deaths with COVID-19 have been reported in Spain. As of August 24, 2021, 76.4% of Andalusians over 12 years of age have the complete vaccination regimen Objectives: Main: to calculate the prevalence of COVID19 infection, clinical evolution and vaccination rate in a population of patients diagnosed with dual depression. Secondary: compare these data with those obtained in patients diagnosed with non-dual depression Methods: Retrospective descriptive study. The study population is made up of patients diagnosed with dual depression and non-dual depression (according to DSM 5 criterion). Infection, admission, death, and vaccination data were obtained from the patient's medical history Results: Of the 10 patients diagnosed with dual depression, the prevalence of COVID 19 infection, since the beginning of the pandemic is 0% and of the 30 patients diagnosed with non-dual depression the prevalence is 3.33% (1/28). Of the patients with COVID 19 infection, none required hospital admission and no deaths occurred. The vaccination rate in the group of patients with dual depression is 30% (3/10) and in the group of non-dual depression is 86.66% (26/30), finding statistically significant differences (P<0.01) between both groups. Conclusion(s): In our study the prevalence of COVID 19 infection in patients diagnosed with dual depression is 0% and the vaccination rate is 30%. While in patients with non-dual depression the prevalence is 3.33%, there were no admissions, no deaths and the vaccination rate is 86.66%.

Prevalence and covid 19 vaccination rate in a population of patients with schizophrenia and a substance use disorder

Introduction: As of August 27th, 2021, the diagnosed cases of COVID 19 in Spain are 4 758 003 with a prevalence of 10.03%. 68.4% of the Spanish population is fully vaccinated Objectives: Primary: To compare the prevalence of COVID infection in a cohort of patients with schizophrenia to patients with a dual diagnosis of schizophrenia and substance use disorder Secondary: To compare the rate of fully vaccinated patients diagnosed with schizophrenia with and without a coexisting substance use disorder. Method(s): Retrospective descriptive study. The population in study is made up of patients with schizophrenia (46) and dual diagnosis schizophrenia (28) (following DSM 5 criteria) Confirmed cases were those cases with positive PCR Results: There was not a stadistically significant difference in the prevalence of COVID 19 infection between both groups of patients. The prevalence of COVID infection among the dual diagnosis schizophrenia was 3.57% compared to 6.5% in those without coexisting substance abuse disorder. Relative to vaccination rate, we didn't find a stadistically significant difference between both groups. However, there was a higher vaccination rate in the dual diagnosis schizophrenia group (82.12%) compared to the non-dual diagnosis schizophrenia group (69.56%) Conclusion(s): The prevalence of COVID 19 infection in the dual diagnosis schizophrenia cohort is 3.57% and in the group of patients with schizophrenia without substance abuse disorder is 6,5%. In those with dual diagnosis schizophrenia the vaccination rate was un 82.12%. It was 69.56% in those without coexisting substance abuse disorder.

The sources of the Kuznets relationship between the COVID-19 mortality rate and economic performance.

This paper discusses the findings of an empirical analysis of the Kuznets, or reverse U-shaped relationship, between the COVID-19 mortality rate and economic performance. In the early stages of economic development, the COVID-19 mortality rate is anticipated to rise with rising economic activity and urbanization. Eventually, the mortality rate decreases at higher economic development levels as people and the government are more capable of investing in disease abatement measures. The quality of political institutions, wealth distribution, urbanization, vaccination rate, and improvements in healthcare systems are hypothesized to affect the COVID-19 mortality rate. Examining this relationship can be effective in understanding the change in the COVID-19 mortality rate at different economic performance stages and in identifying appropriate preventive measures. This study employed the negative binomial regression to model a cross-sectional dataset of 137 countries. Results indicated that the relationship between the per-head gross domestic product (GDP) level and the COVID-19 mortality rate appeared to follow a pattern like the Kuznets curve, implying that changes in institutional quality, healthcare advancements, wealth distribution, urbanization, vaccination rate, and the percentage of the elderly population were significant in explaining the relationship. Improvement of the healthcare system has a notable effect on lowering the COVID-19 mortality rate under more effective government conditions. Additionally, the results suggested that a higher per-head GDP is required to reverse the rising trend of the mortality rate under higher income inequality. Based on these results, preventive measures, and policies to reduce COVID-19 mortalities were recommended in the conclusion section.