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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine story is continuously unfolding. Since our previous COVID-19 commentaries, much new information has transpired on the subject, and here we revisit this topic, which has practical implications for all stakeholders in dentistry, as well as the public. This article, on current vaccine epidemiology, provides an account of why vaccines fail in general, and the particular concerns in relation to the new Delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and related ‘variants of concern’. Issues related to vaccine failure are fundamentally dichotomous in nature, appertaining either to the vaccine strain (type) per se, and/or the numerous endogenous factors of the vaccine recipient/vaccinee. Societal factors such as vaccine hesitancy and its impact on herd immunity appear to overarch the long-term goal of total or partial global suppression of SARS-CoV-2, and its eventual endemicity.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: To describe the reasons for the failure of currently administered COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in relation to the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 ‘variants of concern’, and discuss implications for clinical dental practice.
Article
The biggest vaccination campaign in human history is ongoing. The battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is virtually halfway through, with an armamentarium of vaccines, antivirals and other drugs, and an array of societal preventive measures. These have led to a global decrease in the COVID-19 numbers with a few pockets of higher morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 vaccines continue to lower the risk for severe COVID-19 disease, hospitalization and death, even against the more virulent Delta variant.1 Efficacious deployment of COVID-19 vaccines has offered humanity quick access to its endemicity. Since the first vaccine was administered in December 2020 in the UK, some 3.9 billion people have at least had a single shot, and 2.9 billion are fully vaccinated worldwide (as of 23 October 2021).2 This, together with those who have survived the infection, implies that about half of all people worldwide are likely to be immune to the disease today. Dental care workers, as frontline health professionals, were the earliest recipients of the vaccine, and some, in certain jurisdictions, were actively involved in the administration of vaccines as well. It is now highly likely that the annual vaccination schedule for dental healthcare workers (DHCW) will incorporate a compulsory COVID-19 vaccine.
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