Journal of travel medicine
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Omicron, a fast-spreading SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern reported to the World Health Organization on 24 November 2021, has raised international alarm. We estimated there is at least 50% chance that Omicron had been introduced by travellers from South Africa into 11 of the 14 countries studied by 28 November 2021.
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Inactivated vaccine BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm; 95% (95%CI: 94%,97%)) and the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech; 98% (95%CI: 86%,99%)) demonstrated protection against COVID-19 related hospitalizations from the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant. Ongoing efforts are necessary to target vaccine hesitancy and promote booster shots for protection against severe COVID-19 disease and arising variants of concern.
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Ethnoracial groups in high-income countries have a 2-fold higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, associated hospitalizations, and mortality than Whites. Migrants are an ethnoracial subset that may have worse COVID-19 outcomes due to additional barriers accessing care, but there are limited data on in-hospital outcomes. We aimed to disaggregate and compare COVID-19 associated hospital outcomes by ethnicity, immigrant status and region of birth. ⋯ Data disaggregated by region of birth identified subgroups of immigrants at increased risk of COVID-19 ICU admission, providing more actionable data for health policymakers to address health inequities.