The state Department of Public Health announced more than 40 so-called Test to Treat sites are now open in Connecticut.
People can get tested and if positive, pick up a prescription.
The idea is this earlier treatment can improve a patients recovery and ease the stress on hospitals.
I think this new initiative through the DPH is really important and can be really impactful, said Dr. David Banach, UConn Health hospital epidemiologist.
This is part of a national effort where people can head to a location and get tested for COVID-19. If they're positive and have mild to moderate symptoms, that same health care facility can also fill a free prescription for the person.
In order for COVID-19 treatments to work, they must be started early, within five days of when your symptoms start. The 'Test to Treat' initiative provides eligible patients faster, easier access to potentially life-saving treatments," said Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani.
The spots include select pharmacies, urgent care centers and federally qualified health centers.
'Test to Treat' is especially important for certain groups.
These medications are really for people who have symptomatic COVID, so a positive test plus symptoms who have a risk factor for progressing to severe illness and there's many risk factors including age related risk factors, any medical comorbidities, said Banach.
People can be tested and treated by their own health care provider, who can also prescribe antiviral pills.
Were told some medications still have interactions so make sure you provide your medical history to whoever is prescribing.
To find a 'Test to Treat' location near you, click here.
Warnings about the impending physician shortage are becoming more dire as COVID-19 induces the nations aging physician workforce to contemplate early retirement or at least significantly reducing its workload.
Many authorities agree that by 2025 the U.S. will face a shortage of physicians, a top AMA executive told a federal health panel.
New and existing medical schools have taken the first step in addressing the shortage by expanding the overall number of medical students enrolled in their respective institutions, the AMAs expert added. The next step is to assure a sufficient number of residency training programs. Unfortunately, Medicares current cap on financial support for GME [graduate medical education] prevents teaching hospitals from expanding the number of training positions and often prevents new hospitals from establishing teaching programs.
While still sadly relevant today, those wordswhich reflect longtime AMA policywere spoken by Susan E.Skochelak, MD, MPH, the AMAs former chief academic officer and group vice president of medical education, when she testified at a 2012 hearing convened by the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Governance and Financing of GME.
Congress is only now beginning to slowly act on the pleas for more federal GME support that Dr. Skochelak made almost a decade ago, and that the AMA and many others in organized medicine have supported for decades.
The AMA, as part of the GME Advocacy Coalition, supports the bipartisan Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2021 (S. 834/H.R. 2256) that would gradually provide 14,000 new Medicare-supported GME positions. The AMAsSaveGME.orgwebsite explains in greater detail how funding for GME helps ensure resident physicians learn to provide the care thats needed when it is needed.
Funding for 1,000 new Medicare-supported GME slots was included in the $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The legislation calls for up to 200 positions being added annually with the stipulation that no hospital can receive more than 25 new full-time equivalent residency positions in total.
Growth in the number of residency training slots has stagnated since passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which essentially capped the positions at existing programs. Still, there has been some growth.
There were 149,200 active medical residents and fellows in training during the 20202021 academic year, which was 2.9% more than the previous year, according to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Similarly, there were a record-high 38,106 GME positions offered during the 2021 Main Residency Match, which was 2.3% higher than the record set in 2020. In addition, there were a record high 35,194 first-year positions open, which broke the previous record by 2.7%.
Learn more about the 1,000 new GME slots that are coming, and why Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must not hamper their use.
Doctor shortage worsened by COVID-19
But, given the severiy of the projected shortages, this incremental growth is not nearly enough.
The nation faces a projected shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians within 12 years, according to The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2019 to 2034 (PDF), a report released by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
A growing and aging population and an aging physician workforcethose are your major driving factors, said Michael Dill, the AAMCs director of workforce studies.
What's most striking about the projections year to year is how consistent they've been. The numbers have changed, but the general order of magnitude of the projected shortage has not, Dill added. That's the big take home looking at the projections year to yearthe slight changes may bump them up or down, but the major underlying demographic forces driving the shortage have not changed year to year.
What has changed this landscape, of course, is the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main thing we've learned so far with respect specifically to the physician workforce is that COVID-19 has exacerbated all the problems that we already knew we had and, clearly, the shortage is one of them, Dill said.
It is still unclear how many physicians suffered COVID-19 related severe illness and death. But more physicians will undoubtedly be required to address the lasting effects of long COVID and the negative impact of patients delaying or skipping care for chronic conditions during the pandemic, Dill said.
We also knew we had a huge burnout problem before COVID-19, and I can guarantee you that the pandemic hasn't made that any better, Dill said. If you are already burnt out and then you had to make it through a pandemic, you're going to be even more burnt out.
The AAMC hopes to learn more this year after it conducts its second survey of a national sample of doctors. The first was conducted in 2019 and included responses from 6,000 practicing physicians.
This years survey will collect detailed data on physician work hours and patterns, retirement plans, use of telehealth, debt, burnout, and wellness and a whole series of questions on how COVID is affecting these factors, Dill said.
