Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Holidays, booster side effects, long-COVID & more
Each week, we offer you a roundup of our noteworthy coronavirus coverage.
More than 50.7 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday morning, Dec. 18, according to Johns Hopkins University. That includes more than 806,000 people who have died nationwide.
Globally, there have been more than 274 million confirmed cases of the highly infectious virus, with more than 5.3 million reported deaths.
More than 203.5 million people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Dec. 17, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker shows. More than 58 million people have received a booster dose.
Here’s what happened between Dec. 10 to Dec. 16.
Should you gather for the holidays as omicron variant spreads?
For many people, this holiday season was slated to mark their return to “normal” with loved ones, but the omicron coronavirus variant may force some families into the same tough decision making that robbed the “merry” from their Christmas last year.
COVID-19 cases were already rising before the new variant arrived, triggered by Thanksgiving gatherings. But omicron is giving coronavirus data trends a boost in the wrong direction. And early data shows the variant is giving vaccines a run for their money, too, infecting even the fully vaccinated — and boosted.
So, should you reconsider your Christmas plans? Require masks indoors? Ask for proof of vaccination? Here’s what experts say.
Worried about COVID-19 booster side effects? Here’s what to expect
Side effects following a COVID-19 vaccine are normal and should be expected, yet they aren’t guaranteed. While some people are delighted to have a pain-free vaccination experience, others may worry their lack of reactions is a sign the shot isn’t working.
No immune system is like the other, so some people may not experience side effects at all, even though their bodies are working just as hard.
The same thinking applies to booster shots, though data collected so far suggests your third shot may not be as intense as your second of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or your single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Here’s why.
Long-haul COVID-19 can be a disability. What about other cases?
Federal laws protect employees from workplace discrimination based on their disability, but the pandemic spurred new debate about whether COVID-19 is included — and under what circumstances.
While previous federal guidelines largely considered “long COVID” to be a disability, questions remained about how general cases of COVID-19 are categorized.
On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, added a section to its COVID-19 technical assistance addressing exactly that. The EEOC is a federal agency tasked with safeguarding workplace civil rights laws, which include the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act.
Do face mask policies work? Countries with them had lower COVID-19 death rates
During the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days, it wasn’t crystal clear how well face masks were preventing coronavirus infections or severe disease among wearers. Now, a new study reveals an association between mask policies and reduced COVID-19 deaths long before vaccines were added to the picture.
Research on 44 countries in Asia and Europe including nearly one billion people shows nations that enacted face mask policies at the start of the pandemic had significantly lower COVID-19 deaths per million people than those that did not enforce any mask rules.
Overall, increases in daily deaths were “significantly lower” in countries that enforced mask policies, suggesting face coverings did and do offer an additional layer of protection that “could prevent unnecessary COVID-19 deaths.”
Glass found in injection medicine used for hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Two lots of Veklury, the brand name for remdisivir, have been recalled by Gilead Sciences after a company investigation confirmed a customer complaint about glass particulates in the injected medicine.
Though Gilead says in its FDA-posted recall notice that it hasn’t received any reports of “adverse events” yet, the potential problem is obvious:
“If the glass particulate reaches the blood vessels it can travel to various organs and block blood vessels in the heart, lungs or brain which can cause stroke and even lead to death.”
How worn out are people in US with COVID-19 changes to their lives?
A new poll found many Americans have felt worn out or angry over pandemic-related changes to their lives.
The Monmouth University poll released Wednesday, Dec. 15, found that a majority of respondents have felt worn out with these changes over the past 20 months while many have felt angry. The poll also found that many remain concerned about the coronavirus but that some said they are unlikely to get a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot.
The poll comes as the CDC says COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in the United States and amid concerns about the omicron coronavirus variant.
Health workers facing COVID-19 stress to take ‘magic mushroom’ ingredient
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline health care workers continue to face high infection risks and death head-on as many overwhelmed hospitals wrestle to stay afloat. The struggle has taken a toll on workers’ mental health.
Now, dozens of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals will consume doses of the key ingredient in “magic mushrooms” as part of a clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine to test whether the psychedelic can help relieve their depression and anxiety.
While several trials have tested psilocybin — the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms — among people with the conditions, this one is the first to test the treatment in health care workers.
Chronic air pollution exposure may raise risks of COVID-19 death, ICU admission
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who face chronic exposure to a specific kind of air pollution had an 11% and 13% higher risk of dying from the disease and being admitted to an intensive care unit, respectively, compared to coronavirus patients without such exposure, new research shows.
Particulate matter — a mixture of solid and liquid particles made of smoke, soot and dirt — was the only type of air pollution associated with COVID-19 mortality and ICU admission, even at levels below the regulatory standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The findings highlight how air pollution exposure can influence how someone’s body reacts to COVID-19, even at low levels, emphasizing its effects on health overall.
Man’s best therapist? Dog owners are less depressed during pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough for people everywhere, but for those who came home to a dog, it might have been a little more bearable.
The study found dog owners reported having significantly more social support available to them compared with potential dog owners, and their depression scores were also lower compared with potential dog owners.
On average, dog owners had a lower depression score, with the mean score at 12.41, compared with potential dog owners, which scored a mean of 14.06, a “statistically significant” difference.
‘Virtually every’ omicron case at NY college was in fully vaccinated
Cornell University is seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases and has detected the “highly contagious” omicron variant on campus, particularly in fully vaccinated individuals, according to campus officials.
Between Dec. 7 and 13, the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, reported 883 students testing positive for COVID-19, its online dashboard shows.
Out of the students infected with COVID-19, the school has “not seen severe illness” as of Dec. 14.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 6:25 AM with the headline "Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Holidays, booster side effects, long-COVID & more."
