• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2023

The fast development of vaccines against the novel coronavirus disease is among the most critical steps taken to control this potentially fatal viral disease. Like other vaccines, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines can also cause unwanted reactions. Erythema multiforme (EM) is among the oral mucocutaneous side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. This study aimed to comprehensively review the reported cases of EM since the global onset of COVID-19 vaccination. Data from 31 relevant studies regarding the type and dose of COVID-19 vaccines administered, time of initiation of symptoms, age, and gender of patients, site of involvement, patients' medical history, and treatment options were extracted. In total, 90 patients were identified with EM as a side effect of COVID-19 vaccination across studies. EM had the highest frequency after receiving the first dose of mRNA vaccines in older individuals. The first symptoms of EM appeared in less than 3 days in 45% and after 3 days in 55% of patients. EM is not a common side effect of COVID-19 vaccination, and fear of its occurrence should not impede vaccination.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.347-348
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• 2023

Vaccines help protect people from infections. However, Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinees often still become infected with COVID-19 variants (breakthrough infections) and may go on to suffer from long COVID symptoms due to short-lasting immunity and less-effective protection provided by available vaccines. Moreover, the current COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent viral transmission and ward off only about 15% of breakthrough infections. To prepare more effective vaccines, it is essential to predict the viral strains that will be circulating based on available epidemiological data. The World Health Organization recommends in advance which influenza strains are expected to be prevalent during influenza season to guide the production of influenza vaccines by pharmaceutical companies. However, future emerging COVID-19 strain(s) have not been possible to predict since no sound epidemiological information has been established. Thus, for more effective protection, immune stimulators alone or in combination with vaccines would be preferable to protect people from COVID-19 infection. One of those remedies would be ginseng, which has been used for potentiating immunity in the past.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.274-284
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• 2022

Purpose: This study examined the Bangladeshi university students' intention to take coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines by assessing the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior. Materials and Methods: University students were queried on their intention to take COVID-19 vaccines. The sample used in this study (n=310) was obtained through an online survey among university students (age, 18-25 years old) from August 7 to September 18, 2021. Results: Although over 90% of respondents showed their willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine, around 37.3% of respondents still desired to wait and see to take the vaccine. The most frequently cited reasons for vaccines hesitancy were concerns over side effects (62.4%). There is still an unmet need for adequate information on COVID-19 vaccines (81.4%). Results of the binary logistic regression model showed that students from private universities (odds ratio [OR], 0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04-0.97), respondents who concerned about the vaccine safety (OR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01-0.44) and side effects of vaccine (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.05-0.89) were less willing to take COVID-19 vaccine. On the other hand, desire to wait to take COVID-19 vaccines was associated with marital status (OR, 7.76; 95% CI, 1.50-40.27); COVID-19 preventive behavior, including use of facemask (OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.09-0.70) and maintain social distance (OR,1.75; 95% CI, 1.00-3.07); COVID-19 infection (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.26-0.99); provide more information on vaccines (OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.06-5.09); the perceived side effects (OR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.54-5.17); and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.16-5.01). Conclusion: Public health managers should provide adequate information on COVID-19 vaccines to address the concerns about the safety and side effects of the vaccines.

• Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2021

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccine is expected to play an important role in stopping the pandemic. Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting COVID-19. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19. Efforts to find an effective vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 have progressed unprecedentedly through active support from public research grants and private-public partnership programs. Clinical studies have been actively conducted, and some vaccines are being vaccinated with approval for urgent use. The WHO has approved and supplied the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. In Korea, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for urgent use, and vaccination began on February 26, 2021. In this paper, the efficacy and side effects of each vaccines and the effect on pilots and air traffic controllers related to COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in terms of aviation medicine.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.149-173
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• 2022

Vaccine nationalism and its implications to vaccine supply were a huge concern globally when COVID-19 vaccines first became available in 2021. At the time, vaccine supply was limited and it was difficult for many countries around the world to get adequate supply of the COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate their people. At its most benign, vaccine nationalism delayed the access of poorer countries to vaccines that are widely considered as the long-term solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. Poorer countries needed to resort to diplomacy to wrangle early access to vaccine supply from vaccine-producing countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and others. In particular, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte leveraged his country's Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States and the need for Filipino nurses by countries like the United Kingdom and Germany to secure early access to COVID-19 vaccines. It all seems trivial now (in 2022) because of better global vaccine supply, but in 2021 when countries scrambled for access to scarce COVID-19 vaccines, Rodrigo Duterte leveraged the Philippines' assets to gain early access to vaccine supply.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.5.1-5.22
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• 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has developed as a pandemic, and it created an outrageous effect on the current healthcare and economic system throughout the globe. To date, there is no appropriate therapeutics or vaccines against the disease. The entire human race is eagerly waiting for the development of new therapeutics or vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Efforts are being taken to develop vaccines at a rapid rate for fighting against the ongoing pandemic situation. Amongst the various vaccines under consideration, some are either in the preclinical stage or in the clinical stages of development (phase-I, -II, and -III). Even, phase-III trials are being conducted for some repurposed vaccines like Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, polio vaccine, and measles-mumps-rubella. We have highlighted the ongoing clinical trial landscape of the COVID-19 as well as repurposed vaccines. An insight into the current status of the available antigenic epitopes for SARS-CoV-2 and different types of vaccine platforms of COVID-19 vaccines has been discussed. These vaccines are highlighted throughout the world by different news agencies. Moreover, ongoing clinical trials for repurposed vaccines for COVID-19 and critical factors associated with the development of COVID-19 vaccines have also been described.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.193-208
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• 2022