Another recent survey found that about 20% of physicians said they were likely to leave their current practice within two years, while one-third planned to reduce their work hours within the next 12 months.
AMA researchers and their colleagues found that burnout, workload, fear of infection, anxiety or depression due to COVID-19 and the number of years in practice were associated with intent to reduce work hours or leave, says the article COVID-Related Stress and Work Intentions in a Sample of U.S. Health Care Workers, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovation, Quality & Outcomes. The AMA provided grant support for the study.
While we anticipated that the stress of the pandemic would impact the people providing care, the extent of stress and the percentage of workers considering leaving is worrisome, said the studys lead authorChristine A. Sinsky, MD, the AMAs vice president of professional satisfaction.
Our study demonstrates that the U.S. health care workforce is in peril, Dr. Sinsky added. If even one-third to one-half of nurses and physicians carry out their expressed intentions to cut back or leave, we wont have enough staff to meet the needs of patients.
Learn more about medicines great resignation.
Older patients require more care
Dr. Sinskys concern was echoed by AMA presidentGerald E. Harmon, MD, in a recent AMA Leadership Viewpoints column.
If even just a portion of doctors follow through with their plans, the impact on U.S. health care would be significant given ordinary circumstancesand it would potentially be devastating amid a new or resurgent public health emergency, wrote Dr. Harmon, a South Carolina family physician.
Dr. Harmon also noted that more than 20% of active physicians will be 65 or older within the next decade and there arent enough younger physicians coming in to replace them. Compounding this shortage is the expected increase in the U.S. population and the growing percentage of Americans who will be 65 or older.
Experience tells us that older adult patients demand sharply higher levels of care due to greater incidence of chronic disease, which will likely place much greater demand for physician services on a smaller pool of available physicians, Dr. Harmon wrote. In other words, the loomingphysician shortageis not just a crisis for tomorrow; it demands our attention today.
Read Dr. Harmons AMA Leadership Viewpoints column, Why we must act now to ensure an adequate physician workforce.
Wave of retirements anticipated
In its biennial physician census, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) reported that the median age of todays doctor is 51.7, or one year older than it was in 2010. More worryingly, the number of licensed physicians 60 and older climbed by 48% between 2010 and 2020, while the number of physicians under 50 grew only 16%.
Meanwhile, the number of licensed doctors 70 or older grew to 120,510, or 11.8% of the U.S. physician workforce. Thats up from 8.9% in 2010, according to the FSMB.
Men made up 63.1% of the 2020 physician workforce, compared with 68.6% in 2010. The percentage is expected to drop further as those 60 or older make up 38% of the male physician workforce, compared with just 18% of female physicians.
The FSMB cites a 2017 survey that found the average age that physicians intend to retire is 68, but it added that the average age is expected to drop.
The most common reasons associated with working beyond age 65 have been enjoyment of the practice of medicine, social aspects of work and a desire to maintain their existing lifestyle, the FSMB census says. More recent data suggests, however, that physicians in late adulthood have experienced distinct hardships during the pandemic.
Regarding a potential pandemic-driven wave of physician retirement, the AAMCs Dill said that is a short-term concern as demographic data highlighting the aging physician workforce is well known and that the retirements had been anticipated in the long term. What was not necessarily anticipated, pre-pandemic, was a high number of early retirements.
Just as we're trying to recover from the pandemic is not when you want a large cadre of physicians retiring, he said. But they're both happening at the same time: the population and the physician workforce are both aging, and we are not training enough new physicians to make up for thatespecially in the context of an aging and growing population.
Learn more about burnout among women physicians in this AMA Moving Medicine interview with Vineet Arora, MD.
More access requires more doctors
The AAMC bases its starting number for the physician supply on an analysis of the 2019 AMA Physician Masterfile. Its updated demand projections reflect new data from medical expenditure surveys, risk-factor surveillance and U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.
Here is a breakdown of the U.S. physician population, according to July 2021 totals from the AMA Physician Masterfile:
Specific AAMC projections include projected shortages of:
This includes shortages of:
The AAMC reports that physician shortages hamper efforts to remove barriers to care. If underserved populations had health care-use patterns similar to populations with fewer access barriers, the U.S. would be short between 102,400 and 180,400 physicians.
One scenario noted in the report involves shifts in the demand for physicians of certain specialties affected by evolving care delivery systems. As an example, the AAMC projects a lower demand for endocrinologists and higher demand for geriatriciansbut it doesnt attach any specific numbers to that particular shift.
Various projections take into account better access to preventive services, expanded use of telehealth and improvements in health care delivery that lower the need for hospitalizations and emergency care. Other projections adjust for wider use of physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses in physician-led, team-based care models.
Some argue that one way to ease the physician shortage is to broaden the scope of practice for nonphysician health professionalseven though they undergo only a fraction of the medical education and training doctors receive. The AMA disagrees and believes patients deserve care led by physiciansthe most highly educated, trained and skilled health care professionals. Through research, advocacy and education, theAMA defends the practice of medicine against scope-of-practice expansionsthat threaten patient safety.
