Impact of incentives on COVID-19 vaccination; A systematic review.

Introduction: Although vaccination is the most effective way to limit and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, a considerable fraction of them are not intended to get vaccinated. This study aims to investigate the existing research evidence and evaluate the effectiveness and consequences of all incentives provided for increasing the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), and SCOPUS from 2020 until October 10, 2021, was conducted on experimental studies evaluating the effects of incentives including cash, lottery voucher, and persuasive messages on COVID-19 vaccination intention and uptake. The study selection process, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted independently by two investigators using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT 2010) checklist. Results: Twenty-four records were included in the qualitative analysis. Most of the included studies assessed the effect of financial incentives. In 14 studies (58%) the assessed outcome was vaccination uptake and in nine (37.5%) others it was vaccination intention. One study considered self-reported vaccination status as the outcome. This study shows that high financial incentives and the Vax-a-million lottery are attributed to a higher vaccination rate, while the low amount of financial incentives, other lotteries, and persuasive messages have small or non-significant effects. Conclusion: Paying a considerable amount of cash and Vax-a-million lottery are attributed to a higher vaccination. Nevertheless, there is a controversy over the effect of other incentives including other lotteries, low amount of cash, and messages on vaccination. It is noteworthy that, inconsistency and imprecision of included studies should be considered.

Impact of incentives on COVID-19 vaccination;A systematic review

Introduction Although vaccination is the most effective way to limit and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, a considerable fraction of them are not intended to get vaccinated. This study aims to investigate the existing research evidence and evaluate the effectiveness and consequences of all incentives provided for increasing the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. Methods A systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), and SCOPUS from 2020 until October 10, 2021, was conducted on experimental studies evaluating the effects of incentives including cash, lottery voucher, and persuasive messages on COVID-19 vaccination intention and uptake. The study selection process, data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted independently by two investigators using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT 2010) checklist. Results Twenty-four records were included in the qualitative analysis. Most of the included studies assessed the effect of financial incentives. In 14 studies (58%) the assessed outcome was vaccination uptake and in nine (37.5%) others it was vaccination intention. One study considered self-reported vaccination status as the outcome. This study shows that high financial incentives and the Vax-a-million lottery are attributed to a higher vaccination rate, while the low amount of financial incentives, other lotteries, and persuasive messages have small or non-significant effects. Conclusion Paying a considerable amount of cash and Vax-a-million lottery are attributed to a higher vaccination. Nevertheless, there is a controversy over the effect of other incentives including other lotteries, low amount of cash, and messages on vaccination. It is noteworthy that, inconsistency and imprecision of included studies should be considered.

Epidemic size, trend and spatiotemporal mapping of SARS-CoV-2 using geographical information system in Alborz Province, Iran.

BACKGROUND: The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iran were reported in Qom city. Subsequently, the neighboring provinces and gradually all 31 provinces of Iran were involved. This study aimed to investigate the case fatility rate, basic reproductive number in different period of epidemic, projection of daily and cumulative incidence cases and also spatiotemporal mapping of SARS-CoV-2 in Alborz province, Iran. METHODS: A confirmed case of COVID-19 infection was defined as a case with a positive result of viral nucleic acid testing in respiratory specimens. Serial interval (SI) was fitted by gamma distribution and considered the likelihood-based R0 using a branching process with Poisson likelihood. Seven days average of cases, deaths, doubling times and CFRs used to draw smooth charts. kernel density tool in Arc GIS (Esri) software has been employed to compute hot spot area of the study site. RESULTS: The maximum-likelihood value of R0 was 2.88 (95%, CI: 2.57-3.23) in the early 14 days of epidemic. The case fatility rate for Alborz province (Iran) on March 10, was 8.33% (95%, CI:6.3-11), and by April 20, it had an increasing trend and reached 12.9% (95%,CI:11.5-14.4). The doubling time has been increasing from about two days and then reached about 97 days on April 20, 2020, which shows the slowdown in the spread rate of the disease. Also, from March 26 to April 2, 2020 the whole Geographical area of Karj city was almost affected by SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS: The R0 of COVID-19 in Alborz province was substantially high at the beginning of the epidemic, but with preventive measures and public education and GIS based monitoring of the cases,it has been reduced to 1.19 within two months. This reduction highpoints the attainment of preventive measures in place, however we must be ready for any second epidemic waves during the next months.

Characteristics of Children With Kawasaki Disease-Like Signs in COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.

Recent studies have shown that several children diagnosed with COVID-19 have developed Kawasaki Disease (KD)-like symptoms. This systematic review aims to assess the demographic, laboratory, and clinical characteristics of children with KD-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate efficacy of treatments and patients' outcome. A comprehensive search was carried out systematically through PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), medRxiv, and bioRxiv by two reviewers independently for all studies or preprints data on the demographic, laboratory, and clinical characteristics of children with K.D-like signs during the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall, 378 studies were identified by the systematic search, of which 25 studies were included in the study. The included studies involved 599 patients in total. Thirteen studies (52%) were case reports or case series, and the rest (48%) were cohort studies. In 19 studies, patients were diagnosed with Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). In 16 studies COVID-19 was diagnosed in all patients based on their polymerase chain reaction result, serological findings, and computed tomography results. Higher C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate level were the most prevalent laboratory findings. In most studies, patients had leucopenia with marked lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia, and increased ferritin, as well as hyponatremia. Abnormal echocardiography and respiratory outcomes were the most common clinical outcomes. In 11 studies, all patients required intensive care unit admission. Findings of the present systematic review show that the incidence of KD-like syndrome in the COVID-19 pandemic increased significantly. Moreover, this study offers new insights in the KD-like syndrome pathogenesis and clinical spectrum during COVID-19 pandemic.

The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): A PRISMA Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical and Paraclinical Characteristics.

An outbreak of pneumonia, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), was identified in China in December 2019. This virus expanded worldwide, causing global concern. Although clinical, laboratory, and imaging features of COVID-19 are characterized in some observational studies, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the frequency of these features. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis using three databases to identify clinical, laboratory, and computerized tomography (CT) scanning features of rRT-PCR confirmed cases of COVID-19. Data for 3420 patients from 30 observational studies were included. Overall, the results showed that fever (84.2%, 95% CI 82.6-85.7), cough (62%, 95% CI 60-64), and fatigue (39.4%, 95% CI 37.2-41.6%) are the most prevalent symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Increased CRP level, decreased lymphocyte count, and increased D-dimer level were the most common laboratory findings. Among COVID-19 patients, 92% had a positive CT finding, most prevalently ground-glass opacification (GGO) (60%, 95% CI 58-62) and peripheral distribution opacification (64%, 95% CI 60-69). These results demonstrate the clinical, paraclinical, and imaging features of COVID-19.