July 21, 2022 | Austin, Texas | Proclamation
WHEREAS, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, issued a disaster proclamation on March13, 2020, certifying under Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) poses an imminent threat of disaster for all counties in the State of Texas; and
WHEREAS, in each subsequent month effective through today, I have issued proclamations renewing the disaster declaration for all Texas counties; and
WHEREAS, I have issued executive orders and suspensions of Texas laws in response to COVID-19 aimed at protecting the health and safety of Texans and ensuring an effective response to this disaster; and
WHEREAS, a state of disaster continues to exist in all counties due to COVID-19;
NOW, THEREFORE, in accordance with the authority vested in me by Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code, I do hereby renew the disaster proclamation for all counties in Texas.
Pursuant to Section 418.017, I authorize the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster.
Pursuant to Section 418.016, any regulatory statute prescribing the procedures for conduct of state business or any order or rule of a state agency that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with this disaster shall be suspended upon written approval of the Office of the Governor. However, to the extent that the enforcement of any state statute or administrative rule regarding contracting or procurement would impede any state agencys emergency response that is necessary to cope with this declared disaster, I hereby suspend such statutes and rules for the duration of this declared disaster for that limited purpose.
In accordance with the statutory requirements, copies of this proclamation shall be filed with the applicable authorities.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 21st day of July, 2022.
GREG ABBOTT
Governor
ATTESTED BY:
JOHN B. SCOTT
Secretary of State
View the proclamation.
The weekly average of new COVID-19 cases is increasing as the county continues to have high transmission of COVID-19, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said Friday.
Compared to last week, the weekly average of positive cases increased 5.6%, Public Health said.
Santa Barbara County has a high community transmission rate of the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and so do most other California counties.
The county has reported 1,226 cases for the week ending Thursday, which is fewer than the previous week, when 1,334 new cases were reported.However, this number is lower than the actual case count locally since the results of rapid antigen tests (like at-home tests) are not reported by the Public Health Department.
As of this week, there have been98,826 confirmed cases in the county.
There were 43 COVID-19-positive hospital patients in the county as of Thursday, including two people being treated in intensive care units. This includes people who were admitted for treatment due to COVID-19 and people who tested positive but were admitted for unrelated reasons.
The county reported four more COVID-19-related deaths so far, which brings the total to 706 people.
The BA.5 subvariant of the novel coronaviruscontinues to be the dominant strain in the county as well as most of the West Coast, according to state data.
Santa Barbara County's test positivity rate is at 16.6% and has steadily been increasing throughoutJuly. This percentage is higher than both neighboring counties. San Luis Obispo has a 13.3% test positivity rate and Venturas test positivity rate is 15.5%.
The county's test positivity rate for the same date last year was 7.1%.
UC Santa Barbara is hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for children next week.It will serve children from six months old to 11 years old.
The first dose of a two-dose Moderna vaccine series will be offered on Wednesday, July 27 and the second dose will be offered on Aug. 24.To sign up for an appointment, visit myturn.ca.gov. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Find a COVID-19 vaccine provider here, including locations for pediatric vaccines and booster shots.
Find a testing site here, including locations to get free at-home rapid tests.
Noozhawk staff writer Grace Kitayama can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
A California man contracted COVID-19 and monkeypox at the same time a double-dose of misery that left him flattened for weeks.
Mitcho Thompson, of Sebastopol, told NBC Bay Area he initially tested positive for the coronavirus in late June. He felt decimated by the virus, but then started noticing small red lesions throughout his back, legs, arms and neck.
The doctor was very certain that I have monkeypox and that I had both, Thompson told the station in an exclusive report. Because that was the question. Could I get them at the same time? And he said, Yes, yes, yes.
Thompson said the twin viruses left him feeling as if he had a severe case of influenza. He also had a fever, labored breathing, chills, body aches and skin lesions.
Really sick, Thompson recalled. And the worst of it was honestly where I just could barely get out of bed, and you could barely like get a drink of water.
An infectious disease specialist at Stanford University confirmed its possible for someone to become infected with both viruses simultaneously.
