Stefanelli Paola, Rezza Giovanni
Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Directorate of Health Prevention, Ministry of Health, 00144 Rome, Italy.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Jun 6;10(6):905. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10060905.
About one year after the identification of the first cases of pneumonia due to a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, several vaccines against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 started to be approved for emergency use or authorized for early or limited use. The rapid development of effective vaccines based on different technological platforms represents an unprecedented success for vaccinology, providing a unique opportunity for a successful public health intervention. However, it is widely known that only a limited number of vaccine doses are usually available at the beginning of vaccination campaigns against an emerging virus; in this phase, protecting health care workers and reducing mortality rates is the priority. When a larger number of vaccines become available, the identification of the drivers of virus circulation coupled with the use of transmission blocking vaccines are key to achieve epidemic control through population immunity. However, as we learned during the vaccination campaigns against the pandemic coronavirus, several factors may hamper this process. Thus, flexible plans are required to obtain the best sustainable result with available tools, modulating vaccination strategies in accordance with improved scientific knowledge, and taking into account the duration of protective immune response, virus evolution, and changing epidemic dynamics.
在武汉首次发现新型冠状病毒肺炎病例约一年后,几种针对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)/新冠病毒病(COVID-19)的疫苗开始被批准用于紧急使用,或被授权用于早期或有限使用。基于不同技术平台的有效疫苗的快速研发是疫苗学领域前所未有的成功,为成功的公共卫生干预提供了独特机遇。然而,众所周知,在针对一种新出现病毒开展疫苗接种运动之初,通常只有有限数量的疫苗剂量可用;在此阶段,保护医护人员并降低死亡率是首要任务。当有更多疫苗可用时,识别病毒传播的驱动因素并结合使用阻断传播的疫苗,是通过群体免疫实现疫情控制的关键。然而,正如我们在针对大流行冠状病毒的疫苗接种运动中所了解到的,若干因素可能会阻碍这一进程。因此,需要灵活的计划,以便利用现有工具取得最佳可持续成果,根据不断完善的科学知识调整疫苗接种策略,并考虑到保护性免疫反应的持续时间、病毒进化以及不断变化的疫情动态。