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OBJECTIVE: During the first COVID-19 wave in Switzerland, relative mortality was at least eight times higher compared with the uninfected general population. We aimed to assess sex-specific and age-specific relative mortality associated with a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis during the second wave. DESIGN: Prospective population-based study. SETTING: Individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 after the start of the second wave on 1 October 2020 were followed up until death or administrative censoring on 31 December 2020. PARTICIPANTS: 5 179 740 inhabitants of Switzerland in fall 2018 aged 35–95 years (without COVID-19) and 257 288 persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR or antigen testing during the second wave. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The planned outcome measure was time to death from any cause, measured from the date of a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis or 1 October in the general population. Information on confirmed SARS-CoV-2 diagnoses and deaths was matched by calendar time with the all-cause mortality of the general Swiss population of 2018. Proportional hazards models were used to estimate sex-specific and age-specific mortality rates and probabilities of death within 60 days. RESULTS: The risk of death for individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the second wave in Switzerland increased at least sixfold compared with the general population. HRs, reflecting the risk attributable to a SARS-CoV-2 infection, were higher for men (1.40, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.52) and increased for each additional year of age (1.01, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.02). COVID-19 mortality was reduced by at least 20% compared with the first wave in spring 2020. CONCLUSION: General mortality patterns, increased for men and older persons, were similar in spring and in fall. Absolute and relative COVID-19 mortality was smaller in fall. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol for this study was registered on 3 December 2020 at https://osf.io/gbd6r.

Background Despite the availability of individual-level data of infants accessing HIV DNA-PCR testing service, there has been little in-depth analysis of such data. Therefore, we describe trends in risk of HIV infection among Malawi’s HIV-exposed infants (HEI) with DNA-PCR HIV test result from 2013 to 2020. Methods This is an implementation study using routinely collected patient-level HIV DNA-PCR test result data extracted from the national Laboratory Management Information System database managed by the Department of HIV/AIDS between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2020. We calculated frequencies, proportions and odds ratio (OR) with their associated 95% CI. We performed a random-effects logistic regression to determine the risk factors associated with HIV infection in infants, controlling for the spatial autocorrelation between districts and adjusting for other variables. Results We evaluated 255 229 HEI across 750 facilities in 28 districts. The HIV DNA-PCR test was performed within 2 months in 57% of the children. The overall HIV prevalence among all tested HEI between 2013 and 2020 was 7.2% (95% CI 7.1% to 7.3%). We observed a decreasing trend in the proportion of HEI that tested HIV positive from 7.0% (95% CI 6.6% to 7.4%) in 2013 to 5.7% (95% CI 5.4% to 5.9%) in 2015 followed by an increase to 9.9% (95% CI 9.6% to 10.2%) in 2017 and thereafter a decreasing trend between 2017 (i.e. 9.72% (95%CI: 9.43-10.01)) and 2020 (i.e. 3.86% (95%CI: 3.34-4.37)). The HIV prevalence increased by age of the HEI. There was spatial heterogeneity of HIV prevalence between districts of Malawi. The prevalence of HIV was higher among the HEI from the Northern region of Malawi. Conclusion The main findings of the study are that the DNA test is performed within 2 months only in 57% of the children, that the decreasing trend of HIV prevalence among HEI observed up to 2015 was followed by an increase up to 2017 and a decrease afterwards, and that the risk of HIV infection increased with age at HIV testing. We summarised spatial and temporal trends of risk of HIV infection among HEI in Malawi between 2013 and 2020. There is need to ensure that all the HEI are enrolled in HIV care by 8 weeks of age in order to further reduce the risk of HIV in this population.

(1) Background: Examine global data from 48 African countries to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 infection fatality rate, (2) Methods: We analyzed time series data on the 135,126 confirmed cases and 3922 deaths from COVID-19 disease outbreak in Africa through 30 May 2020. In a Bayesian prediction model based on the Monte Carlo approach, we adjusted for demographic, economic, biological, and societal variables to account for the untested people, (3) Results: We calculated a total of 1,686,879 COVID-19 infections after correcting for possible risk variables in the Bayesian model, equal to 13 infections per confirmed case. In Africa, the IFR is projected to be 0.23% (95% CI: 0.14–0.33%). The percentages varied by country, ranging from 0.004% in Botswana and the Central African Republic to 1.53% in Nigeria. The projected IFR is twelvefold greater than the WHO’s 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic estimate (0.02%). In four countries: Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, and South Africa, the inverse distance weighted interpolation map shows high IFR variability, (4) Conclusions: COVID-19 infection mortality rates can vary significantly between regions, and this might be due to changes in demography, underlying health conditions in the community, healthcare system capacity, positive health seeking behavior, and other variables.