Its certainly not impossible for that to occur, Dr. Dean Winslow told the station. Its just incredibly bad luck. They are very different viruses.
More than 2,400 cases of monkeypox have been reported nationwide as part of an international outbreak that began two months ago. The virus spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact, but it can also be transmitted through linens used by an infected person.
Some 778 people had been infected in New York City as of Thursday, city officials said.
Cases in NYC are increasing, and there are likely many more cases that have not been diagnosed, NYC Healths website reads. Anyone can get and spread monkeypox. The current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
The illness has been relatively mild for many men and has not led to any fatalities in the United States.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Associated Press we still have the opportunity to contain monkeypox as vaccine supplies will soon increase.
While roughly 2,000 doses were available when the outbreak was first identified in the US in May, Walensky said the government had distributed more than 191,000 doses this week with 160,000 ready to ship and as many as 780,000 doses to become available as soon as next week.
Thompson, meanwhile, told NBC Bay Area hes finally better after his dual infection of monkey COVID.
With Post wires
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 Friday.
The result from the home test marks the second time he has tested positive. The first time was in January.
Johnson's office said the positiveresult came back from a test he took shortly after a press conference in his office to mark his first 100 days in office.
His office said the mayor is experiencing very mild symptoms and will isolate at home "for the coming days."
"The Mayor has been tested on at least five occasions this week, and todays is the only test that returned a positive result," his spokesperson, Jeff Fleming, said in an email.
Fleming said Johnson tested after the news conference when he was feeling a mild headache and has regularly worn a mask in close quarters with others.
He noted that Johnson had been at least six feet from others in the office during the press conference, where he was not wearing a mask.
Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
Several highly effective vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. During the phase 3 clinical trials, mRNA vaccines had vaccine efficacy of 9495% in preventing symptomatic infections. After the rollout, real-world evidence showed that the mRNA vaccines provided ~90% effectiveness against infection. Then came the variants. The wave after wave of new variants, with ever-increasing transmissibility and capacity to escape existing immunity, challenge the ability of vaccines to prevent infection and transmission. The effectiveness of a primary series of mRNA vaccines (two doses) to prevent hospitalization and death is also being chipped away by these highly immune-evasive variants. Vaccine-mediated protection became shorter-lived, especially with the emergence of Omicron variants. People look at these data and wonder, what is the point of getting the vaccines if they will not prevent symptomatic infections, and the protection does not last? Well, to expect robust protection from just the primary series of any vaccines is unreasonableand was always likely to bebut somehow society has placed too high a bar on what is considered an acceptable number of doses for COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, we need to understand that were going to be getting boosters in the foreseeable future, and to appreciate their benefits.
Vaccines against other infectious diseases are given in multiple doses. Many of our childhood vaccines require multiple doses5 doses for (diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis), 4 doses (Haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal conjugate, inactivated poliovirus), or 3 doses (hepatitis B) are all commonly given before the age of 18 years. These doses are required and not considered optional to achieve immunity. In adulthood, many of these vaccines need periodic booster doses to maintain immunity. The influenza virus requires annual vaccination doses for all ages. Yet, people dont complain about having to get their 60th dose of the influenza vaccine. We should think of COVID-19 vaccines the same way.
Why do we need booster doses? The primary series of vaccines kick-starts the immune response by engaging lymphocytes, white blood cells that detect specific features of the pathogen to expand in numbers and become instructed to eliminate the pathogen. Most of these cells disappear over time, except for a small subset of cells that are kept by the body for future use. These memory cells are responsible for long-lasting immunity against a given pathogen. What boosters do is stimulate these memory lymphocytes to quickly expand in numbers and to produce even more effective defenders. The booster also selects for B cells that can secrete antibodies that are even better at binding and blocking virus infection and spread.
The primary series can be thought of as the high school for lymphocytes, where nave cells receive basic instructions to learn about the pathogen. Boosters are like a college where lymphocytes are further educated to become more skilled and mature, to fight off future infections. Periodically, these college graduates need refreshers by more booster doses given later in life. This is the case for all vaccines. Booster doses provide the immune system the education it needs to prevent severe diseases from infections.
