Journal of travel medicine
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Using spatial modeling techniques, we highlight disparities in access to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) used to treat COVID-19 patients. Fifteen million individuals in the United States must travel over 30 min to access mAbs. Areas with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates have worse access to essential COVID-19 therapeutics.
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Heterologous prime-boost doses of COVID-19 vaccines ('mix-and-match' approach) are being studied to test for the effectiveness of Oxford (AZD1222), Pfizer (BNT162b2), Moderna (mRNA-1273) and Novavax (NVX-CoV2373) vaccines for COVID in 'Com-Cov2 trial' in UK, and that of Oxford and Pfizer vaccines in 'CombivacS trial' in Spain. Later, other heterologous combinations of CoronaVac (DB15806), Janssen (JNJ-78436735), CanSino (AD5-nCOV) and other were also being trialled to explore their effectiveness. Previously, such a strategy was deployed for HIV, Ebola virus, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza and hepatitis B to develop the artificial acquired active immunity. The present review explores the science behind such an approach for candidate COVID-19 vaccines developed using 11 different platforms approved by the World Health Organization. ⋯ Still, large controlled trials are warranted to address challenging variants of concerns including Omicron and other, and to generalize the effectiveness of the approach in regular as well as emergency use during vaccine scarcity.
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Ever since 2020, travelling has become complex, and increasingly so as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. To reopen Europe safely, a consensus of travel measures has been agreed between countries to enable movement between countries with as few restrictions as possible. However, communication of these travel measures and requirements for entry are not always clear and easily available. The aim of this study was to assess the availability, accessibility and harmonization of current travel information available in Europe. ⋯ A comprehensive set of measures has been developed to enable continued safe travel in Europe. However further refinements and coordination is needed to align travel measures throughout the EU to minimize confusion and maximize adherence to requested measures. We recommend that, along with developing travel measures based on a common set of rules, a standard approach is taken to communicate what these measures are.
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Our review found the effective reproduction number and basic reproduction number of the Omicron variant elicited 3.8 and 2.5 times higher transmissibility than the Delta variant, respectively. The Omicron variant has an average basic and effective reproduction number of 8.2 and 3.6.