The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused many problems in the health sector. Effective and safe vaccines are the only tool to combat the COVID-19 disease. Researchers and regulatory agencies have made efforts to develop such vaccines and healthcare professionals were prioritized for the vaccination program as first-line care providers. Considering this prioritization, we aimed to assess the physicians’ perceptions regarding the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.

An interview-based study was conducted from May 5 May to November 5, 2021 (6 months) in a teaching hospital in the capital city of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Among the 200 physicians who agreed to participate in the interview, 74% were male. A total of 94% did not experience any side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of the type of vaccine; 6% experienced side effects. Furthermore, 90% of physicians were afraid of side effects due to the high number of vaccine doses.

Conclusively, physicians had a positive perception regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Healthcare authorities and related departments must take precautions to ensure the effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine to change the perceptions of physicians who had a negative perception. This will not only reduce the reluctance among physicians regarding administering COVID-19 vaccine, but will also boost and facilitate the vaccination program for the general public as well.

New York City was the epicenter of the outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. As a large, quaternary care medical center, NYU Langone Medical Center was one of many New York medical centers that experienced an unprecedented influx of patients during this time. Clinical leadership effectively identified, oriented, and rapidly deployed a “COVID Army,” consisting of non-hospitalist physicians, to meet the needs of the patient influx. We share feedback from our providers on our processes and offer specific recommendations for systems experiencing a similar influx in the current and future pandemics.

To assess the experiences and perceived readiness of these physicians (n = 183), we distributed a 32-item survey between March and June of 2020. Thematic analyses and response rates were examined to develop results.

Responses highlighted varying experiences and attitudes of our frontline physicians during an emerging pandemic. Thematic analyses revealed a series of lessons learned, including the need to (1) provide orientations, (2) clarify roles/workflow, (3) balance team workload, (4) keep teams updated on evolving policies, (5) make team members feel valued, and (6) ensure they have necessary tools available.

Lessons from our deployment and assessment are scalable at other institutions.

This study aimed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in India.

The internal and external attributes affecting the vaccination rollout identifed by reviewing the scientific literature, government guidelines, and press statements, along with media reports, were categorized into the SWOT matrix.

The existing immunization program, indigenous vaccine production, setting up of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, updated guidelines, and training followed by dry runs were identified as strengths. The weaknesses identified in the program were knowledge gap about vaccines, apprehensions, lack of temperature loggers and vaccine vial monitors, space contraints in health care set up, demand supply gap, and digital divide. The experience of conducting the general elections, intersectoral coordination forged during the pandemic response, Information Technology platform, and vaccine eagerness present opportunities to strengthen the program. The emergence of virus variants, commercial interests, laxity in COVID-19 appropriate behavior, and receding wave of the pandemic can pose significant threats to the implementation of the vaccination campaign.

The study identified factors that can aid designing effective measures and countermeasures for the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. This SWOT analysis is relevant to low- and middle-income countries planning to implement the COVID-19 vaccination in the near future.

This study investigates burnout and sources of stress related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among a group of health care risk managers/patient safety practitioners.

An online survey was used, including the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and 1 open-ended question: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, what work or non-work-related issues have been causing you the most stress?

A total of 31 participants completed the OLBI; 27 answered the open-ended question. Over 70% of participants qualified as burned out. A thematic analysis was used to analyze stressors. Key themes included impacts of social distancing, changing duties and workload, real and potential impacts of the virus (eg, fear of infection for self or others), and financial concerns (personal and organizational). Less common themes included untrustworthy and constantly changing guidance, feeling abused by persons in power, and positive comments about the experience of working during the pandemic.

Burnout and pandemic-related stress may be very common in the health care risk management and patient safety workforce. Additional research is required to more robustly estimate the prevalence of burnout in this population. Meanwhile, the sources of stress identified here may aid health care organizations in taking immediate action to protect this vital workforce.

