Immunization

David Silverstein, JD, MS, a partner in Axinn’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and FDA practice groups, discusses the challenges posed by the White House’s support for the proposal to the WTO to waive IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

Jay Lieberman, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and the senior medical director of PRA Health Sciences, on the future of COVID-19 disease and vaccines for adolescents and children.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about concerns for healthcare workers that were noticed in the survey and any concerns patients are expressing.

Support groups and patient care clinics have been created to help patients who suffer from lasting effects of the virus.

A recent study found that nearly 3% of insured adults in the United States under the age of 65 years take medications that weaken their immune system.

The investigators found that using the vaccine in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor—an established immunotherapy drug with a 20% success rate overall for patients—can vastly improve the proportion of individuals who respond to treatments, eliminating tumors in 75% of cases in mice.

Pharmacy Times® spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about vaccine hesitancy among health care workers.

The agency also advised that fully vaccinated individuals can resume many activities without wearing a mask or social distancing.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed the CEO of US Pharmacopeia (USP) Ronald Piervincenzi, PhD, to discuss USP’s history, the role of the pharmacist both in that history and in USP’s work today, and USP’s outlook on the future of pharmacy.

The research is a follow-up to a previous study published in March in which the researchers reported that only 17% of participating transplant recipients produced sufficient antibodies after just 1 dose of a 2-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen.

Nasir Iqbal, PharmD, Rphl, the director of pharmacy at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, discusses the COVID-19 vaccine rollout at the Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx.

Kofi Amoah, PharmD, has gained unique pharmacy and health care experience while working to help end the historic COVID-19 pandemic.

Research is ongoing in younger children between the ages of 6 months and 11 years of age, with first doses administered in March 2021.

Rosemarie Leighton, RPh, director of pharmacy, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, discussed the coordination of COVID-19 vaccinations at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.

The study is one of the first to show an association between COVID-19 vaccination and fewer asymptomatic infections, according to the authors.

To accelerate the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Husson University in Bangor, Maine, has announced that it will provide training to any pharmacist, technicians, or intern.

The researchers said that the findings should renew efforts to assure flu vaccination is a routine part of quality cardiovascular care.

Initial data from a phase 2 study showed that a single 50 µg dose of COVID-19 vaccines mRNA-1273 or mRNA-1273.351 given as a booster to individuals who were previously vaccinated increased their neutralizing antibody titer responses against SARS-CoV-2.

Obstacles such as COVID-19 vaccine rollout disparities, vaccine hesitancy, and continuous virus mutation could make herd immunity impossible.

The alliance between pharmaceutical partners and government organizations signals the possibilities of shared resources in meeting global crises.

The companies have also submitted an application to expand the current EUA for the COVID-19 vaccine to include individuals 12 to 15 years of age.

Although pharmacists have largely relied on patients coming into their facility, they should begin going out into the community to build trust in COVID-19 vaccines.

Idaho State University partners with the Idaho Immunization Coalition to effectively and safely vaccinate patients against influenza.

IQVIA researchers saw a sharp uptick in medication usage shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began, followed by a steep fall in the first few months of the pandemic.

The AHA released a report to provide guidance about CVST, TTS, and VITT after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

When looking at the COVID-19 variants, it is increasingly necessary to assess them in terms of the mutations embedded in the variants themselves.

Although young women were the original targets of human papillomavirus vaccine outreach after its approval in 2006, the increasing rates oropharyngeal cancer has made vaccination for young men even more important.

In addition to overall concerns about COVID-19 vaccines patients may have stronger fears about the second vaccine dose since it is often accompanied with more adverse effects.

During a session at the NACDS 2021 Annual Meeting, Scott Gottlieb, MD, former commissioner of the FDA from 2017 to 2019, provided an overview of where the country is heading in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal would also distribute 1000 additional physician residency slots to hospitals in rural areas in an effort to address gaps in equitable care.