COVID-19 vaccines also need booster doses for the same reasons. We need to educate, maintain, and improve T and B cell responses to prevent severe disease. Boosters provide significant benefits to people who received the primary series in preventing hospitalization and death. In the U.S. in April 2022, people older than 50 years of age who received no vaccine, primary series only (no booster dose), or one booster dose had 38 x, 6 x, or a 4 x higher risk, respectively, of dying from COVID-19 compared to those with two or more booster doses. During the Omicron-predominant period, the booster dose provided protection from hospitalization even in previously infected people, whether older (>65 years of age) or younger (<65 years of age). Among children and adolescents, a primary series (two doses) of vaccination was less effective in preventing COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care encounters during the Omicron wave compared to the Delta period. Immunity also decreases with time since primary vaccination. No significant protection was detected more than five months after a 2nd vaccine dose among adolescents aged 1617 years. However, a third booster dose restored vaccine effectiveness to 81% in this age group. There is thus a clear benefit of a booster dose across a broad range of age groups studied to date.
Can booster vaccination be improved in the future? Absolutely. We need improved boosters that can provide more durable protection, are effective against variants we encounter moving forward, and do a better job of preventing infection and blocking transmission. For example, booster-induced immune protection wanes within 4-6 months during the current Omicron period. We need vaccine strategies that provide more durable protection. Boosters are now being developed to match the circulating Omicron variant BA.5, which should provide better protection than boosters based on the original strain. However, because of the rapidly mutating nature of SARS-CoV-2, going forward, we will need boosters that can provide coverage against not just the existing but future variants of concern.
Boosters that work against a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants, now or in the future, as well as against other coronaviruses that may cause future pandemics need to be pursued. Coronaviruses have made the jump from animals to humans multiple times in history which resulted in pandemics. Vaccines that can broadly protect against a wide range of coronaviruses will also prevent future pandemics. In addition, future boosters should be given as nasal spray vaccines to provide local mucosal immune protection, capable of reducing infection and transmission at the portal of entry for the virus, and reducing long COVID risk. Ultimately, we need booster strategies that can be more easily implemented worldwide and have higher acceptance and uptake rates to provide much-needed immune protection for everyone. An over-the-counter nasal spray booster can bring us closer to that goal.
Researchers and industry are furiously working on developing next-generation vaccines as they did with our current vaccines, which have saved more than 14 million lives during the pandemic. But for now, take the booster doses you are eligible to keep your immune system educated and up to date so it has the best chance of protecting you from COVID-19 in the upcoming winter season and so we can prevent the enormous loss of life we experienced last winter with more than 300,000 people dying in the U.S. from a disease that can be prevented by current boosters.
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Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
1. January 6
2. Covid-19
3. Extreme heat
4. Immigration
5. Ukraine
BREAKFAST BROWSE
Cats are going wild over this video game
'Nope' premieres in US theaters today
Prince George is 9! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share a photo of him on the eve of his birthday
Australia's largest music festival sinks into the mud, forcing first day cancellation
One of Central Park's prettiest places is closing
QUIZ TIME
Which product remains difficult to find in many US stores due to a nationwide shortage?
A. Paper towels
B. Toilet paper
C. Baby formula
D. Toothpaste
TODAY'S NUMBER
13
TODAY'S QUOTE
Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, this disease struck fear in families, including my own. The fact that it is still around decades after the vaccine was created shows you just how relentless it is.
TODAY'S WEATHER
The top symptoms of the Omicron COVID-19 variant may differ from symptoms that were common at the start of the pandemic. Omicron may also be less severe than the Delta variant, a study out of the U.K. found.
People with Omicron often report sore throat and a hoarse voice, which were not as prevalent in Delta cases, aZoe Health Study found. This is true for vaccinated and unvaccinated patients.
People who contracted the Omicron variant were less likely to be hospitalized compared to those with the Delta variant, Zoe Health said in a press release about the study. Symptoms also lasted for shorter periods an average of 6.87 days, compared to 8.89 days.
