Friday, November 1

COVID-19

People Haven’t Gotten Information They Need When They Needed It And Have Had A Hard Time Weighing Pandemic Risks
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COVID-19

People Haven’t Gotten Information They Need When They Needed It And Have Had A Hard Time Weighing Pandemic Risks

The decision to pause and then restart the Johnson & Johnson vaccine underscores how hard it is even for experts to gauge health risks. It’s been still harder for everyday people, most of whom have no medical background and little experience analyzing risks and benefits. People have experienced confusion about mask-wearing, physical distancing, travel, remote work, financial assistance measures and more. Now people are weighing uncertainty about vaccines. Further, some members of historically marginalized groups are skeptical of vaccine safety, as retired NFL star Marshawn Lynch detailed in a recent interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden. We are informatics and regulation researchers who study intersections among information, policy and human behav...
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Here Are 4 Tips To Help You Figure Out Tricky Stats – Numbers Can Trip You Up During The Pandemic
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COVID-19

Here Are 4 Tips To Help You Figure Out Tricky Stats – Numbers Can Trip You Up During The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust many news consumers into a world of statistics and deep uncertainty. An endless swirl of numbers – case counts, infection rates, vaccine efficacy – can leave you feeling stressed, anxious and powerless if you’re not confident you know what they really mean. But when used effectively, statistics can help you know more, trust more and avoid surprise and regret when the unexpected occurs. People also tend to want them and find them useful when weighing uncertain risks and making decisions. I’m a decision psychologist. I study how people understand and use numbers as they’re figuring out risks and making choices. I then try to improve how numbers are communicated to help people make better decisions. Here are four ways that stats in the news can confuse you – and...
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A Doctor Explains Why Benefits Far Outweigh Risks – Restart Of The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

A Doctor Explains Why Benefits Far Outweigh Risks – Restart Of The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on April 23, 2021, but the labels and fact sheets given to patients will carry a warning about the exceedingly low risk of developing blood clots. Also, close monitoring of the J&J vaccine along with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that were given emergency use authorization will continue. Dr. William Petri, an infectious-disease physician and immunologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, explains this development and why the agencies decided that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks. What was the concern with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine? The FDA and CDC paused the use of the J&J vaccine on...
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COVID-19, Journalism

Helping Nursing Homes Recover From COVID-19 Fears And Become Safer Places For Aging Parents

Two weeks after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was identified in Snohomish County, Washington, in early 2020, my dad had a stroke at his home just across Puget Sound. More COVID-19 cases were about to surface at a nearby skilled nursing facility, marking the beginning of a crisis for nursing homes across the country. My dad was incredibly lucky. It was minor stroke, and he didn’t need nursing home care. But the type of stroke he had is a leading risk factor for cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. I know that nursing care may be in his future. Throughout the pandemic, nursing homes have been in the headlines as places with uncontrolled COVID-19 cases and social isolation, which research shows can worsen people’s health. About a third of all reported U.S. COVID-19 deaths have been...
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COVID-19 Case Spikes And Crowd Size – What Baseball Can Learn From The NFL’s 2020 Season
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COVID-19

COVID-19 Case Spikes And Crowd Size – What Baseball Can Learn From The NFL’s 2020 Season

Baseball season is here, and thousands of cheering fans are back in the ballparks after a year of empty seats and cardboard cutouts as fan stand-ins. Still cautious of the COVID-19 risk, most teams were keeping season openers to 20-30% capacity. Only the Texas Rangers planned a packed stadium for its home opener on April 5, a move President Joe Biden called irresponsible. It isn’t just baseball – college basketball was allowing up to a quarter of seats filled for Final Four games, soccer season starts April 17, and promoters are planning professional fights in filled-to-capacity arenas. Many of these attendance decisions are being made with minimal data about the heightened risk that players and fans face of getting COVID-19 at stadiums or arenas and spreading it the community. There is...
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What Is Genomic Surveillance And Why We Need More Of It To Track Coronavirus Variants And Help End The COVID-19 Pandemic
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COVID-19

What Is Genomic Surveillance And Why We Need More Of It To Track Coronavirus Variants And Help End The COVID-19 Pandemic

