A comparative analysis of supply chain factors impacting COVID-19 vaccine security in high-income countries (HICs) and low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic focused attention on the importance of vaccine security to national security. Demand for vaccines far exceeded supply when the first COVID-19 vaccines were released. Growing data suggest a non-perfect correlation among vaccine development, production, purchases, deliveries and vaccination rates.

COVID-19 increased existing gender mortality gaps in high-income more than middle-income countries.

Objective: To analyze how patterns of excess mortality varied by sex and age groups across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with country income level.

Methods: We used World Health Organization excess mortality estimates by sex and age groups for 75 countries in 2020 and 62 countries in 2021, restricting the sample to estimates based on recorded all-cause mortality data. We examined patterns across countries using country-specific Poisson regressions with observations consisting of the number of excess deaths by groups defined by sex and age.

COVID-19 Disruption To Routine Health Care Services: How 8 Latin American And Caribbean Countries Responded.

Latin America and the Caribbean was one of the regions hardest hit globally by SARS-CoV-2. This qualitative exploratory study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the delivery of routine health services from the perspective of health care system decision makers and managers. Between May and December 2022, we conducted forty-two semistructured interviews with decision makers from ministries of health and health care managers with responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Modelling the economic burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection in health care workers in four countries.

Health care workers (HCWs) experienced greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study applies a cost-of-illness (COI) approach to model the economic burden associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections among HCWs in five low- and middle-income sites (Kenya, Eswatini, Colombia, KwaZulu-Natal province, and Western Cape province of South Africa) during the first year of the pandemic. We find that not only did HCWs have a higher incidence of COVID-19 than the general population, but in all sites except Colombia, viral transmission from infected HCWs to close contacts resulted in substantial secondary SARS-CoV-2 infection and death.

Aligning goals of for-profit, not-for-profit, and public healthcare organizations by governing for quality: A model for change in the U.S. and other jurisdictions.

There has been widespread criticism of privately owned or operated healthcare organizations in Canada and beyond. However, governments have limited resources to infuse the capital and provide the scale necessary to rapidly address the post-pandemic needs of healthcare systems. Ensuring that healthcare providers regardless of ownership or for-profit or not-for-profit status, provide high quality care and ensure health equity is paramount.