The world is currently witnessing a dramatic disruption of everyday life owing to the rapid

progression of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As the pandemic evolves,
there is an urgent need to better understand its epidemiology, characterize its potential impact,
and identify mitigatory strategies to avert pandemic-related mortality. There is a need for a tool
or algorithm to evaluate the extent to which public health policy and/or economic preparedness
measures are effectively averting COVID-19 related mortality. We present a simple and yet
practical epidemiological tool, the Pandemic Efficiency Index (PEI), that can be utilized globally
to test the relative efficiency of measures put in place to avert death resulting from COVID-19
infection. Using the PEI and current COVID-19-related mortality, we determined that so far
Germany demonstrates the highest PEI (5.1) among countries with more than 5,000 recorded
cases of the infection, indicating high quality measures instituted by the country to avert death
during the pandemic. Italy and France currently have the lowest COVID-19-related PEIs.
Epidemics and pandemics come and go, but local, national, and global abilities to determine the
efficiency of their efforts in averting deaths is critical.
Benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the complications, long-term effects of the disease
An international study, headed by Antonio Hernández, Professor of the Department of Legal
Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology of the University of Granada (UGR), has
reviewed the assessment reports of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) regarding the
Coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
Antonio Hernandez Jerez. Image Credit: University of Granada
The UGR scientists paid particular attention to the safety information from pre-clinical (animal)
and clinical (phase-3 trials) dosing studies. They also considered the results of the mass
vaccination campaigns in Spain and the United Kingdom to date.
Should we be concerned about the on-going vaccination drive? The principal investigator of this
study, Antonio Hernández, clarifies the situation: “For our part, as the researchers, the answer is
that we should not worry because the risk/benefit balance of implementing COVID-19
vaccination on a mass scale in the European Union is favorable. The benefits far outweigh the
potential complications and long-term effects of actually having the disease”, he explains.
This conclusion is also valid even in light of the more serious incidents reported in the case of
some vaccines, such as the blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, “which are
extraordinarily rare, while similar thrombotic complications are much more frequent among
those who contract the disease,” he continues.
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In general, the most commonly-reported adverse effects following the administration of the
vaccines involved local reactions at the injection site (discomfort in the arm and erythema),
followed by non-specific systemic effects that occurred shortly after vaccination and resolved
themselves within a few days, such as myalgia, chills, fatigue, headache, and fever.
Long-term studies
However, the study points to the continued paucity of information, on several fronts: long-term
studies, interaction with other vaccines; the use of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy or
breastfeeding; and their use in immunocompromised patients, as well as in subjects with
comorbidities or autoimmune or inflammatory disorders.