Cochrane seeks Nov. 30 bids for adult pneumococcal vaccine review

Cochrane asked author teams in an Oct. 7 news post to apply by Nov. 30 for a new adult pneumococcal vaccine review, with a protocol due in Q1 2027.

Evidence grade: Claim (no study cited) for any conclusion about vaccine effectiveness, because the post announces a review process rather than new clinical findings. The update matters because Cochrane’s 2013 review covered polysaccharide vaccine only, while conjugate vaccines now cover 10, 13, 15, 20, 21 and more strains.

“We are looking author teams to take on a new Cochrane review in this area,” Cochrane said in the news post. It said teams should be ready to handle multiple vaccine valencies, meaning the number of pneumococcal strains covered, and different vaccination schedules across countries.

Cochrane said those differences can make it harder to draw broad clinical conclusions and public-health recommendations, especially for outcomes other than invasive pneumococcal disease. The group said a new protocol will be required to reflect changes in PICO, the framework for population, intervention, comparison and outcome, and current Cochrane methods.

The existing review was prioritized for update because it scored highly on impact metric data, was frequently cited in guidelines and aligned with Cochrane’s scientific strategy, according to the post. Cochrane said there is sufficient new evidence to support a meaningful synthesis, but also said that will not be known until the search is run.

The scope has widened since the prior review. Cochrane said there are two main pneumococcal vaccine categories: polysaccharide vaccines, or PPV, and conjugate vaccines, or PCV. It said PPV is still used globally, while high-income countries are mostly replacing it with PCV.

The call applies to researchers able to produce a systematic review of adult pneumococcal vaccines, not to individual patients deciding on vaccination. It does not change any vaccination guidance or assess the benefits and harms of specific products.

Cochrane said it particularly welcomes teams that include early-career researchers and researchers based in low- and middle-income countries. It said there are no funds to pay authors, though it can offer commissioning support, search support, possible machine-learning help for screening, Covidence premium support, pre-submission checks and access to its Engage volunteer platform, depending on capacity.

The study cannot show, at this stage, whether an updated synthesis will produce firm answers across products, schedules and outcomes. Cochrane said if the search finds limited evidence, the work may be redirected to a shorter publication such as Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods.

Applications must include a proposal form, an analysis plan, planned comparisons, subgroup and sensitivity analyses, and a 300-word description of the team’s suitability. Cochrane said applications will be assessed by the Commissioning Editor, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and additional editorial staff and experts from the Cochrane Collaboration as required.

Expressions of interest are due to the Commissioning Editor by Nov. 30, 2026, including the proposal form, analysis plan and team suitability statement. Cochrane said the selected team should produce a new protocol reflecting the changed PICO and current Cochrane methodology in Q1 2027, with the full review completed in Q1 2028 if the evidence search supports continuing with a full systematic review.

Source: Cochrane news post, Oct. 7, 2026.

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