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is the key to getting out of the pandemic. However, acceptance of the vaccine has been affected by false information and rumors, which have kept people from getting the shot since it was rolled out. Materials and Methods: This study aimed to investigate the various misconceptions surfaced about the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. We performed an online survey using an anonymous questionnaire to reach out to African respondents by social media and all possible online platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so forth. The web-based questionnaires about the myths surrounding the vaccines were extracted from nonscientific information, unproven statements, social media posts, news reports, and people's concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants indicated their level of agreement with each statement. Results: A total of 2,500 people responded to the online survey in Africa. The two common myths that respondents agreed with were that "since vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, we can make vaccines for the common cold, human immunodeficiency viruses, and other diseases" (n=892, 35.7%) and that "researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccines; therefore, it is not very effective, safe and cannot be trusted" (n=595, 23.8%). The range of respondents who neither agreed nor disagreed with these myths was 12.4%-33.0%. The majority (1,931, 77.2%) indicated disagreement with the statement "after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, one can stop wearing a mask as well as taking safety precautions." Conclusion: Myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines have impact on acceptance. Exploring them helps public health authorities in Africa dispel them and provide accurate information to promote vaccination campaigns, education, and acceptance.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.67-82
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• 2022

The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 led to inconsistent public health policies that resulted in COVID-19 containment failure. These factors resulted in increased hospitalization and death. To prevent viral spread and achieve herd immunity, the only safe and effective measure is to provide to vaccinates. Ever since the release of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleotide sequence in January of 2020, research centers and pharmaceutical companies from many countries have developed different types of vaccines including mRNA, recombinant protein, and viral vector vaccines. Prior to initiating vaccinations, phase 3 clinical trials are necessary. However, no vaccine has yet to complete a phase 3 clinical trial. Many products obtained "emergency use authorization" from governmental agencies such as WHO, FDA etc. The Korean government authorized the use of five different vaccines. The viral vector vaccine of Oxford/AstraZeneca and the Janssen showed effectiveness of 76% and 66.9%, respectively. The mRNA vaccine of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna showed effectiveness of 95% and 94.1%, respectively. The protein recombinant vaccine of Novavax showed an effectiveness of 90.4%. In this review, we compared the characteristics, production platform, synthesis principles, authorization, protective effects, immune responses, clinical trials and adverse effects of five different vaccines currently used in Korea. Through this review, we conceptualize the importance of selecting the optimal vaccine to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.184-192
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic revolutionized the vaccine market and initiated the momentum for alternative routes of administration for vaccines. The intranasal route of immunization is one such possibility that appears to be the most promising since it has some significant advantages, particularly in the prevention of respiratory infection. To analyze and summarize the role of nasal vaccines over conventional vaccines during COVID-19 and the need for the nasal vaccine as a booster shot. In this narrative review, the required data was retrieved using keywords "COVID-19," "Intranasal," "Immunity," "Nasal spray," and "Mucosal" in databases including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, and Web of Sciences. The results of the study showed that the nasal vaccines were both effective and protective according to the current researches approaching during the COVID-19 period and the preclinical and clinical phase trials prove the intranasal vaccination elicits more robust and cross-protective immunity than conventional vaccines. In this narrative review article, mechanisms across the nasal mucosa will be briefly presented and the current status of nasal vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic is summarized, and advantages over traditional vaccines are provided. Furthermore, after exploring the primary benefits and kinetics of nasal vaccine, the potential for consideration of nasal vaccine as a booster dose is also discussed.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2022

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in children aged 5-11 years, a rapid systematic review was conducted on published clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and studies that analyzed real-world data on adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on medical literature in international (Ovid-MEDLINE) and pre-published literature databases (medRxiv), followed by handsearching up to January 4, 2022. We used terms including COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and vaccines, and the certainty of evidence was graded using the GRADE approach. Results: A total of 1,675 studies were identified, of which five were finally selected. Among the five studies, four consisted of data from clinical trials of each of the four types of COVID-19 vaccines (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, CoronaVac, and BBIBP-CorV). The remaining study consisted of real-world data on the safety of the BNT162b2 vaccine in children aged 5-11 years. This systematic review identified that COVID-19 vaccines in recipients aged 5-11 years produced a favorable immune response, and were vaccines were effective against COVID-19. The safety findings for the BNT162b2 vaccine in children and early adolescents aged 5-11 years were similar to those data noted in the clinical trial. Conclusions: There is limited data on COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 5-11 years. Consequently continuous and comprehensive monitoring is necessary for the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.