Objective: Severity of the COVID-19 has been previously reported in terms of absolute mortality in SARS-CoV-2 positive cohorts. An assessment of mortality relative to mortality in the general population is presented. Design: Retrospective population-based study. Setting: Individual information on symptomatic confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients and subsequent deaths from any cause were compared with the all-cause mortality in the Swiss population of 2018. Starting 23 February 2020, mortality in COVID-19 patients was monitored for 80 days and compared with the population mortality observed in the same time of year starting 23 February 2018. Participants: 5 102 300 inhabitants of Switzerland aged 35–95 without COVID-19 (general population in spring 2018) and 20 769 persons tested positively for COVID-19 during the first wave in spring 2020. Measurements Sex-specific and age-specific mortality rates were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Absolute probabilities of death were predicted and risk was assessed in terms of relative mortality by taking the ratio between the sex-specific and age-specific absolute mortality in COVID-19 patients and the corresponding mortality in the 2018 general population. Results: Absolute mortalities increased with age and were higher for males compared with females, both in the general population and in positively tested persons. A confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection substantially increased the probability of death across all patient groups at least eightfold. The highest relative mortality risks were observed among males and younger patients. Male COVID-19 patients exceeded the population hazard for males (HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.44). An additional year of age increased the population hazard in COVID-19 patients only marginally (HR 1.00, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.01). Conclusions: Healthcare professionals, decision-makers and societies are provided with an additional population-adjusted assessment of COVID-19 mortality risk. In combination with absolute measures of risk, the relative risks presented here help to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the actual impact of COVID-19.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 30 September 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, updates on the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, booster doses, and new data on the safety and immunogenicity of the Sinopharm and Pfizer and BioNtech vaccine in children.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 02 November 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for children, duration of protection and waning immunity, and booster doses.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of August 16, 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and, in some cases, from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on heterologous vaccination schedules (e.g., mixing ChAdOx1 and mRNA vaccines), Sinopharm/ BBIBP-CorV and Sinovac/ CoronaVac's inactivated vaccines, and provides the latest updates and information on children and adolescent vaccinations.

As of 03 January 2021, the WHO African region is the least affected by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, accounting for only 2.4% of cases and deaths reported globally. However, concerns abound about whether the number of cases and deaths reported from the region reflect the true burden of the disease and how the monitoring of the pandemic trajectory can inform response measures.We retrospectively estimated four key epidemiological parameters (the total number of cases, the number of missed cases, the detection rate and the cumulative incidence) using the COVID-19 prevalence calculator tool developed by Resolve to Save Lives. We used cumulative cases and deaths reported during the period 25 February to 31 December 2020 for each WHO Member State in the region as well as population data to estimate the four parameters of interest. The estimated number of confirmed cases in 42 countries out of 47 of the WHO African region included in this study was 13 947 631 [95% confidence interval (CI): 13 334 620-14 635 502] against 1 889 512 cases reported, representing 13.5% of overall detection rate (range: 4.2% in Chad, 43.9% in Guinea). The cumulative incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was estimated at 1.38% (95% CI: 1.31%-1.44%), with South Africa the highest [14.5% (95% CI: 13.9%-15.2%)] and Mauritius [0.1% (95% CI: 0.099%-0.11%)] the lowest. The low detection rate found in most countries of the WHO African region suggests the need to strengthen SARS-CoV-2 testing capacities and adjusting testing strategies.

This report addresses the most relevant data on COVID-19 vaccines literature as of 27 August, 2021. The current report addresses vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection, focusing in particular, on vaccine effectiveness against variants, vaccine duration of protection, virus transmissibility and shedding post vaccination, the administration of booster doses, and the importance of children and adolescent's timely vaccination. Lastly, the report highlights the latest updates regarding ‘new' SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 11 November 2021. Bharat Biotech's new vaccine COVAXIN/ BBV152 received WHO EUL authorisation on 3 November 2021 leading to seven vaccines being now authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), Sinovac/CoronaVac (China), and COVAXIN/BBV152 (Bharat Biotech, India)]. This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy or effectiveness, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine in the form of a synoptic table. The data in this synoptic table were extracted from phase III clinical trials and observational studies. This report focuses on the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, breakthrough infections, booster doses, and vaccinations in children.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 13 September 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. Additionally, information regarding the yet-to-be-approved1 Novavax vaccine NVX-COV2373 was added to the table, upon request of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). Novavax is currently awaiting FDA and WHO EUL approval after assessing safety and immunogenicity in Phase 1/2 clinical trials. NVX-CoV2373 is currently in two pivotal Phase 3 studies to evaluate vaccine efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity2. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, including variants, booster doses, and safety concerns such as myocarditis cases reported after COVID-19 vaccination in adults and children.