In the wake of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, rapid identification of pediatric mental health risk is extremely important. The Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Management held an integrated, interdisciplinary national tabletop exercise to familiarize mental health and non-mental health professionals with Psychological Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (PsySTART), an evidence-based triage and incident management system used to evaluate new mental health risk impacts following exposure to traumatic events, such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Participants Participants were exposed to 3 practice cases that reflected a combination of “all hazards” scenarios and were asked to triage each case using PsySTART. Participants were asked to interpret results at both an individual site and aggregate county and/or state level.

The exercise had a total of 115 participants with a total of 156 discrete triage encounters. A user-defined operating picture was created with graphs of aggregate mental health risk data, generating cross-regional, real-time situational awareness. After the exercise, a vast majority of the participants reported confidence in their ability to use PsySTART in their practices.

Participants are now better equipped with tools to perform mental health triage for early intervention during COVID-19 and other disasters and understand risk on a population level.

This study aims to report the clinical features of a cohort of patients with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from Tobruk, Libya, and reflect upon the diagnosis challenge in low-resource settings.

A descriptive report of the first 100 patients with suspected COVID-19 who have visited the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19 screening clinic at the National Centre for Disease Control in Tobruk, Libya.

The most common presenting symptoms were fever (90%), cough (89%), dyspnea (85%), sore throat (79%), fatigue (78%), headache (64%), loss of smell (52%), loss of taste (53%), loss of appetite (43%), nausea and vomiting (26%), diarrhea (22%), and rhinorrhea (16%); 51% of the patients had lymphocytopenia, whereas 13% had thrombocytopenia. Bilateral infiltrates were the most common radiologic finding on chest X-ray (76%), and COVID-19 IgM and/or IgG antibodies were detected in 80% of the patients, whereas only 37% of the patients were tested positive by the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

The disease continued its spread across the region. Fever, cough, and dyspnea were the main symptoms; 21% of the patients did not have any chest X-ray abnormalities. Initial negative results for either antibody testing or RT-PCR-testing for COVID-19 do not rule out the infection.

The purpose of the research was to investigate and identify the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in Dhaka, Bangladesh by using ground-based observation data.

The research assessed air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic for PM2.5 from January 1, 2017 to August 1, 2020. The research considered pollution in pre-COVID-19 (January 1 to March 23), during COVID-19 (March 24 to May 30), and post-COVID-19 (May 31 to August 1) lockdown periods with current (2020) and historical (2017-2019) data.

PM2.5 pollution followed a similar yearly trend in year 2017-2020. The average concentration for PM2.5 was found 87.47 μg/m 3 in the study period. Significant PM2.5 declines were observed in the current COVID-19 lockdown period compared with historical data: 11.31% reduction with an absolute decrease of 7.15 μg/m 3.

The findings of the research provide an overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic affects air pollution. The results will provide initial evidence regarding human behavioral changes and emission controls. This research will also suggest avenues for further study to link the findings with health outcomes.

Bottlenecks in the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain have contributed to shortages of PPE during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, resulting in fractures in the functionality of health-care systems. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of retrofitted commercial snorkel masks as an alternative respirator for health-care workers during infectious disease outbreaks.

A retrospective analysis was performed, analyzing qualitative and quantitative fit test results of the retrofitted Aria Ocean Reef® full-face snorkeling mask on health-care workers at the McGill University Health Centre between April and June 2020. Historical fit test results, using medical-grade respirators, for health-care workers, were also analyzed.

During the study period, 71 participants volunteered for fit testing, 60.6% of which were nurses. The overall fit test passing rate using the snorkel mask was 83.1%. Of the participants who did not previously pass fit testing with medical-grade respirators, 80% achieved a passing fit test with the snorkel respirator.

The results suggest that this novel respirator may be an effective and feasible alternative solution to address PPE shortages, while still providing health-care workers with ample protection. Additional robust testing will be required to ensure that respirator fit is maintained, after numerous rounds of disinfection.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and associated social distancing increased stressors related to risk for domestic conflict, but increases in domestic conflict early in the pandemic have yet to be studied in community samples.

Increase in domestic conflict (verbal or physical fights) since the beginning of the pandemic was assessed in 1196 partnered and cohabitating respondents, drawn from a nationally representative sample, in May 2020. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were used to estimate associations of demographic characteristics and financial worry with domestic conflict.