Earlier COVID-19 variants often caused people to lose their sense of smell. The study found that symptom appeared in less than 20% of cases and often days after the first symptoms began. Other serious symptoms that used to be prevalent like fever, headaches, brain fog and eye soreness are less prevalent in Omicron cases. However, they can still occur.
The Zoe Health Study, which was supported by grants from the U.K. Government Department of Health and Social Care, tested people in the U.K. who were vaccinated. They tested participants between June 1 and November 27, 2021 when the Delta variant was dominant and between Dec. 20, 2021 to Jan. 17, 2022 when the Omicron variant dominated.
The study collected 62,002 positive tests and looked at those patients' symptoms. In addition to a difference in the length and types of symptoms between the two variants, researchers said Omicron is found far less frequently in the lower respiratory tract. This is where infection can cause more severe symptoms, potentially sending people to the hospital.
They also found Omicron symptoms do not last as long in vaccinated people.
Delta is better at infecting lung cells than Omicron, the study found. And while Omicron appears to be much more transmissible than previous variants, this variant affects fewer organs than Delta, other studies have found, according to Zoe Health.
The Omicron subvariant that was prevalent at the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 was labeled BA.1. There are now Omicron subvariants, labeled BA.4 and BA.5 that appear to be causing a loss of sense of smell or taste again, Dr. Celine Gounder told CBS News.
A similar study from Imperial College London also found that there was lower reporting of loss of sense of smell and taste for the Omicron variant. However, the study which is yet to be peer-reviewed, found there was higher reporting of cold-like and influenza-like symptoms.
The study used data from REACT-1, a widespread survey in the U.K. that collected at-home COVID-19 tests from about 1.5 million participants between 2020 to 2022, and analyzed how symptoms differed between variants and subvariants.
While it is perceived that newer variants like Omicron are milder, Omicron subvariant BA.2 was associated with reporting more symptoms, with greater disruption to daily activities, than the Omicron subvariant BA.1.
Trending News
Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.
Children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years of age finally became eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S. on June 18, after the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended their use for this population, following emergency use authorization granted by the Food and Drug Administration. We recently wrote about some of the issues to consider in vaccinating young children, ranging from fewer access points and more reticence among their parents, compared to their 5-11 year-old counterparts. Here, we examine the status of vaccine uptake in this group, one month into their eligibility. Our analysis is based on data obtained from CDCs Data Tracker on the number of first COVID-19 doses administered by age as of July 20, 2022 nationally and by jurisdiction (see methods below for more information). Overall, we find that vaccination has already peaked in the youngest age group, and is far below where 5-11 year-olds (who became eligible in November of last year) were at this point in their eligibility:
These data suggest that achieving vaccination coverage of the youngest age group will likely take some time, may require more intensive and ongoing efforts, and may lag behind even their slightly older peers (even among 5-11 year-olds, just 30% have been fully vaccinated, eight months since they became eligible; vaccine coverage jumps to 60% of 12-17 years-olds and 77% of those 18 and older). This slow uptake likely reflects a range of factors. In addition to there being fewer access points for those under the age of 5, our prior COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor Surveys, fielded before children under 5 became eligible for vaccination, found that most parents were cautious about getting their young children vaccinated; soon-to-be released survey data will show that this caution has continued even after the CDC recommended vaccination for those 6 months and older. As a result, many parents may not encounter an offer of a vaccine until they go in for a routine visit to a pediatrician at some point in the year. More broadly, the sense of COVID-19 as an emergency has diminished among the public. Still, the country is in the midst of another COVID wave, due to the latest Omicron variant, and while children generally fare much better than adults if they do get COVID-19, some do get quite sick, suffer longer-term health issues, and even die from the disease. Vaccination against COVID-19 is safe and effective, can protect them from illness, and minimize disruptions to childcare, camp, school, and other needed services.
Throughout the pandemic, scientists have discovered that being biologically male or female might impact you when it comes to COVID-19 outcomes, long COVID, and vaccine responses but the reasons for these differences have yet to be fully understood.
