Immunization

Researchers from Boston College and Microsoft Research may have found a way to combat these low percentages.

This week on Pharmacy Times, there are a number of important topics that will be covered and posted throughout the week.

Susan Lang, MA, MBA, CEO of XIL Health and former senior executive at Express Scripts, discusses some of the issues pharmacies are experiencing around staffing to support COVID-19 immunizations and how these issues may change post-pandemic.

The vaccine includes all 13 serotypes in the Prevnar 13 vaccine, as well as conjugates for 7 additional serotypes associated with high case-fatality rates, antibiotic resistance, and meningitis.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about what pharmacists should know about vaccine hesitancy in general.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about the value of the pharmacist in addressing vaccine hesitancy.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about how hospitals are tailoring their approaches to vaccine hesitancy to address social detriments.

Lynlee Burton, head of the Center for Vaccines and Emerging Infectious Diseases at PRA Health Sciences, discusses how the pandemic has impacted the way the United States views the pharmacist within the immunization space.

Jay Lieberman, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and the senior medical director of PRA Health Sciences, discusses how health care professionals should approach discussing issues around vaccine hesitancy with parents.

Pharmacy Times spoke with Tomas Villanueva, DO, MBA, FACPE, SFHM, practicing health care provider, and associate vice president for clinical resources at Vizient, about specific initiatives for health systems and how to help mitigate vaccine hesitancy.

Jay Lieberman, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and the senior medical director of PRA Health Sciences, discusses his decision to enroll his twin daughters in the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial.

The researchers analyzed immunization records for more than 300,000 Texas children from birth to 24 months.

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.