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Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health

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A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Vaccines and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 6828

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mathumalar Fahrni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam, Malaysia
Interests: infectious disease pharmacoepidemiology; health services research; public health and clinical research; pharmacy management; population-based data

Dr. Antonio Ivan Lazzarino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Imperial College, London, UK
Interests: epidemiology; hospital management and quality indicators; population studies using electronic health record linkage; infectious disease epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019, the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing Ebola and Lassa fever epidemics in western and central Africa demonstrate the urgent need for the public to receive the vaccines and therapeutics against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Vaccines are an efficient and affordable preventive measure against infectious diseases that can affect both children and adults. Economic studies showing that immunisations for children and adults are associated with low cost-effectiveness ratios and societal savings highlight the importance of vaccines. The percentages of vaccine coverage recorded in industrialised and developing nations for the target immunisation populations (children, adults, high-risk individuals, particular population groupings) nevertheless continue to be below the advised levels. One of the reasons for low vaccination coverage rates is vaccine hesitance, which is defined as a “delay in accepting or refusing vaccines notwithstanding the availability of vaccine services”. The perceived danger of disease, the accessibility of vaccines, and vaccine confidence all affect vaccine reluctance. To attain high vaccination rates, vaccination programme confidence must be high.

We are pleased to invite you to submit research articles and review articles examining current global trends in vaccination for emerging infectious diseases, including (but not limited to) mosquito-borne diseases, COVID-19, and human monkeypox surrounding the following themes:

Impact of health determinants on the success of vaccination programmes
Implementation and prioritisation strategies of vaccination programmes in low-income countries;
Global equitable access to vaccines and measures to support global stockpile for rapid deployment during outbreaks;
The impact of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants on vaccine efficacy, mortality, morbidity, and other clinical outcomes;
Role of vaccination to control a pandemic and to contain the spread of infectious diseases.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Mathumalar Loganathan Fahrni
Dr. Antonio Ivan Lazzarino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

emerging infectious disease
SARS-CoV-2
human monkeypox
dengue
henipavirus
public health
population-based studies
modelling
social impact
equitable access
vaccination

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Interpreting Vaccination Strategies in a Nationwide Demographic Study

by Igor Age Kos, Faissal Nemer Hajar, Gustavo Sarot Pereira da Cunha, Claudia Corte, Luisa Augusto Furlan, André Santa Maria, Douglas Valverde, Bárbara Emoingt Furtado, Miguel Morita Fernandes-Silva and Valderilio Feijó Azevedo

Vaccines 2024, 12(6), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12060581 (registering DOI) - 26 May 2024

Abstract

Objective: Brazil was strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its continental dimension and socio-demographic characteristics pose challenges to distribution and accessibility, making vaccination programs challenging. The objectives of the study were to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of the general population vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 2021 and analyze the strategies implemented during the vaccination program. Study design and setting: A retrospective nationwide study that analyzed data from the OpenDataSUS platform of the Informatics Department of the Brazilian Ministry of Health (DataSUS), which contains information from all individuals in Brazil who have received at least one dose of any vaccine against COVID-19 approved by the National Health Agency (ANVISA) from 17 January to 3 October 2021. Results: Until 3 October, a total of 146,254,578 persons (68.6 per 100 inhabitants) received at least one dose of a vaccine in Brazil. The north and northeast regions had the lowest vaccination rates compared with the remaining regions (North: 56.8, Northeast: 62.0, South: 74.4, and Southeast: 73.2 per 100 inhabitants). Elderly individuals had the highest vaccination rates, particularly those above 70 years old. Heterologous dosing regimens were administered to 1,063,079 individuals (0.7% of those receiving the first dose). Conclusions: The COVID-19 vaccination program reached more than two-thirds of the population in Brazil by 9 months after its start, but the vaccination coverage was heterogeneous, reflecting the country’s geographic and socio-demographic characteristics. Establishing priority groups for vaccination was a main characteristic of the vaccination strategy. In addition, technology transfer agreements have played an important role in increasing vaccine accessibility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health)

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28 pages, 2837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Supply and Demand Dynamics of Vaccines against Epidemic-Prone Pathogens: Case Study of Ebola Virus Disease

by Donovan Guttieres, Charlot Diepvens, Catherine Decouttere and Nico Vandaele

Vaccines 2024, 12(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12010024 - 25 Dec 2023

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Abstract

Health emergencies caused by epidemic-prone pathogens (EPPs) have increased exponentially in recent decades. Although vaccines have proven beneficial, they are unavailable for many pathogens. Furthermore, achieving timely and equitable access to vaccines against EPPs is not trivial. It requires decision-makers to capture numerous interrelated factors across temporal and spatial scales, with significant uncertainties, variability, delays, and feedback loops that give rise to dynamic and unexpected behavior. Therefore, despite progress in filling R&D gaps, the path to licensure and the long-term viability of vaccines against EPPs continues to be unclear. This paper presents a quantitative system dynamics modeling framework to evaluate the long-term sustainability of vaccine supply under different vaccination strategies. Data from both literature and 50 expert interviews are used to model the supply and demand of a prototypical Ebolavirus Zaire (EBOV) vaccine. Specifically, the case study evaluates dynamics associated with proactive vaccination ahead of an outbreak of similar magnitude as the 2018–2020 epidemic in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The scenarios presented demonstrate how uncertainties (e.g., duration of vaccine-induced protection) and design criteria (e.g., priority geographies and groups, target coverage, frequency of boosters) lead to important tradeoffs across policy aims, public health outcomes, and feasibility (e.g., technical, operational, financial). With sufficient context and data, the framework provides a foundation to apply the model to a broad range of additional geographies and priority pathogens. Furthermore, the ability to identify leverage points for long-term preparedness offers directions for further research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health)

