The 趣赢平台 Team Behind VISION’s Success

The VISION Vaccine Effectiveness Network, launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2020, spurred a monumental shift in vaccine assessment, 指导COVID-19疫苗政策决策，并迅速向美国人提供有关该疾病的关键信息. 趣赢平台’s coordination of this collaborative “virtual network” of 9 integrated U.S. health systems enabled delivery of timely, 关于疫苗在不同现实条件下对不同人群有效性的可靠数据, and greatly expanded knowledge about COVID-19’s outcomes and complications. This research was vital to helping the nation battle this deadly pathogen.

Strong Team Ethos

这一广泛的公共卫生努力的成功离不开韦斯特的专业团队. Key among them were Sarah Ball, ScD, MS, MPH管理该项目的副总裁兼首席科学/流行病学顾问 Elizabeth A. K. Rowley, DrPH, a Principal Statistical Associate, who served as a co-analytic lead.

As project director, Ball managed multiple responsibilities, including collaborating with the 9 partner sites, 确保以人口为基础的监测和电子健康记录(EHRs)的无缝集成, and overseeing the rapid data analysis and biweekly reporting required by CDC. When CDC shifted priorities, Ball made certain that her team quickly adapted, and when staff members needed to shift gears, she had them focus on other priorities.

“I was able to be flexible,” she said, “because we had a very capable, 协作团队，足够大，可以承担那些需要休息或参加其他任务的人的责任.”

Ball also managed the budget, maintained frequent contact with CDC, provided high-level input related to scientific responsibilities, and supervised publication of 趣赢平台’s findings. She shakes off compliments of her role in VISION, 她指出了疾病预防控制中心和卫生系统的合作伙伴关系，以及她的团队对这项研究的坚定承诺.

“我们都看到了这项工作的价值和回报——它为公众带来了积极的结果,” she said. “And we saw rapid publication of our findings, so it was easy to overlook all the challenges for the greater good.”

罗利编写了最初的代码来分析数据，并监督影响编程的科学问题的翻译. 她开发了一个统计分析管道，以快速分析卫生系统每两周提供的数据，并为决策者提供报告，这对确定国家COVID-19疫苗政策至关重要. 她还对各种分析技术进行了模拟研究，以确定哪些分析技术可以保证将数据转化为对疫苗有效性的明确理解.

Insightful, Valuable Findings

VISION网络在同行评议的期刊和CDC的期刊上发表了超过25篇论文 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 这些出版物为科学家提供了有关COVID-19疫苗有效性的最新信息，并为政策制定者提供了做出明智决策所需的见解和可操作数据. 在整个项目过程中，几乎实时传递的数据包括:

• The effectiveness of the vaccines against initial and later subvariants
• Vaccine effectiveness among pregnant persons, immunocompromised people, and children and youth 5-17 years old
• Waning effectiveness of monovalent vaccines
• Impact of COVID-19 vaccines on attenuating disease severity
• Effectiveness of the bivalent booster

Other publications produced by the VISION team reported on vaccine coverage and effectiveness by social vulnerability; protection from mRNA vaccination and prior infection against COVID-associated medical encounters; the number of people needed to vaccinate to prevent COVID-associated medical encounters; and the effectiveness of the 2021-22 influenza vaccine.

“The impact of our work was stunning,” Rowley said, 他指出，韦斯特的研究结果“几乎立即”提交给了疾病预防控制中心的免疫实践咨询委员会, which developed recommendations on vaccine use for various population segments. “But,” she adds, “as the pandemic evolved and CDC’s requirements pivoted, we needed to update our analyses every 2 weeks. 这涉及对数百万个COVID测试和疫苗记录的庞大数据集的分析. 这也意味着不断审查数据或改变我们向疾病预防控制中心报告数据的方式，以确保绝对清晰. Our adaptability, strong team unity, 对工作的深度投入使我们能够巧妙地管理项目的多个活动部分.”

New Research Opportunities

In July 2023, 趣赢平台 was awarded the VISION 2.0 contract, which is focused not only on COVID-19, but also on flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine effectiveness. 速度比大流行期间慢，每月分析和报告数据. 关于新冠病毒和流感疫苗的中期有效性评估报告将于2024年2月发布 MMWR.

What’s next for VISION? 鲍尔说，该平台将用于调查莱姆病和预防它的疫苗. “我们一直在寻找方法，使VISION的能力和流程在新的和需要的调查领域发挥作用.”

鲍尔和罗利都对疾控中心的领导和韦斯特的参与表示赞赏，他们的研究挽救了这么多人的生命，并为了解和击败可能出现的其他病原体建立了基础设施.