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COVID-19 has been a global public health and economic challenge. Screening for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a key part of disease mitigation while the world continues to move forward, and lessons learned will benefit disease detection beyond COVID-19. Saliva specimen collection offers a less invasive, time- and cost-effective alternative to standard nasopharyngeal swabs. We optimized two different methods of saliva sample processing for RT-qPCR testing. Two methods were optimized to provide two cost-efficient ways to do testing for a minimum of four samples by pooling in a 2.0 mL tube and decrease the need for more highly trained personnel. Acid-pH-based RNA extraction method can be done without the need for expensive kits. Direct Lysis is a quick one-step reaction that can be applied quickly. Our optimized Acid-pH and Direct Lysis protocols are reliable and reproducible, detecting the beta-2 microglobulin ( B2M ) mRNA in saliva as an internal control from 97 to 96.7% of samples, respectively. The cycle threshold (Ct) values for B2M were significantly higher in the Direct Lysis protocol than in the Acid-pH protocol. The limit of detection for N1 gene was higher in Direct Lysis at ≤ 5 copies/μL than Acid-pH. Saliva samples collected over the course of several days from two COVID-positive individuals demonstrated Ct values for N1 that were consistently higher from Direct Lysis compared to Acid-pH. Collectively, this work supports that each of these techniques can be used to screen for SARS-CoV-2 in saliva for a cost-effective screening platform.

In 2015, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) identified a set of priorities for research and development (R&D) of new and improved human and animal vaccines. Thirty human pathogens were grouped by vaccine development timeline (short: 0-6 years; medium: 7-12 years; long: 13 years or longer) and ranked by R&D priority (high, medium, low). To characterize the vaccine development pathway for these 30 pathogens to inform a 2025 update to PHAC's vaccine R&D priorities. For each pathogen, we conducted a targeted search for vaccines authorized in Canada since 2015 using the Health Canada Drug Product Database and Canadian Immunization Guide and for candidates in clinical trials, in the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov (primary completion date of May 1, 2015 or later). Search results were downloaded and filtered by study status, phase and type. For select pathogens, we conducted additional searches in published (PubMed) and grey literature (other trial registries, industry press releases, and Web searches). Seven pathogens had at least one newly authorized vaccine since 2015: three of 13 high-priority (influenza, n=4; , n=2; respiratory syncytial virus, n=3); two of eight medium-priority (herpes zoster, n=1; meningococcal serogroup B, n=1); and, two of nine low-priority pathogens (dengue, n=2; human papillomavirus, n=1). Nineteen pathogens had no authorized vaccine in Canada or elsewhere, although five had candidates in phase 3 trials ( , norovirus and cytomegalovirus). Although some of the pathogens on the 2015 list now have authorized vaccines or candidates in late-stage clinical development, important gaps persist, which will inform PHAC's 2025 vaccine R&D update.

This report records and discusses the Fourth Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE4). The report includes a description of the keynote presentation of the workshop, the mission and vision statements that were drafted at the workshop and finalized shortly after it, a set of idea papers, position papers, experience papers, demos, and lightning talks, and a panel discussion. The main part of the report covers the set of working groups that formed during the meeting, and for each, discusses the participants, the objective and goal, and how the objective can be reached, along with contact information for readers who may want to join the group. Finally, we present results from a survey of the workshop attendees.