Recent Publications

• Vaccination strategies when vaccines are scarce: On conflicts between reducing the burden and avoiding the evolution of escape mutants
  F Geoffroy et al, MEDRXIV, May 8, 2021
  
• What Do COVID-19 Vaccines Tell Us About Nucleic Acid Delivery
  Hadjiargyrou Michael, et al. Nucleic acid therapeutics 2021 0 0.
  
• COVID-19 optimal vaccination policies: A modeling study on efficacy, natural and vaccine-induced immunity responses.
  Acuña-Zegarra Manuel Adrian, et al. Mathematical biosciences 2021 0 0. 108614
  
• Impact of Ribosome Activity on SARS-CoV-2 LNP - Based mRNA Vaccines.
  Tsiambas Evangelos, et al. Frontiers in molecular biosciences 2021 0 0. 654866
  
• mRNA technology as one of the promising platforms for the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development.
  Ilyichev A A, et al. Vavilovskii zhurnal genetiki i selektsii 2021 0 0. (7) 802-807
  
• Covid-19: Vaccines will be tested against variants of concern after £29m funding boost from UK government.
  Mahase Elisabeth, et al. BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 2021 0 0. n1163
  
• Identification of a SARS-CoV-2 Variant with L452R and E484Q Neutralization Resistance Mutations.
  Verghese Michelle, et al. Journal of clinical microbiology 2021 0 0.
  
• Drug Repurposing Approach, Potential Drugs, and Novel Drug Targets for COVID-19 Treatment.
  Kifle Zemene Demelash, et al. Journal of environmental and public health 2021 0 0. 6631721
  
• Mathematical modeling and analysis of the novel Coronavirus using Atangana-Baleanu derivative.
  Alzahrani Ebraheem, et al. Results in physics 2021 0 0. 104240
  
• Going Once? Going Twice? Vaccinated!
  CDC COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review, May 7, 2021
  
  While more than 8 in 10 people 65 years and older have received at least one dose of vaccine, only around 1 in 3 people ages 18-29 have. All age groups currently eligible for the vaccine can benefit from the protection it provides themselves and others, especially as more states are easing prevention measures.
• Pfizer COVID vaccine protects against worrying coronavirus variants- Data from Qatar provide strongest evidence yet that COVID-19 vaccines can stop strains thought to pose a threat to immunization efforts.
  E Callaway, Nature, May 6, 2021
  
• Antibody Response to 2-Dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Series in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients.
  Boyarsky Brian J et al. JAMA 2021 5
  
  In this study of the humoral response to 2 doses of mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among solid organ transplant recipients, the majority had detectable antibody responses after the second dose, although participants without a response after dose 1 had generally low antibody levels. Poor humoral response was persistently associated with use of antimetabolite immunosuppression.
• Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections After BNT162b2 Vaccination in a Routinely Screened Workforce.
  Tang Li et al. JAMA 2021 5
  
  This study found an association between vaccination with BNT162b2 in hospital employees and a decreased risk of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections with SARS-CoV-2.
• Association Between Vaccination With BNT162b2 and Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections Among Health Care Workers.
  Angel Yoel et al. JAMA 2021 5
  
  In this retrospective cohort study conducted in Tel Aviv, Israel, that included 6710 health care workers who underwent periodic testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccination with the BNT162b2 vaccine was associated with an adjusted incidence rate ratio of 0.03 for symptomatic infection and 0.14 for asymptomatic infection more than 7 days after the second dose. Both incidence rate ratios were statistically significant.
• On a Discrete SEIR Epidemic Model with Two-Doses Delayed Feedback Vaccination Control on the Susceptible.
  De la Sen Manuel, et al. Vaccines 2021 0 0. (4)
  
• This New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope to the Unvaccinated World - The German company CureVac hopes its RNA vaccine will rival those made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. It could be ready next month.
  C Zimmer, NY Times, May 5, 2021
  
• Moderna booster increases antibodies against COVID-19 variants, early data shows
  C O'Donnell, Reuters, May 6, 2021
  
• Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.351 Variant.
  Shinde Vivek et al. The New England journal of medicine 2021 5
  
  Vaccine efficacy among HIV-negative participants was 60.1% (95% CI, 19.9 to 80.1). Of 41 sequenced isolates, 38 (92.7%) were the B.1.351 variant. Post hoc vaccine efficacy against B.1.351 was 51.0% (95% CI, -0.6 to 76.2) among the HIV-negative participants. Preliminary local and systemic reactogenicity events were more common in the vaccine group; serious adverse events were rare in both groups.
• Effectiveness of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants.
  Abu-Raddad Laith J et al. The New England journal of medicine 2021 5
  
  The estimated effectiveness of the vaccine against any documented infection with the B.1.1.7 variant was 89.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 85.9 to 92.3) at 14 or more days after the second dose (Table 1 and Table S2). The effectiveness against any documented infection with the B.1.351 variant was 75.0% (95% CI, 70.5 to 78.9). Vaccine effectiveness against severe, critical, or fatal disease due to infection with any SARS-CoV-2 (with the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants being predominant within Qatar) was very high, at 97.4% (95% CI, 92.2 to 99.5).
• Interplay between Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Pandemic Control.
  Neuzil Kathleen M et al. The New England journal of medicine 2021 5
  
  The emergence of variant strains is arguably the greatest threat to control of the Covid-19 pandemic. A coordinated global prevention-and-control plan is the only way forward. Global investments in vaccine science and technology must be accompanied by investments in public health, genomic and disease surveillance, and programmatic immunization infrastructure to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 and future pandemics.