Coronavirus

Pharmacy Times spoke with Ilisa Bernstein, APhA senior vice president, Pharmacy Practice and Government Affairs, about the latest FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Patricia C. Kienle, RPh, MPA, BCSCP, FASHP, director of Accreditation and Medication Safety at Cardinal Health and member of US Pharmacopeia’s (USP) Compounding Expert Committee, and Nicole Palmer, the senior manager of USP Volunteer Operations, discuss USP’s volunteer program.

Investigators from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) said that it is crucial to emphasize the importance of vaccinations, as well as the maintenance of public health measures that cut off the spread of the virus.

Investigators found that 65% of patients with cancer and COVID-19 were hospitalized and 17% required admission or transfer to a higher level of care.

Pharmaceutical companies continue trial for GBP510 in conjunction with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant.

Although the average demand for tocilizumab increased by 279% during the study period, fill rates for orders by hospitals dropped from 99% to 45%.

The data represent teens most likely to benefit from the vaccination and are meant to offer reassurance to parents and clinicians, even with small study numbers.

In an interview with Pharmacy Times®, Sachin Nagrani, MD, medical director at the home visit and telemedicine service Heal, discusses the Biden administration's announcement that booster shots will soon be available for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and what this would mean for patients and practitioners.

Pharmacy Times spoke to ASHP’s Vice President of Government Relations Tom Kraus about the recent actions from ASHP urging the HHS to allow pharmacists to provide COVID-19 prophylaxis treatment.

Pharmacists must remain nimble to help patients continue receiving the medications they need, as technology now plays a central role in workflow and medication management.

SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titers against the wild-type strain one month after the booster dose were 3.3 times higher than the titers found one month after the second dose.

Johnson & Johnson previously reported interim results from a phase 1/2a trial demonstrating the antibody responses generated by their vaccine were strong and stable through 8 months following immunization, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A final blinded analysis of data from the phase 3 COVE study found 93% efficacy of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which remained durable through 6 months after the second dose.

With more work and less staff, we need to examine how we can better support pharmacists in the new normal brought on by COVID-19.

The study, conducted by Augusta University, was among the first to examine factors related to vaccine hesitancy among a large African American community sample, according to the authors.

Although not all children are eligible for vaccination, recommendations for schools include masking, testing, and quarantine policies, as well as vaccinations for anyone eligible.

Walgreens also announced expanded age eligibility for flu shots, with pharmacy team members able to vaccinate patients 3 years of age and older.

The first fully approved vaccine for COVID-19 will be marketed under the name Comirnaty.

This week’s recommendation by the Biden administration for booster shots to combat COVID-19 is a call to action for pharmacists to get ready for the upcoming flurry of activity.

The study results indicated a nearly 9-fold increase in likelihood of survival without ventilation (SWOV) among this population, compared to a 2.5-fold increased likelihood of SWOV in the overall population.

But state-to-state communications and inconsistencies related to licensing present legal issues.

The investigators analyzed a panel of antibodies generated in response to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and found that delta was unable to evade all but 1 of the antibodies tested.

Widespread COVID-19 booster shot administration is pending FDA approval and recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA, FACP, FACEP, said that the efficacy of COVID-19 booster vaccines against variants of concern is still relatively unknown, although administering the third shots does increase antibodies as expected.

Specific infection-fighting cells of the immune system found to be downregulated, offering a potential clue to the cause of prolonged COVID-19 illness in children.

An announcement from CDC officials recommending COVID-19 boosters for all adults could come as soon as this week, although doses would only be widely administered once the FDA formally approved the vaccines.

The pandemic taught the pharmacy to provide a deeper level of personalized care and communication than in the past.

The FDA recently authorized COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for immunocompromised individuals, who comprise about 3% of the US population.

CDC publishes a schedule of recommended immunizations, how many doses are required, and at what age they should be administered.

Pharmacists can advocate for teen vaccination by providing informational sessions at local high schools as well as through social media platforms.