Travel Vaccine Breaking News

The Lancet recently published results from an analysis that assessed COVID-19 pandemic policies and behaviors in the U.S.

These researchers revealed where a person lived indicated COVID-19 risk.

Published on March 23, 2023, this analysis found nearly four-fold differences that existed across states in COVID-19 death rates, even when standardized for factors such as age and comorbidities, suggesting that lower death rates were achievable.

The states with the lowest standardized COVID-19 death rates were Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Maryland, which are not confined to a single geographical region.

And the states and territories with the highest standardized cumulative death rates were Arizona (581 per 100 000 [509–672]), Washington, DC, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Colorado.

In summary, these researchers stated that the policy mandates and protective behaviors adopted during this pandemic effectively reduced SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Director-General of the Federal Republic of Nogeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), today announced it granted registration approval for the R21/Matrix-M™ vaccine.

The NAFDAC approval on April 17, 2023, is essential since the WHO African Region continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.

For example, in 2021, the Region was home to about 95% of all malaria cases and 96% of deaths.

And malaria is transmitted throughout Nigeria, with 97% of the population at risk of malaria.

Furthermore, the prevalence of malaria parasitemia in Nigerian children under five is about 23%.

The R21 was created by the University of Oxford Jenner Institute in England, is manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., and includes Novavax AB proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant.

In addition to malaria, the U.S. CDC has issued various Travel Advisories regarding disease outbreaks in Nigeria.

Vaccine-preventable diseases such as yellow fever, measles, and polio are health risks when visiting Nigeria in 2023.

INOVIO today announced that Dr. Angela Huttner, Infectious Disease Consultant, Geneva University Hospitals presented data from a Phase 1b trial evaluating INO-4201, an Ebola booster vaccine candidate for rVSV-ZEBOV (Ervebo®).

"Preliminary data showed that INO-4201 was well tolerated and produced a strong immune response," stated Dr. Huttner in a press release on April 17, 2023.

"This suggests that a booster dose of IN0-4201 has the potential to extend protection against Ebola and could be an important tool in future Ebola Virus Disease prevention."

In February 2023, INOVIO announced positive initial results from the Phase 1b trial that evaluated INO-4201 as a booster in healthy adult participants who previously received a single injection of Ervebo.

These initial results showed that INO-4201 was well-tolerated and boosted humoral responses in 100% (36 of 36) of treated participants. In addition, data presented today included the assessment of binding antibodies showing that all 36 vaccine recipients responded to the boost.

The unedited press release is posted at this link.

Note: Merck's Ervebo® Vaccine is a live, recombinant, replication-competent vaccine approved by the U.S. FDA and by the European Medicines Agency.

Since 2019, approximately 300,000 persons have been vaccinated with the Ervebo vaccine in Africa.

Other Ebolavirus (Zaire and Sudan) vaccine and outbreak(s) news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced positive results from several COVID-19 clinical and real-world evidence studies being presented at the 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.

For example, a Phase 3 clinical study demonstrated that Veklury® (remdesivir) was generally well tolerated in people with moderate to severe renal impairment.

Additional data includes a retrospective real-world study that demonstrated that Veklury treatment is associated with a lower risk of death from COVID-19 for people with cancer.

A separate real-world analysis demonstrated that Veklury is also associated with reduced hospital readmission risk in immunocompromised patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

"The breadth of clinical and real-world evidence data presented at ECCMID further support the strong efficacy and safety profile of Veklury," said Frank Duff, MD, Senior Vice President, Virology Therapeutic Area Head, Gilead Sciences, in a press release on April 16, 2023.

"Since the beginning of the (COVID-19) pandemic, Veklury has played a critical role in the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19."

"The real-world data further demonstrates its role in reducing mortality and hospital readmission rates in vulnerable patient populations, including people living with cancer and other immunosuppressed conditions."

Additionally, results from a Phase 1 clinical study evaluating the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of obeldesivir, previously known as GS-5245, a novel investigational oral compound developed by Gilead for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, showed obeldesivir reaches expected therapeutic plasma concentrations for the treatment of COVID-19.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative recently announced two African countries reported new polio cases involving vaccine-derived types.

As of April 11, 2023, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported six circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases from the Kasai Oriental, Haut Katanga, and Tshopo provinces. During 2023, there have been 14 cases. 

And in Benin, a second cVDPV2 case was confirmed in 2023.

Additionally, Burundi reported three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples, and Somalia confirmed one sample last week.

Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the spread of poliovirus remained a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Therefore, the WHO's International Travel and Health recommends travelers to polio-affected areas be fully vaccinated against polio.

Various polio vaccines are listed at Vax-Before-Travel.

The U.S. Department of State reissued its Level 3: Reconsider Travel for the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

On April 11, 2023, the State Department announced travelers should reconsider visiting Papua New Guinea due to crime, civil unrest, and piracy.

U.S. government employees must obtain authorization before traveling to areas of concern, including the southern part of Bougainville and the provinces of Southern Highlands, Western Highlands (excluding Mt. Hagen), Eastern Highlands (excluding Goroka), Hela, Enga, Jiwaka, and other areas of Papua New Guinea where one is unable to fly directly.

Additionally, the Travel Advisory says 'do not travel' to:

• Southern Bougainville, particularly areas near the Panguna mine.
• The Highlands region, other than the towns of Mt. Hagen and Goroka.

And there have been reports of criminals attacking resorts popular with foreign tourists to steal goods and money. And police presence is limited outside of the capital, Port Moresby.

Furthermore, piracy is active in the waters surrounding Papua New Guinea, located in the eastern area of New Guinea, the world's second-largest island. The western half of the island is part of Indonesia.

Travelers by boat should reconsider travel to the Bismarck and Solomon Seas along Papua New Guinea's north and eastern coasts. In 2021 and 2022, the Embassy was aware of at least three occasions in which sailboats operated by or carrying U.S. citizens were boarded by criminals and, in one incident, severely injured the captain.

From a health perspective, the U.S. CDC suggests various travel vaccines before visiting Papua New Guinea.

U.S. HHS Secretary Becerra today announced that in the coming weeks, he would issue an amendment to the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act for medical countermeasures against COVID-19. 

In light of the significant impact of the PREP policy on the healthcare landscape and to provide further clarity, HHS offered additional information about key elements of its plan's flexibilities and protections on April 14, 2023, that will remain in place moving forward.

For example, extending protection coverage for COVID-19 vaccines, seasonal influenza vaccines, and COVID-19 tests will be enhanced.

And PREP Act immunity from liability will be extended through December 2024 to pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians to administer COVID-19 and seasonal influenza vaccines and COVID-19 tests, regardless of any USG agreement or emergency declaration.

In the month remaining before the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, HHS stated it would continue to work closely with its partners, including Governors, state, local, Tribal, and territorial agencies, industry, and advocates to ensure an orderly transition.

Additional, unedited information is posted at this HHS link.