ObjectivesThere have been substantial amounts of misinformation surrounding the importance, safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine. The impacts of this misinformation may be augmented as they circulate among ethnic communities, who may concurrently face other barriers related to vaccine uptake and access. To combat some of the key sources of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation among the South Asian communities of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), an interdisciplinary team of researchers and marketing experts established the South Asian Youth as Vaccine Agents of Change (SAY-VAC) programme to support and empower South Asian youth to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine information.DesignCross-sectional and one-group pretest–post-test design.SettingGTHA.ParticipantsSouth Asian youth (18–29 years).InterventionThe team partnered with grass-roots South Asian organisations to collaborate on shared objectives, curate key concerns, create video products regarding the COVID-19 vaccine that would resonate with the community, disseminate the products using established social media channels and evaluate the effectiveness of this effort.OutcomesWe assessed the change in self-reported knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccine and participant confidence to facilitate a conversation around the COVID-19 vaccine using pre-post surveys, after the implementation of the SAY-VAC programme.ResultsIn total, 30 South Asian youth (median age=23.2 years) from the GTHA participated in the programme. After completing the SAY-VAC programme, participants reported an increase in their self-reported knowledge regarding the COVID-19 vaccine from 73.3% to 100.0% (p=0.005), and their self-reported confidence to have a conversation about the vaccine with their unvaccinated community members increased from 63.6% to 100.0% (p=0.002). Overall, 51.9% of the participants reported being able to positively affect an unvaccinated/community member’s decision to get vaccinated.ConclusionsThe SAY-VAC programme highlights the importance of community partnerships in developing and disseminating culturally responsive health communication strategies. A constant assessment of the evidence and utilisation of non-traditional avenues to engage the public are essential.

Objective: Investigate the importance of optical symptoms within SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) patients. Design: Systematic review Methods: Databases searched included Medline, EMBASE, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Clinicaltrials.gov, ProQuest. As well, meeting abstracts from American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and Canadian Ophthalmological Society were also considered. Articles underwent two rounds of screening before risk of bias assessment and data extraction. Results: In total, 582 studies were identified. A total of 2064 unique SARS-CoV-2 positive patients are included in this review from 13 different studies that met the inclusion criteria. We observed that the most common ocular symptoms in patients with SARS-CoV-2 were dry eyes, chemosis, epiphora, and blurred vision. The least common symptoms included hyperemia, conjunctivitis and photophobia. Additionally, we observed a unique relationship between patients with ocular manifestations and the severity of the systemic symptoms. Conclusion: Ocular symptoms do not occur commonly among SARS-CoV-2 positive patients; however, this study displays that there is an occurrence of common ocular manifestations such as dry eyes, chemosis, epiphora, and blurred vision. Therefore, increased ocular examinations may aid in diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections. ABBREVIATIONS: COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) ARTICLE HISTORY