4. The Politics of Health

Governments are launching booster programmes over fears about waning immunity levels, but vaccines are still highly effective at what matters most – preventing severe disease.

They need consequences, not sympathy.

"The vaccines were transformational," said one doctor. "It was sort of a very visible miracle."

Once, people were asking to be exempted from measures that kept the public safe. Now the reverse is happening.

"It is painfully clear that the developing world cannot rely on the largesse and charity of rich nations and pharmaceutical companies, and hundreds of thousands of people are dying from Covid-19 as a result."

Scientists analyzed data from patients hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms through the Delta variant's surge.

In the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, only a small number of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the U.S. let journalists inside.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick explains why the risk of vaccine side-effects is relatively low and warns about the dangers of vaccine misinformation on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Three charts released by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table demonstrate the vast difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated people when it comes to COVID-19 risks.

The comedian seems to have found a loyal fan base in conservatives and anti-vaxxers who have flocked to his YouTube and Facebook accounts for his rambling vaccine-skeptic views.

Vaccination mandates are a reasonable response to the spread of the variant

"If this pandemic cannot catalyze real change, what will?"

Analysis: the new coronavirus variant seems highly transmissible, but the big question is whether it causes severe disease. Either way, poorer nations will be hit hardest

Background Pre-Delta, vaccination reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission from individuals infected despite vaccination, potentially via reducing viral loads. While vaccination still lowers the risk of infection, similar viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals infected with Delta question how much vaccination prevents transmission. Methods We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of adult contacts of SARS-CoV-2-infected adult index cases using English contact testing data. We used multivariable Poisson regression to investigate associations between transmission and index case and contact vaccination, and how these vary with Alpha and Delta variants (classified using S-gene detection/calendar trends) and time since second vaccination. Results 54,667/146,243(37.4%) PCR-tested contacts of 108,498 index cases were PCR-positive. Two doses of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 vaccines in Alpha index cases were independently associated with reduced PCR-positivity in contacts (aRR, adjusted rate ratio vs. unvaccinated=0.32[95%CI 0.21-0.48] and 0.48[0.30-0.78] respectively). The Delta variant attenuated vaccine-associated reductions in transmission: two BNT162b2 doses reduced Delta transmission (aRR=0.50[0.39-0.65]), more than ChAdOx1 (aRR=0.76[0.70-0.82]). Variation in Ct values (indicative of viral load) explained 7-23% of vaccine-associated transmission reductions. Transmission reductions declined over time post-second vaccination, for Delta reaching similar levels to unvaccinated individuals by 12 weeks for ChAdOx1 and attenuating substantially for BNT162b2. Protection in contacts also declined in the 3 months post-second vaccination. Conclusions Vaccination reduces transmission of Delta, but by less than the Alpha variant. The impact of vaccination decreased over time. Factors other than PCR Ct values at diagnosis are important in understanding vaccine-associated transmission reductions. Booster vaccinations may help control transmission together with preventing infections. ### Competing Interest Statement DWE declares lecture fees from Gilead outside the submitted work. No other author has a conflict of interest to declare. ### Funding Statement This study was funded by the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care. This work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance at Oxford University in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) (NIHR200915), and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health or Public Health England. DWE is a Robertson Foundation Fellow and an NIHR Oxford BRC Senior Fellow. ASW is an NIHR Senior Investigator. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study was performed as public health surveillance and NHS Test and Trace program quality assurance, under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 with approvals from Public Health England (PHE), the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Test and Trace. PHE's Research Ethics and Governance Group (PHE's Research Ethics Committee) reviewed the study protocol and confirmed compliance with all regulatory requirements. As no regulatory or ethical issues were identified, it was agreed that full ethical review was not needed, and the protocol was approved. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Applications to use the data in this study can be made to NHS Digital's Data Access Request Service, please see for more details.

Both the Canadian and Ontario medical associations believe that intentional bullying directed at physicians and health-care workers is a crime and should be actively prosecuted.

A vaccine’s value isn’t just in its peak performance.

There's more of it, it's becoming more extreme and it's spreading more widely.

Dangerous rumors have been swirling on social media that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus could hamper male and female fertility.

Breakthrough COVID-19 cases in vaccinated people may be less likely to spread infection because virus is shed for a shorter period of time as opposed to infections in unvaccinated people.

Hospitalizations across the country have increased 20 percent in two weeks, taxing already exhausted health care workers as the United States confronts the Omicron variant.

In the heated debate over vaccine mandates, science and logic have often been lost amid politics and fear.

"It's nothing short of pandemic profiteering for Pfizer to make a killing while its vaccines have been withheld from so many."

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Evaluation of science advice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

It took pressure from 239 scientists for the WHO to even admit the new coronavirus may spread via aerosols, but in Japan, they're focusing on solutions.

Facts, data and analytics about biomedical matters

A lack of testing data and government guidance led many to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, unwittingly increasing their chances of a stillbirth.

A panel of experts answer questions about vaccines, omicron and other COVID-related issues in a discussion with The Conversation.