While experts investigate this topic (many are calling for more studies that look at outcomes based on sex), its important to know how your sex may affect your risk, particularly if youre immunocompromised. This should be part of the ongoing conversation you have with your doctor to determine your risk level and your strategy for protecting yourself against COVID-19.
Heres what we know about the differences in COVID-19 between males and females so far and what it may mean for you.
While researchers agree that males die of COVID-19 at a higher rate than females, its not entirely clear why. A series of social factors may play a bigger role than biological differences, per a February 2022 Harvard GenderSci Lab study of more than 30 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.
The team found that males were infected and died at higher rates than females in some states, but these rates were about even in other states. And at certain points during the pandemic, females outpaced males in cases and fatalities. Because of this, looking at the aggregate data for the nation could be misleading.
Whats more, the gap between males and females was smaller than what experts originally thought: Early on, it was reported that males were dying of COVID-19 at twice the rate of females. However, the data from the teams tracker showed that males in the United States had a mortality rate that was just 10 to 20 percent higher than that of females between April 2020 and May 2021.
After statistical modeling, the researchers found that 30 percent of this variation was due to state-level factors, such as differences in public health policies, timing and length of mask mandates, and other social factors like gendered health behaviors, occupational exposures, pre-existing health conditions, and demographics including race, age, and education.
The model also showed that 10 percent of the difference was based on when a measurement was taken during the pandemic.
The remaining 60 percent of the variation was not explained by either time or state. Still, researchers dont believe that interventions centered on sex-related biological factors like the use of testosteron blockers or estrogen would have a significant impact on outcomes.
Without considering [social and contextural] factors, youre missing part of the picture of why people might be getting exposed or getting a more severe case, Tamara Rushovich, a graduate student at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and part of the GenderSci Lab research team, told The Harvard Gazette. For example, when you see numbers that show different rates of cases or deaths, its not just biology, but what was your exposure risk? And thats influenced by things like your occupation or your income.
Gendered behaviors can also play a role in the different outcomes between males and females.
Thereve been studies that look at things like adherence to mask policies or social-distancing guidelines, added Rushovich. They saw differences in gender adherence to those, so men being less likely to wear masks properly or to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
For instance, an October 2020 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America looked at the gender differences in COVID-19 attitudes and behavior from eight countries. Researchers found that 59 percent of females considered COVID-19 to be a very serious problem during the first wave of the pandemic (March 16-30, 2020) across all eight countries studied (Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States), compared to just 48.7 percent of the males.
In both periods studied (including the second period from April 15-20, 2020), individuals were asked to evaluate how strictly they were following seven recommended rules, including keeping physical distance from others or staying at home. Compliance was markedly higher in females (by 5 to 6 percent), but smaller than the differences in beliefs about the pandemic.
And even after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and employment status, females were much more likely than males to believe that the health consequences of the pandemic were very serious and were also more supportive of restraining measures and more compliant with public health and social distancing measures, per the researchers.
The risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes may be further heightened in certain immunocompromised populations. In an April 2021 review in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, researchers found that individuals who were hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients had a 68 percent rate of 28-day survival after COVID-19 with risk factors for mortality including being male, being older than 50 years, and getting infected within 12 months after HCT.
Likewise, the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) has looked at factors associated with COVID-19 mortality in 3,729 patients with rheumatic diseases. Being male, having an older age, and living with certain comorbidities (hypertension, heart disease, and chronic lung disease) were risk factors for COVID-19-related death. More rheumatic disease activity and certain medications (like rituximab) also raised risk.
On the other hand, some research shows that females might be more likely to encounter long COVID than males but additional studies are needed to confirm this.
A June 2022 review in Current Medical Research and Opinion found that the likelihood of having long-COVID syndrome was 22 percent greater among females. In particular, female patients were significantly more likely to have long-COVID symptoms in the categories of psychiatric and mood (i.e. depression); ear, nose, or throat; musculoskeletal (i.e. myalgia); and respiratory.
