I Raise the Rates! January Edition |
|
In this edition of I Raise the Rates (IRtR), you will find a variety of new resources from several public health partners, educational opportunities, and a selection of media articles related to immunization. |
|
Updates from the American College of Physicians (ACP) |
|
ACP and YouTube have released a new video series focused on COVID-19 and vaccine education: "Ask Your Internist," featuring physicians who answer the public's top vaccine-related questions, and "Physician to Physician Conversations," which shares practical strategies for physicians to address vaccine and health misinformation with patients. Several of the episodes will also be offered in Spanish.
Episodes of each of these series can be viewed on the ACP YouTube channel, and new videos will be uploaded to the ACP YouTube channel throughout the next few months.
ACP's quick resource provides descriptions of the video series and tips on how to promote them, including hashtags, sample graphics, and sample posts. ACP members can share the videos with their followers by liking, sharing, and retweeting ACP social media posts or by customizing their own posts to promote the videos.
|
|
ACIP Update:
Recombinant Zoster Vaccine in Immunocompromised Adults
|
|
Featured Articles and Resources |
|
Frequency of Adverse Events in the Placebo Arms
of COVID-19 Vaccine Trials
|
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 5 million deaths worldwide and led to tremendous physical, mental, and economic hardships. Several vaccines have been developed and tested within remarkably short periods. Currently, public vaccination programs have already succeeded in reducing the number of new infections in several countries. However, a substantial proportion of the population (internationally estimated at approximately 20%) intends to refuse vaccination. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization claimed vaccination hesitancy as a global health threat; this threat is particularly salient in the case of COVID-19. Therefore, counteracting the underlying motivations for vaccination hesitancy is crucial to overcoming this worldwide crisis. |
|
People Living with HIV Need Tailored COVID-19
Vaccination Information
|
While most people living with HIV have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, younger and Black individuals are hesitant to get vaccinated and have lower vaccination rates, according to a new study by Rutgers researchers.
The study, published in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, is among the first to examine COVID-19 vaccination efforts based on people living with HIV in the United States.
The researchers nationally surveyed people living with HIV between March and May of 2021—at the onset of the vaccination program—and found that while most individuals had reported receiving at least one dose of a vaccine, certain subgroups had lower intentions of getting vaccinated.
|
|
COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot Cuts Omicron Death Risk
by 95%, U.K. Study Shows
|
Three shots of the COVID-19 vaccine cut the risk of death from Covid-19 by 95% in those aged 50 and older during the Omicron surge in the U.K., according to an early study that showed immunity from vaccination held up well against the worst effects of the disease even among older people who are most at risk.
The analysis conducted by the U.K. Health Security Agency offers a glimpse of how effective vaccination is against death from Omicron in a highly boosted population. In December, the U.K. government hurried to offer boosters to everyone 16 and older, expanding a campaign that up to that point had only applied to people 50 and older and those with certain health conditions.
|
|
Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests Are Now Available |
Every home in the U.S. is now eligible to order four (4) free at-home COVID-19 tests. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.
About the At-Home COVID-19 Tests
The tests available for order:
- Are rapid antigen at-home tests, not PCR
- Can be taken anywhere
- Give results within 30 minutes (no lab drop-off required)
- Work whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms
- Work whether or not you are up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines
- Are also referred to as self-tests or over-the-counter (OTC) tests
|
|
Adult Vaccine Related Updates |
Moderna Launches Clinical Trial for HIV Vaccine that Uses
mRNA Technology
|
On Thursday, January 27th, Moderna announced that it had launched early-stage clinical trials of an HIV mRNA vaccine candidate.
The biotechnology company has teamed up with the nonprofit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to develop the shot, which uses the same technology as Moderna's successful COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a Moderna company statement, the first participants in the Phase I trial were given doses of the vaccine candidate at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.
"We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform," Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI said in a statement. "The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine."
|
|
Study Highlights Health, Economic Benefits of RSV Vaccine
for Older Adults
|
With no existing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine yet, researchers found that a vaccine compared to the influenza vaccine could prevent tens of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths per year.
New research published in Vaccine highlighted the potential of vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in older adults.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that typically causes cold-like symptoms that lead to lower respiratory infections and hospitalizations. While RSV in infants has been heavily researched, there are currently no approved pharmacological treatment or prevention methods for RSV infection in older adults aged 60 and older. Additionally, there is limited literature on the potential economic value of RSV vaccines in this age group.
|
|
Declines in Routine Adult and Teen Vaccinations
Continued in 2021
|
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact healthcare delivery, including the utilization of routine preventive services like vaccines.
In February and June 2021, Avalere released a series of analyses that found persistent and sometimes steep declines in vaccination claims for Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended adolescent and adult vaccines since the start of the pandemic.
The previously reported analyses compared claims submissions for ACIP-recommended vaccines from January to November 2020 to the same months in 2019 across commercial, Managed Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Part B markets. The analyses found that declines in ACIP-recommended adolescent and adult vaccine claims across this timeframe translated into an estimated 26 million missed doses of recommended vaccines.
Key Findings
- Building on the previous analyses, from January 2020 to July 2021, monthly vaccine claims decreased on average by 32% for adults and 36% for adolescents when compared to the same months in 2019.
- Declines in ACIP recommended adolescent and adult vaccinations persisted across all markets from December 2020 to July 2021; across markets, total vaccine claims in this timeframe were between 7% to 64% lower than 2019 claims in adolescents and 15% to 62% lower than 2019 claims in adults.
- From December 2020 to July 2021, adolescents and adults in the studied markets potentially missed approximately 11.1 million recommended vaccine doses compared to 2019.
- Cumulatively, from January 2020 to July 2021, adolescents and adults across the studied markets may have missed an estimated 37.1 million doses of recommended vaccines compared to 2019.
|
|
FDA Gives Clearance of IND Application
for Novel Peanut Allergy Vaccine Candidate
|
On January 26th, Allergy Therapeutics, a biotechnology company specializing in allergy vaccines, announced that the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had cleared the Group’s Investigational New Drug application (IND) for its novel virus-like particle (VLP)-based peanut allergy vaccine candidate (“VLP Peanut”).
The clearance by the FDA of the Group’s IND application paves the way for the initiation of the Phase I PROTECT trial, which will run in the United States.
The trial will include multiple cohorts beginning with healthy subjects, followed by peanut-allergic patients who will undergo skin prick tests, and then peanut-allergic patients who will receive subcutaneous injections. The topline data from the Phase I PROTECT trial in adult patients is expected in H1 2023, earlier than the initially intended data readout of Q4 2023.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