An increase in domestic conflict was reported by 10.6% (95% CI: 7.7-13.4) of the sample. Domestic conflict increase was significantly associated with younger age, lower education, and financial worry.

Increases in domestic conflict were seen in certain vulnerable groups and in those who report financial worry. Policies ensuring financial stability, particularly early in the disaster conditions, could reduce domestic conflict during continued COVID-19 conditions or other disasters.

This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19 is associated with a different presenting clinical picture or a more severe course of illness in people with a past history of chemical war injury.

This is a multicenter retrospective study in Fars Province, Iran, from August 22 to October 4, 2020. People with a past history of chemical war injury and COVID-19 were studied. Two age- and sex-matched control groups, double the size of the patient group each, from the same database of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the same time (ie, healthy controls and pseudocontrols).

A total of 46 people with a past history of chemical war injury, 92 healthy controls, and 92 pseudocontrols were studied. People with COVID-19 and a past history of chemical war injury had a significantly higher rate of chest pain compared with others. There were no other clinical differences between the groups. Mortality rate was 17.39%, 15.21%, and 27.17% in people with a past history of chemical war injury, the control group, and the pseudocontrol group, respectively.

A past history of a chemical war injury does not add to the risk of COVID-19 and does not significantly modify its clinical picture either.

Health-care workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, and the safety of HCWs is important in situations where a prolonged COVID-19 is expected.

HCWs were recently put in great danger around the globe; as of December 21, there were 306 confirmed cases in HCWs in South Korea, representing 0.60% of the total 50,591 confirmed cases nationally.

After experiencing Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), South Korea has put a range of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures with long-term perspectives in place, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), HCW’s infection status tracing, visitor control, and a variety of supports from both national and local public health authorities.

This article introduces the infection status of HCWs and IPC measures currently taken in South Korea, emphasizing the collaborative and long-term IPC efforts for ensuring the safety of HCWs.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed formidable challenges, including overwhelming biomedical waste management. Guidelines have been rapidly changing along with the mounting pressure of waste generation.

These challenges were managed by smart re-engineering of structure and processes for the desired outcomes. Dedicated staff, in personal protective equipment with appropriate training, were deployed to collect waste using dedicated trolleys. A dedicated route plan was drawn with a dedicated elevator meant for COVID-19. A new temporary holding area was created. Dedicated trucks with requisite labels were deployed to transport COVID-19 waste to a common biomedical waste treatment facility. Communication challenges were addressed through timely circulars, which were further reinforced and reiterated during various on-going training programs.

Before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of biomedical waste generated was 1.93 kg/bed/day; currently, the quantity of COVID-19 biomedical waste generated is 7.76 kg/COVID bed/day. Daily COVID-19 waste generation data are maintained and uploaded in an android application monitored by Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India. To date, none of the workers handling COVID-19 waste has acquired health-care associated COVID-19 infection, which reflects on the soundness of the new system and the infection control practices in the institute.

A responsive leadership harmonizing with a robust communication and training system has augmented timely re-engineering of structure and processes for better outcomes in the war on waste.

The aim of this study was to determine the extent that appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, was used during the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by health-care personnel (HCP) in Louisiana in 5 clinical settings.

An online questionnaire was distributed to the LA Nursery registry. Appropriate use of PPE in each of the 5 clinical scenarios was defined by the authors based on CDC guidelines. The scenarios ranged from communal hospital space to carrying out aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). A total of 1760 HCP participated between June and July 2020.

The average adherence in LA was lowest for the scenario of carrying out AGPs at 39.5% compliance and highest for the scenario of patient contact when COVID-19 not suspected at 82.8% compliance. Adherence among parishes varied widely. Commentary to suggest a shortage of PPE supply and the practice of re-using PPE was strong.

Use of appropriate PPE varied by setting. It was higher in scenarios where only face masks (or respirators) were the standard (ie, community hospital or when COVID-19 not suspected) and lower in scenarios where additional PPE (eg, gloves, eye protection, and isolation gown) was required.