That said, male patients were significantly more likely to have long COVID in the category of renal disorders (i.e. acute kidney injury).
Differences in immune system function between females and males could be an important driver of sex differences in long COVID-19 syndrome, note the researchers. Females mount more rapid and robust innate and adaptive immune responses, which can protect them from initial infection and severity. However, this same difference can render females more vulnerable to prolonged autoimmune-related diseases.
As with Lyme disease, the COVID-19 pathogen might remain hidden and generate greater levels of inflammatory cytokines in females than males, per a February 2022 review in the European Respiratory Journal. Some experts believe that fragments of SARS-CoV-2 could hang around areas of the body like the kidneys or brain, sparking a chronic inflammation-associated cascade. This may result in symptoms like pain or brain fog.
In general, 80 percent of all individuals affected by autoimmune disorders are females, due to variation within the sex chromosomes and hormonal changes, per a May 2020 review in Cureus. (An increasing body of research has pointed toward the possibility that COVID-19 causes the development of autoantibodies linked to other autoimmune diseases and may be tied to long-COVID symptoms.)
All of this said, most studies on long COVID do not evaluate or report granular data by sex, so more research in this area will be key for better understanding the risk of long COVID.
The lack of studies reporting sex-disaggregated outcomes for COVID-19 speaks to the need for further, large-scale research that includes sex as an analytical variable and that reports data by sex, note the researchers of the Current Medical Research and Opinion review.
Its important to talk to your doctor about your risk of long COVID as an immunocompromised patient and how your sex might play a role in that risk.
I have not seen data to suggest confirming that immunocompromised patients are more likely to develop long COVID than patients who are not immunocompromised, Samoon Ahmad, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told us previously. That said, its clear that immunocompromised patients are more likely to develop severe COVID if they get it and research suggests that people who have severe COVID are more likely to develop long COVID.
Read more about what you should know about long COVID.
Individuals who are biologically male or female also have differences when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, whether its in regards to vaccine hesitancy or risk of adverse effects.
Initially, females were more hesitant than males to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In a review of 60 studies published in the Journal of Public Health, researchers found that 58 percent of papers reported males having higher intentions to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Significantly fewer females stated that they would get vaccinated than males during the time period studied (November 2020 to January 2021).
Overall, males were on average 41 percent more likely to report that they intended to receive a vaccine rather than being unwilling or undecided compared with females. The gender effects were even higher among health care workers compared with unspecified population samples. (That said, this result requires cautious interpretation, given that gender proportions in the health care worker samples were highly unbalanced and the number of studies with health care worker samples was comparatively small.)
However, many of the studies included in this review asked individuals about their intentions to get vaccinated before a vaccine was available.
By April 2021, more females than males had gotten vaccinated in many states, per the Kaiser Family Foundation. The vaccine breakdown between males and females was generally close to 60 percent and 40 percent for instance, 58 percent of those vaccinated in Alabama were females and 57 percent were females in Florida.
There may be many reasons for this difference: For instance, females make up three-quarters of the workforce in health care and education, which were sectors prioritized for initial vaccines. Females also tend to have longer life spans, so older individuals initially eligible for vaccines were more likely to be female. However, the gender gap continued even as eligibility expanded to all adults.
When it comes to rare adverse reactions to the vaccines, males and females also appear to be affected differently. In a February 2022 review in the journal Vaccines, researchers found that the risk of adverse events after the Pfizer-BioNTeach COVID-19 vaccine were consistently higher in females of all ages. This included local responses such as pain at the injection site, systemic events such as fever, and sensory events such as paresthesia (a burning, prickling sensation) in the hands and face.
Females may have increased reactogenicity of vaccines and are at higher risk of anaphylaxis, per the review.
The remarkably consistent excess in the rates of adverse events in females following immunization with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, in all age groups, suggests that gender-specific factors influence the response to the vaccine, note the researchers. These findings indicate that different doses of the vaccine for men and women should be explored.
Females also report more vaccine side effects in general. More than 79 percent of nearly 7,000 reports processed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from December 14, 2020 to January 13, 2021 came from females, per the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The most frequently reported symptoms were headache, dizziness, and fatigue.
