COVID-19 evidence resources

Trusted sources: COVID-19

COVID-19 Vaccines

Keeping up to date

• Current Awareness service: KnowledgeShare
  • If you want to keep up date on the development and approval of COVID vaccines, then sign up to our Current Awareness service, KnowledgeShare by completing the online form on the Library and Information Services website.  This will enable you to receive weekly or fortnightly email updates of recent evidence summaries.
• Evidence Aid  are a not-for-profit organisation specialising in collating and summarising the best-available evidence effectively preparing for and responding to disasters and emergencies. They have published more than 60 summaries about COVID-19, which are available here.
• Public Health England Coronavirus literature digest
  • This includes a section on COVID-19 vaccine development and can be accessed at ‘Finding the evidence: Coronavirus’

Vaccine trials

There are a number of COVID-19 vaccine trials currently taking place around the world.

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) have a list of candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation on their website Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Vaccines
• The New York Times has also published a Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker
• Students 4 Best Evidence has information on the different phases of vaccine trials at ‘What are the phases of a vaccine trial?’

Vaccine design and safety

·COVID-19 Vaccine Frontrunners and Their Nanotechnology Design, ACS NANO, 2020

• Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine
• Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine, NEJM, 2020
• Pfizer and BioNtech conclude phase 3 study of COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer press release
• Oxford vaccine (ChAdOx1)
  • Safety and efficacy of the ChAdOx1nCoV-19 vaccine (AZD1222) against SARS-CoV-2: an interim analysis of four randomised controlled trials in Brazil, South Africa, and the UK, The Lancet, 8 Dec 2020
  • Safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine administered in a prime-boost regimen in young and old adults (COV002): a single-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 2/3 trial, The Lancet, 18 Nov 2020
  • Press release
• COVID-19: Oxford vaccine trial, University of Oxford

Vaccination training programme

• COVID-19 vaccination programme: this government website lists training resources and consent forms
• Additional training for vaccinators: this eLearning website from Health Education England has links to additional training resources. NB COVID-19 vaccinators should check with their local provider/employer what training they need to undertake.

Who approves a vaccine in the UK?

The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approves whether a COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for use in the UK. Vaccines led by Pfizer-BioNtech and Oxford University are currently being considered for approval by the MHRA (1 Dec 2020), for details see the MHRA website Vaccines and vaccine safety.

Who is responsible for delivering the vaccine once it has been approved?

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have published interim advice on the groups that should be prioritised for vaccination at Priority groups for coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination (25 September 2020). NHS England is responsible for delivering the programme in England.

Why vaccination is important?

Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases. The NHS has details on the general safety and importance of vaccines at Why vaccination is safe and important?

 

Advice and guidance for medical staff 

• Coronavirus advice for clinicians, NHS England and NHS Improvement resource updated regularly
• COVID-19 Learning Resources: a new section on the Epsom and St Helier eLearning system containing COVID-19 Health Education England modules and also recorded Epsom and St Helier training sessions.  You will need your eLearning username and password to access the resources.  If you have any problems accessing the system please contact us.
• NICE rapid guidelines and evidence reviews on COVID-19
• Supporting relatives by phone-Covid 19, produced by Dr Antonia Field-Smith @DrAntoniaFS and colleagues.  

 

Advice for patients

• NHS Advice – NHS 111 online
• NHS Overview – information about symptoms and how to reduce your chance of getting it

Current situation in the UK and worldwide

• Number of cases and risk in the UK, UK Government
  • Find out the number of cases and risk level in the UK
  • What to do if you’re a returning traveller
  • What the government is doing about the virus.

• COVID-19: track coronavirus cases, UK Government

• COVID-19 and the NHS, Nuffield Trust
  • Collective expertise on how the NHS may cope

• Coronavirus situation report, WHO daily updates on world situation

Information about the disease

• Finding the evidence Public Health England
  • You may need your ESTH OpenAthens account to access some of the articles
• Full fact , UKs independent full fact checking charity
  • Fact checks the latest myths reported in newspapers or trending on social media
• Disease briefing: Coronaviruses, Cortellis, March 2020
  • Detailed history of the Coronaviruses