COVID

University students are a major target population for infectious disease prevention programmes. Understanding the barriers to implementation of these programmes, and specifically vaccines, among student populations is critical for effective health prevention strategies. To assess changes in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccine delivery programmes, we compared questionnaire-based survey data of two cohorts of first year students from two points, July and October 2021, during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the United Kingdom. We observed a highly significant increase in vaccine uptake without any alteration in vaccine hesitancy, as measured using a modified VAX score between the two survey dates. The October survey confirmed an association of vaccine hesitancy with the Non-White ethnic group and specifically identified concerns with the plurality of vaccine testing as a potential cause of this hesitancy. University pop-ups for COVID-19 vaccine delivery were not extensively utilised but were deemed as strongly or weakly favourable by 28.3% of students. Survey responses indicated that on-campus pop-ups for delivery of MMR and MenACWY were also supported by a significant minority of students.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused substantial global health and economic disruption, and identifying factors associated with adverse outcomes remains essential. This study is a first-wave observational study and examined risk factors and outcomes among patients admitted with COVID-19 to a non-acute hospital during the first wave of the pandemic, with particular focus on social deprivation and frailty. We conducted a retrospective review of clinical notes for 205 patients admitted between December 2019 and June 2020. Frailty was assessed using the Clinical Frailty Score and the Charlson Comorbidity Index, and social deprivation was evaluated using the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. Although more women than men were admitted, mortality rates were similar across sexes. Older age was associated with increased mortality, and ischaemic heart disease was the most common comorbidity, occurring more frequently among patients who died. Those who died also demonstrated greater frailty, reflected in higher frailty and comorbidity scores. Most patients, irrespective of survival, were from less deprived areas, and greater social deprivation was not associated with increased admission or mortality. These findings indicate that older age, frailty, and ischaemic heart disease are important predictors of mortality in non-acute hospital settings, while social deprivation did not appear to influence admission risk or outcomes in this cohort. As this cohort predates widespread vaccination and antiviral therapy, these findings provide insight into baseline risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in frail populations during the first pandemic wave.

The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023) profoundly disrupted healthcare systems and imposed sustained psychological burdens on healthcare professionals and trainees. Reliable instruments are essential for assessing these impacts. This study evaluated the construct validity and reliability of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in a convenience sample of 1761 healthcare professionals, trainees, and academic staff at a single U.S. academic health sciences center (the University of Oklahoma Health Campus). Participants completed the FCV-19S; confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined its dimensional structure; and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω. The one-factor model demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.89; ω = 0.89) but exhibited sub-optimal model fit (CFI = 0.89; TLI = 0.83; SRMR = 0.06; RMSEA = 0.18). The two-factor model, distinguishing emotional and somatic fear, showed substantially improved fit (CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.96; SRMR = 0.03; RMSEA = 0.09) and acceptable internal consistency for both factors (α = 0.85 and 0.86; ω = 0.85 and 0.87), although RMSEA remained above conventional thresholds for close fit. Overall, findings support a two-factor structure as a comparatively superior and more nuanced representation of fear responses among an academic health workforce. The validated FCV-19S offers a reliable tool for assessing COVID-19-related distress in clinical and educational health settings, informing targeted interventions to strengthen workforce resilience.