This could be due to females greater immune response. From a biological perspective, women and girls produce sometimes twice as many infection-fighting antibodies from vaccines, said Rosemary Morgan, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told USA TODAY.
Whats more, male sex hormones like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) have immunosuppressive qualities because of the way they modulate the breakdown of fat, per St. Lukes Health. Some research has shown that males have lesser antibody responses and lesser inflammatory cytokine expression when given the flu shot than females.
However, this doesnt appear to affect COVID-19 vaccine efficacy rates which were actually slightly higher for males than females in clinical trials. For instance, clinical trials showed that the Moderna vaccine was 95.4 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 in males, compared to 93.1 percent for females. For the Pfizer vaccine, efficacy was 96.4 percent in males and 93.7 percent in females.
One study in the journal Molecular Pharmacology looked at whether fat-based nanoparticles could be the cause behind the difference in vaccine efficacy. Researchers found that there were significant differences in the uptake of these nanoparticles between male and female natural killer cells (a type of immune cell that has small particles with enzymes that can kill cells infected with a virus).
The results of this proof-of-concept study show the importance of recipient sex as a critical factor which enables researchers to better consider sex in the development and administration of vaccines for safer and more-efficient sex-specific outcomes, note the researchers.
If youre immunocompromised, youre likely already mindful of mitigation efforts to protect yourself against COVID-19. While being biologically male or female isnt likely to make a major impact on your risk of severe disease (unless you partake in behavior that increases your risk), it might affect your chances of long COVID.
And while its possible you may have a slightly higher risk of an adverse reaction to the vaccine if youre female, such reactions are rare. In most cases, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks.
Of course, as an immunocompromised patient, its important to be aware of every tool you have to protect yourself and to stay aware of your risks. For instance, you should have a conversation with your doctor about your risk level for long COVID should you get infected (and how your sex may play a role in that risk).
Although we still have much to learn about the differences between females and males when it comes to COVID-19, you can use the clues available to create the best-informed strategy to protect yourself in partnership with your doctor.
Join the Global Healthy Living Foundations free COVID-19 Support Program for chronic illness patients and their families. We will be providing updated information, community support, and other resources tailored specifically to your health and safety.Join now.
WASHINGTON The U.S. Army announced COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests for the Total Army as of July 21, 2022.
Maintaining readiness continues to be among the Armys highest priorities, and the COVID 19 vaccine helps ensure Soldiers are ready. Beginning July 1, 2022, as directed by the Secretary of Defense, members of the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve who have refused the lawful DOD COVID-19 vaccination requirements without a temporary or permanent exemption (to include a religious accommodation) may not participate in federally funded drills, training, and other duty nor receive payment or retirement credit.
However, unit commanders may place unvaccinated reserve component Soldiers in an appropriate duty status for limited administrative purposes, such as receiving the vaccine, processing their exemption requests, or conducting separation procedures. Soldiers could receive compensation and retirement credit for these service days.
Army policy allows Soldiers to submit requests for temporary (up to 365 days) or permanent medical exemptions through medical channels. Soldiers may also request an administrative exemption from the vaccine requirement. Administrative exemptions include requests for religious accommodations.
Army officials review each request on an individual basis to determine whether an exemption is appropriate. Medical requests are reviewed primarily by healthcare providers, while religious accommodation requests include interviews with the Soldiers chaplain, recommendations from the chain of command, as well as a public health and a legal review.
All Soldiers who refuse the order to be vaccinated without an approved or pending exemption request are subject to certain adverse administrative actions, including flags, bars to continued service, and official reprimands.Soldiers who continue to refuse the vaccination order without an approved or pending exemption may also be subject to additional adverse administrative action, including separation.
As the Army accesses and discharges Soldiers and continues to refine data tracking processes, the vaccination percentages will vary slightly.
The Army will publish additional details as they become available.
For additional information on Army vaccination rates, contact the U.S. Army Media Relations Division at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-ocpa.mbx.mrd-press-desk@army.mil.