“You can’t fix what you don’t measure” is a maxim in the business world. And it holds true in the world of public health as well. Sequencing the genetic code of virus samples taken from COVID-19 patients reveals how SARS-CoV-2 is spreading and changing. Nate Langer/UPMC, CC BY-ND Early in the pandemic, the United States struggled to meet the demand to test people for SARS-CoV-2. That failure meant officials didn’t know the true number of people who had COVID-19. They were left to respond to the pandemic without knowing how quickly it was spreading and what interventions minimized risks. Now the U.S. faces a similar issue with a different type of test: genetic sequencing. Unlike a COVID-19 test that diagnoses infection, genetic sequencing decodes the genome of SARS-CoV-2 virus in samples ...
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Even If You’ve Already Had The Coronavirus – Why You Should Get A COVID-19 Vaccine
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COVID-19

Even If You’ve Already Had The Coronavirus – Why You Should Get A COVID-19 Vaccine

A few weeks ago, a message popped up in the corner of my screen. “What do you think about people who have recently had COVID–19 getting the vaccine?” A friend of mine was eligible for a COVID–19 vaccine, but she had recently gotten over an infection with SARS–CoV–2. More people are becoming eligible for vaccines each week – including millions of people who have already recovered from a coronavirus infection. Many are wondering whether they need the vaccine, especially people who have already been infected. I study immune responses to respiratory infections, so I get a lot of these types of questions. A person can develop immunity – the ability to resist infection – from being infected with a virus or from getting a vaccine. However, immune protection isn’t always equal. The strength of th...
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A July 4th With Much Greater Freedom From COVID-19: 4 Steps To Reaching Biden’s Goal
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COVID-19

A July 4th With Much Greater Freedom From COVID-19: 4 Steps To Reaching Biden’s Goal

President Joe Biden set a goal for the U.S. to have COVID-19 under enough control by summer that Americans can celebrate July 4th with family and friends, at least in small gatherings. Important in achieving this goal is another presidential request: that all U.S. adults be made eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations by May 1. We are public health deans who lead a variety of COVID-19 response efforts and are involved in public policy discussions. At a time when the nation is weary of hearing “no, you can’t,” we believe that thinking in terms of harm reduction – offering safer but not necessarily risk-free alternatives – is crucial. Harm reduction strategies are in use all around you. Seat belts and air bags are perhaps the most widespread harm reduction strategy for a leading cause of death ...
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With 3 Weeks Of Strict COVID-19 Measures The US Could Save Tens Of Thousands Of Lives And Tens Of Billions Of Dollars
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COVID-19

With 3 Weeks Of Strict COVID-19 Measures The US Could Save Tens Of Thousands Of Lives And Tens Of Billions Of Dollars

President Joe Biden commemorated the COVID-19 pandemic’s one-year anniversary by giving Americans an ambitious goal: Return to a semblance of normalcy by the Fourth of July. “But to get there we can’t let our guard down,” he added. Unfortunately, many states already have. Falling numbers of new coronavirus cases and accelerating vaccination rates have prompted Texas and a growing number of other states to ease more restrictions or drop them altogether. Their governors argue the economic costs are just too high and the measures no longer necessary. Federal health officials, meanwhile, are advising states to hold off on reopening too soon and urging Americans to continue to mask up and take other precautions in public – even if they’re fully vaccinated. About 1,500 people in the U.S. are ...
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It May Undermine Trust In The Rollout – Skipping The Vaccine Line Is Not Only Unethical
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COVID-19

It May Undermine Trust In The Rollout – Skipping The Vaccine Line Is Not Only Unethical

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has been accompanied by reports of line-jumping as people farther down the list attempt to get ahead of those deemed higher priority. In late February, for example, one health provider, One Medical, was stripped of its vaccine allocation after allegedly allowing people connected to the company and those paying for its “concierge medical service” to have the shots – despite not being eligible. Likewise in January, hospitals in Washington state and South Florida faced criticism for offering invitation-only vaccine slots to private donors. More recently, Texas has come under scrutiny for allowing people to be vaccinated without proving eligibility. The resulting unfairness of practices such as these has compounded other inequalities highlighted by the pan...
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