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21 pages, 528 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Willingness of Healthcare Workers in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to Vaccinate against Human Monkeypox: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

by Sirwan Khalid Ahmed, Salar Omer Abdulqadir, Rukhsar Muhammad Omar, Safin Hussein, Karzan Qurbani, Mona Gamal Mohamed, Hazhar Talaat Abubaker Blbas, Mathumalar Loganathan Fahrni and Antonio Ivan Lazzarino

Vaccines 2023, 11(12), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11121734 - 21 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1520

Abstract

Although human monkeypox infections had not been recorded in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as of August 2023, the rapid growth of cases worldwide and the detection of monkeypox in neighboring Middle Eastern nations call for careful planning and timely response measures. Educating and empowering frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) so that they can act to curb the spread of monkeypox infections are core elements of primary prevention and protecting public health. Therefore, this study aimed to assess HCWs’ knowledge and attitudes about monkeypox and their willingness to vaccinate against monkeypox. By employing a convenience sampling method, an online survey was disseminated via Google Forms between 1 November 2022 and 15 January 2023. The researchers utilized regression analyses to ascertain the factors associated with the three parameters: knowledge, attitude, and the willingness to vaccinate. A total of 637 HCWs were included in the analysis (ages ranged between 21 and 51 years). The mean overall scores were 8.18 of a max score of 16 (SD 3.37), 3.4 of 5 (SD 1.37), and 2.41 of 5 (SD 1.25) for knowledge, attitude, and willingness to vaccinate, respectively. A multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that HCWs who had heard about monkeypox before 2022 rather than later had a higher level of knowledge (AOR: 4.85; 95% CI: 2.81–8.36; p < 0.001). In addition, those who had newly joined the workforce or had less than 1 year experience in practice had more positive attitudes about curbing monkeypox (AOR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.20–0.59; p < 0.01) than those who practiced for longer. No significant predictors of willingness to vaccinate against monkeypox were identified. The research revealed that HCWs exhibited a relatively low level of monkeypox knowledge. They also had poor attitudes towards monkeypox vaccination and were therefore reluctant to receive the vaccines. Imparting knowledge about the infectious disease can cultivate better awareness and attitudes among HCWs as to their roles in mitigating the spread of an epidemic in the foreseeable future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health)

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26 pages, 1821 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Safety, Efficacy, and Ill Intent: Examining COVID-19 Vaccine Perceptions among the New Undervaccinated Moveable Middle in a U.S. Cohort, October 2022

by Rachael Piltch-Loeb, Kate Penrose, Eva Stanton, Angela M. Parcesepe, Yanhan Shen, Sasha A. Fleary and Denis Nash

Vaccines 2023, 11(11), 1665; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11111665 - 31 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1132

Abstract

Individuals who received their primary vaccine series only (with no subsequent booster) may be a new type of “moveable middle” given their receipt of the original COVID-19 vaccination. One population within the moveable middle for whom tailored interventions may be needed is individuals with common mental disorders (CMD). The purpose of this paper is to understand the vaccine perceptions among this new moveable middle—the undervaccinated—and within the undervaccinated to examine the extent to which COVID-19 vaccine perceptions and motivations differ among those with and without symptoms of CMD. Using data from the CHASING COVID Cohort, we examine the relationship between vaccination status, CMD, and vaccine perceptions in the undervaccinated. Among 510 undervaccinated participants who had completed the primary vaccine series but were not boosted, the most common reasons for undervaccination focused on efficacy (not seeing a need for an additional dose, 42.4%; there not being enough evidence that a booster dose is effective, 26.5%; already having had COVID-19, 19.6%). Other concerns were related to safety (long-term side effects, 21.0%; short-term side effects, 17.6%) and logistics (plan to get a booster but haven’t had time yet, 18.8%). Overall, the greatest vaccine concerns (over 30%) for the undervaccinated focused on efficacy and safety issues. Symptoms of depression or anxiety were associated with lower levels of vaccine efficacy and greater safety concerns in adjusted models. The implications of our study are that campaigns that are hoping to maximize vaccination uptake should consider focusing on and emphasizing messaging on efficacy and safety issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health)

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10 pages, 568 KiB

Open AccessCommentary

Sustainable Dengue Prevention and Management: Integrating Dengue Vaccination Strategies with Population Perspectives

by Asrul Akmal Shafie, Edson Duarte Moreira, Jr., Gabriela Vidal, Alberta Di Pasquale, Andrew Green, Rie Tai and Joanne Yoong

Vaccines 2024, 12(2), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12020184 - 12 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1720

Abstract

The GEMKAP study (2023) unveiled consistent knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) levels across Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America (LATAM) countries regarding dengue, with variations in the willingness to vaccinate. Despite an overall KAP parity, the disparities within and between the countries indicated the need for both overarching and tailored strategies. Population-wide gaps in dengue awareness result in suboptimal vaccination priorities and preventive measures. This commentary delves into identifying the drivers and barriers for implementing a multi-pronged dengue prevention and management program, emphasizing the pivotal role of vaccination alongside education and vector control. Drawing on expert interviews in APAC and LATAM, informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), four key themes emerged: prioritizing and continuously advocating for dengue on national health agendas, fostering stakeholder collaboration, incorporating population perspectives for behavioral change, and designing sustainable dengue prevention and management programs. Successful implementation requires evidence-based decision making and a comprehensive understanding of population dynamics to design adaptive education tailored to diverse population views. This commentary provides actionable strategies for enhancing dengue prevention and management, with a pronounced emphasis on dengue vaccination, advocating for a holistic, population-centric approach for sustained effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccination Strategies for Global Public Health)

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