This report addresses the most relevant data on COVID-19 vaccines literature as of 02 November 2021. The current report addresses the latest data on vaccine effectiveness and its duration of protection, the vaccine-induced humoral, cellular, and neutralizing response over time, the effects of vaccination on transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, vaccine booster doses, reported cases of myocarditis, the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine in children, and the concomitant administration of the COVID-19 and Flu vaccines. To conclude, the report highlights the latest SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development information on COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

Introduction HIV incidence varies widely between sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This variation coincides with a substantial sociobehavioural heterogeneity, which complicates the design of effective interventions. In this study, we investigated how sociobehavioural heterogeneity in sub-Saharan Africa could account for the variance of HIV incidence between countries. Methods We analysed aggregated data, at the national-level, from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of 29 SSA countries (2010-2017), which included 594,644 persons (183,310 men and 411,334 women). We preselected 48 demographic, socio-economic, behavioural and HIV-related attributes to describe each country. We used Principal Component Analysis to visualize sociobehavioural similarity between countries, and to identify the variables that accounted for most sociobehavioural variance in SSA. We used hierarchical clustering to identify groups of countries with similar sociobehavioural profiles, and we compared the distribution of HIV incidence (estimates from UNAIDS) and sociobehavioural variables within each cluster. Results The most important characteristics, which explained 69% of sociobehavioural variance across SSA among the variables we assessed were: religion; male circumcision; number of sexual partners; literacy; uptake of HIV testing; women's empowerment; accepting attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS; rurality; ART coverage; and, knowledge about AIDS. Our model revealed three groups of countries, each with characteristic sociobehavioural profiles. HIV incidence was mostly similar within each cluster and different between clusters (median (IQR); 0.5/1000 (0.6/1000), 1.8/1000 (1.3/1000) and 5.0/1000 (4.2/1000)). Conclusions Our findings suggest that the combination of sociobehavioural factors play a key role in determining the course of the HIV epidemic, and that similar techniques can help to predict the effects of behavioural change on the HIV epidemic and to design targeted interventions to impede HIV transmission in SSA.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 26 November 2021. Bharat Biotech's new vaccine COVAXIN/ BBV152 received WHO EUL authorisation on 3 November 2021 leading to seven vaccines being now authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), Sinovac/CoronaVac (China), and COVAXIN/BBV152 (Bharat Biotech, India)]. This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and observational studies. This report focuses on the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, vaccine induced immunity, breakthrough infections, and booster doses.

This report provides an in-depth review of the seven1 World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) authorized vaccines: BNT162b2/ COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/ Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/ AZD1222/ Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/ Ad26CoV2.S/ Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/ BBIBP-CorV (China), Sinovac/ CoronaVac (China), and COVAXIN/ BBV152 (Bharat Biotech, India)]. The current report summarises the latest data on COVID-19 vaccine-related literature as of 13 December 2021, and presents the information in the form of a synoptic table. This report covers vaccine effectiveness, protection against variants, transmissibility, breakthrough infections, booster doses, COVID-19 vaccines for children, and further important information for each vaccine. The latest changes and additions to the synoptic table are highlighted in yellow.

Experience gained from responding to major outbreaks may have influenced the early COVID-19 pandemic response in several countries across Africa. We retrospectively assessed whether Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the three West African countries at the epicentre of the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, leveraged the lessons learned in responding to COVID-19 following the World Health Organization's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). We found relatively lower incidence rates across the three countries compared to many parts of the globe. Time to case reporting and laboratory confirmation also varied, with Guinea and Liberia reporting significant delays compared to Sierra Leone. Most of the selected readiness measures were instituted before confirmation of the first case and response measures were initiated rapidly after the outbreak confirmation. We conclude that the rapid readiness and response measures instituted by the three countries can be attributed to their lessons learned from the devastating Ebola outbreak, although persistent health systems weaknesses and the unique nature of COVID-19 continue to challenge control efforts.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 15 October 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, duration of protection and waning immunity, booster doses, efficacy and safety of NVX-CoV2372, and myocarditis.

This report focuses on the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of authorized vaccines as of 27 August, 2021. Currently six vaccines are authorised for emergency use: BNT162b2/COMIRNATY (Pfizer-BioNTech, USA), Spikevax/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine/ mRNA-1273 (Moderna, USA), Vaxzevria/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222/Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford, UK, India), Janssen Covid-19 vaccine/Johnson & Johnson (Janssen, USA), Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV (China), and Sinovac/CoronaVac (China). This report provides a condensed summary concerning vaccine efficacy, safety, protection against variants, and further important information for each vaccine, in the form of a synoptic table. The information and data in this synoptic table was extracted from phase III clinical trials and from observational studies. This report particularly focuses on vaccine effectiveness and vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against variants.

This report addresses the most relevant data on COVID-19 vaccines literature as of 26 November 2021. The current report addresses the latest data on the new WHO EUL approved vaccine COVAXIN/BBV152, vaccine effectiveness its waning immunity and duration of protection, the vaccine-induced humoral, cellular, and neutralizing response of the Chinese inactivated vaccines, breakthrough infections, virus transmissibility, vaccine booster doses, COVID-19 vaccines in children, COVID-19 vaccine safety and myocarditis. To conclude, the report highlights the latest SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development information on COVID-19 vaccine candidates.