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The availability of COVID-19 vaccines promised a reduction in the severity of disease and relief from the strict public health and social measures (PHSMs) imposed in many countries to limit spread and burden of COVID-19. We were asked to define vaccine coverage thresholds for Australia's transition to easing restrictions and reopening international borders.
Vaccination scholarship focuses on how privilege, individualized choice and ‘intensive’ and ‘natural’ parenthood – often motherhood – lead people to delay or not vaccinate their children. Recently, examining parents’ vaccination responsibilities – and the inequalities in paid employment and unpaid care work underpinning them – has become important to understand COVID-19.
The eradication of smallpox is considered one of the greatest achievements of humankind, thanks to vaccination. The widespread availability of childhood vaccines has substantially reduced childhood morbidity and mortality. Devastating infections, such as polio, have almost disappeared due to vaccination. In 2021, it was estimated that vaccination against ten selected pathogens will have averted 69 million deaths between 2000 and 2030. Increases in vaccine coverage and introduction of additional vaccines should reduce lifetime mortality by 72% in the 2019 birth cohort. However, access to vaccines that prevent life-threatening and disabling infectious diseases remains unequal.
Concerns regarding adverse events following immunisation are a barrier to vaccine uptake. Health professionals use vaccine safety surveillance systems (VSSSs) to monitor vaccines and inform the public of safety data. With little known about public attitudes, perceptions, and experiences with VSSS, we examined them in the context of COVID-19 vaccinations in Western Australia.
Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg AM FAHMS MD, PhD, DEAA, FANZA Chair of Paediatric anaesthesia, University of Western Australia; Consultant
Early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, evidence emerged that individuals with chronic and immunocompromising conditions faced increased risk of severe infection, including death. The Australian Government and public health authorities prioritised these citizens' access to vaccines, including them in phase 1b of the rollout from 22 March 2021.
During winter months of temperate regions, concurrent epidemics of multiple respiratory pathogens can occur, causing periods of increased clinical burden. Case time series, which are predominantly used to monitor infection levels, can exhibit substantial noise and day-of-the-week effects, limiting the visual interpretation of trends in raw data.
This study adapts the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to explore why COVID-19 vaccine mandates were applied at sectoral and subnational levels in Vietnam while the central government maintained that vaccination was voluntary. Document analysis reveals that these mandates arose from the effective coupling of the three streams—problem, policy, and politics—in a setting of authoritarian rule, where the streams function differently (and more uniformly) compared to democratic contexts.
Type 1 interferons (T1IFNs) are typically expressed in low concentrations under homeostatic conditions, but upon pathogenic insult or perturbation of the pathway, these critical immune signaling molecules can become either protectors from or drivers of pathology. While essential for initiating antiviral defense and modulating inflammation, dysregulation of T1IFN signaling can contribute to immunopathology, making it and its associated pathways prime targets for immune evasion and disruption by pathogens.
Here’s what we know so far about the impact of COVID-19 on children.