Article Summary
April 7, 2021
Unraveling Attributes of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the U.S. A Large Nationwide Study
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A study conducted in December 2020-January 2021, among 34,470 US users of a COVID-19-focused smartphone-based app found that 83% of respondents were accepting of the vaccine. Among users who expressed vaccine hesitancy, the majority were undecided about accepting vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was significantly higher among females, younger people, minority and low-income communities,…
Antibody Persistence through 6 Months after the Second Dose of MRNA-1273 Vaccine for Covid-19
Neutralizing antibody activity elicited by the Moderna vaccine remained high 6 months after the second dose in all 33 adults in an ongoing phase 1 trial, as measured by 3 different serologic assays. Binding antibody half-life estimates after day 43 for all the participants were 52 days when calculated via an exponential decay model (assumes…
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG Responses in Convalescent versus Naïve BNT162b2 Vaccine Recipients
IgG responses measured 14 days after the first and second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine among convalescent individuals (n = 12) and age- and sex-matched individuals with no prior infection (n = 54) showed that convalescent individuals showed higher absolute anti-S1/S2 IgG levels (220 ± 42 vs. 37 ± 3 AU/ml) compared to naïve vaccinees at 14 days after the first dose….
SARS-CoV-2 Is Detectable Using Sensitive RNA Saliva Testing Days before Viral Load Reaches Detection Range of Low-Sensitivity Nasal Swab Tests
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A case-control study that collected twice-daily self-collected samples from household contacts of individuals recently diagnosed with a SARS-CoV-2 infection found that SARS-CoV-2 RNA was first detectable in saliva samples and subsequently detectable in samples from nasal swabs. The study found that high-sensitivity tests that use saliva can detect SARS-CoV-2 infection 1.5 to…
Real World Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Nasopharyngeal Swab Testing in a High Burden COVID-19 Region
An observational analysis of hospitalized US patients who were retested for SARS-CoV-2 due to high clinician concern for a potential false-negative found that 7/160 (4.4%) patients with an initial negative nasopharyngeal PCR test had a subsequent positive test within 48 hours. The authors conclude that routine retesting for SARS-CoV-2 is not indicated and should only…
Phylogenetic Estimates of SARS-CoV-2 Introductions into Washington State
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A phylogenetic analysis of 11,422 publicly available whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences found a minimum of 287 separate introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into Washington State in samples collected through September 2020. The majority of introductions into Washington came from a source within the US (61%, range 55-65%) while 39% (range 35-45%) likely came from…
No Evidence of Infectious SARS-CoV-2 in Human Milk Analysis of a Cohort of 110 Lactating Women
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A cohort study of lactating individuals found that while SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be found in the breastmilk of some people with recent infection, there was no evidence that it contained infectious virus or that breastfeeding posed a risk of infection to infants. Breast milk samples from 110 individuals (65 confirmed positive, 36…
Risk Quantification for SARS-CoV-2 Infection through Airborne Transmission in University Settings
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An infection probability model of SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in US universities found that in-person lectures can likely be held safely in large lecture halls that allow for social distancing (infection probability <1%), while classes in smaller rooms may not be safe. In addition, while in-person dining may pose higher risk, meals for…
Effects of Worldwide Interventions and Vaccination on COVID-19 between Waves and Countries
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that had the greatest contributions to the decay ratio of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the first wave were restrictions on gatherings (27.8% contribution), use of face masks (16.8%), and school closures (10.1%), while in the second wave face masks (30%), restrictions on gatherings (17.5%), and international travel restrictions (9.2%)…
April 6, 2021
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Identity-Based Public Health Announcements in Increasing the Likelihood of Complying with COVID-19 Guidelines: An Online Experiment
Public Service Announcements (PSA) tailored to match the identity of the viewer increase the likelihood that the viewer reported a willingness to comply with mask-use and stay-at-home policies. In this cross-sectional online experiment of Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (n=292), a PSA tailored for Christians when matched with a Christian identity increased likelihood of reported compliance…
Previous page Next page