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May 6, 2021
BNT162b2 MRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Induces Antibodies of Broader Cross-reactivity than Natural Infection but Recognition of Mutant Viruses Is up to 10-fold Reduced
Antibodies induced by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had higher binding capacities (avidity) than antibodies induced by natural infection against the receptor binding domain (RBD) containing mutations representative of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (N501Y, K417N, E484K, and a combination of all three). Vaccine-induced sera (n=6) had 2.5- to 3-fold reduced binding to a RBD containing the…
Association Between Vaccination With BNT162b2 and Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections Among Health Care Workers
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was associated with a 93% lower incidence of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and 86% lower incidence of asymptomatic infection more than 7 days after the second dose in a retrospective cohort of healthcare workers (HCWs) in Israel (n=6,710). The median follow-up period was 63 days. While vaccination was associated with older age and…
Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 90% effective against PCR-confirmed infection with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 and 75% effective against the B.1351 variant 14 days after the second dose, according to a nationwide case-control analysis in Qatar through March 2021. Individuals with positive and negative PCR tests were matched on demographics and reason for PCR testing to…
Implementation of SARS-CoV2 Screening in K-12 Schools Using In-School Pooled Molecular Testing and Deconvolution by Rapid Antigen Test
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Large-scale implementation of pooled testing for routine screening of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was demonstrated to be feasible across 592 schools in Massachusetts between January and April 2021. During the study period, 259,726 individuals were tested across 50,636 pools (mean swabs per pool = 7) with a median turnaround time of 21 hours….
Revelations from the Clinic: Protective Behaviors and Perceptions among People at High Risk for Severe Illness from COVID-19
A survey conducted among residents in rural Michigan (n=150) found that those classified as being at high risk for COVID-19 did not respond significantly differently regarding their level of concern about the pandemic or protective behaviors compared to healthy controls. Among high-risk individuals, no significant differences were observed between those who acknowledged their status (n=73)…
May 5, 2021
Modeling of Future COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Rates and Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Scenarios — United States, April–September 2021
Data from six models forecasting US COVID-19 projections with the 50% more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant up to September 2021 found that across 4 scenarios with varying levels of vaccination and non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) use, cases would rise and peak through May 2021 and sharply decline by July 2021. High vaccination scenarios predicted a faster decline….
Effect of Manual and Digital Contact Tracing on COVID-19 Outbreaks: A Study on Empirical Contact Data
A model assessing the impact of contact tracing on epidemic size reduction suggests that for manual contact tracing, as the fraction of contacts correctly recalled increases there are linear reductions in epidemic size while reductions were quadratically reduced with digital contact tracing via apps, as both case and contact need to be running the app….
Rapid Emergence and Epidemiologic Characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.526 Variant — New York City, New York, January 1–April 5, 2021
The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.526 variant, a variant of concern/interest (VOC/VOI) first described in New York City (NYC), does not appear to lead to more severe disease, increased risk of infection after vaccination, or increased risk of reinfection according to preliminary analyses of infections with sequenced virus matched to epidemiologic characteristics in NYC from January to April…
SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: The Euro-COVIMID Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study
In a study including 3,028 patients in Europe with immune-mediated inflammatory disease, symptomatic COVID-19 occurred in 4% (n=122) and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected in 5% (n=166) of patients between June and December 2020. Symptomatic COVID-19 was associated with higher concentrations of C-reactive protein (OR=1.2) and higher numbers of disease flares (OR=1.3). Saadoun et al. (Apr 2021)….
Persistent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms after COVID-19 a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] In a systematic review and meta-analysis of neuropsychiatric symptoms in COVID-survivors (51 studies of 18,917 COVID-19 survivors), sleep disturbance was the most common neuropsychiatric symptom with a pooled prevalence of 27%, followed by fatigue (24%), objective cognitive impairment (also known as brain fog, 20%), anxiety (19%), and post-traumatic stress (16%). Mean duration…
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