Advances in medicine, medical equipment and information technology continue to expand and improve prevention and treatment options, allow for faster and more accurate clinical diagnosis, and provide patients and clinicians with more data to inform their decisions, the AAMC report says. The effect of these advances on physician supply and demand is complex and unclear.
Dill explained that a healthier population wont dramatically lower the need for more physicians.
Healthy people live longer and so, in the long run, they're going to still need care and perhaps even more care because they will live longer, he said. If you do the right things in terms of meeting the health care needs of the population, you're actually going to need to provide more health care later onand we should absolutely do all those things to improve population health. But we need to be prepared for the consequences of that.
The AMA Health Workforce Mapper is a free, customizable, interactive tool that illustrates the geographic distribution of the health care workforce. It gives you the data needed to help ensure our country's patients have access to quality health care. Whether looking at state, county or metropolitan area data, users can filter physicians and nonphysician health professionals by specialty and employment setting.
The key to any solution is recognizing the investment in time that is required.
That's one of the points we've been trying to get across, Dill said. Even if we do all the things we need to do now, the big thing is that training more physicians is going to take a decade.
GENEVA The number of coronavirus cases reported globally has dropped for a second consecutive week and confirmed COVID-19 deaths also fell last week, according to a World Health Organization report issued Wednesday.
In its latest pandemic report, WHO said 9 million cases were reported, a 16% weekly decline, and more than 26,000 new deaths from COVID-19. The U.N. health agency said confirmed coronavirus infections were down in all regions of the world.
However, it warned that the reported numbers carry considerable uncertainty because many countries have stopped widespread testing for the coronavirus, meaning that many cases are likely going undetected.
WHO said it was also tracking an omicron variant that is a recombination of two versions: BA.1 and BA.2, which was first detected in Britain in January. WHO said early estimates suggest the recombined omicron could be about 10% more transmissible than previous mutations, but further evidence is needed.
The agency has continued to warn countries not to drop their COVID-19 protocols too quickly and predicted that future variants could spread easily if surveillance and testing systems are shelved.
Last week, the U.K. said COVID-19 had hit record levels across the country, with government statistics estimating that about 1 in 13 people were infected. Those figures came on the same day the British government abandoned its free testing program.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities conducted more mass testing this week across Shanghai, which remains in lockdown following another jump in infections; the city has recorded more than 90,000 cases but no deaths during the pandemic.
Despite growing public frustration and concerns about economic effects, China says it is sticking to its hard-line zero-tolerance approach mandating lockdowns, mass testing and the compulsory isolation of all suspected cases and close contacts.
Following a public uproar, Shanghai authorities said Wednesday they would allow at least some parents to stay with children infected with COVID-19, making an exception to a policy of isolating anyone who tests positive.
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According to the Office for National Statistics, 4.9 million people in Britain, or 1 in 13, were infected with Covid-19 as of March 26 a record high since its survey began in April 2020.
Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON A new omicron subvariant has been detected in the U.K. as the country faces a renewed surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations.
The XE variant, as it is known, has so far been detected in 637 patients nationwide, according to the latest statistics from the U.K. Health Security Agency, which said there is currently not enough evidence to draw conclusions on its transmissibility or severity.
XE contains a mix of the previously highly infectious omicron BA.1 strain, which emerged in late 2021, and the newer "stealth" BA.2 variant, currently the U.K.'s dominant variant.
It is what's known as a "recombinant," a type of variant that can occur when an individual becomes infected with two or more variants at the same time, resulting in a mixing of their genetic material within a patient's body.
Such recombinants are not uncommon, having occurred several times during the coronavirus pandemic.
Data on the new variant's severity and ability to evade vaccines is not yet clear, though early estimates suggest it could be more transmissible than earlier strains.
UKHSA data shows XE has a growth rate of 9.8% above that of BA.2, while the World Health Organization has so far put that figure at 10%.
Health authorities have said they are continuing to monitor the situation.
"This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate and we cannot yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage. So far there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about transmissibility, severity or vaccine effectiveness," UKHSA's chief medical advisor, professor Susan Hopkins, said.
The earliest confirmed XE case in Britain has a specimen date of Jan. 19 of this year, suggesting it could have been in circulation in the population for several months. It has also been detected beyond the U.K. in Thailand.
It comes as the U.K. faces a new surge in infections. Still, the XE variant currently accounts for less than 1% of total Covid cases that have undergone genomic sequencing there.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 4.9 million people in Britain, or 1 in 13, were infected with Covid as of March 26 a record high since its survey began in April 2020. Hospitalizations, meanwhile, have risen more than 7% in the last week to over 16,500.
Older adults have proven particularly susceptible to the latest wave amid waning booster immunity and easing Covid restrictions.
According to Imperial College's latest React study, an estimated 8.31% of the over-55 age group tested positive as of the end of March nearly 20 times the average prevalence recorded since the survey started in May 2020. Cases among children and younger adults, meanwhile, appear to be plateauing.
The findings mark the 19th and final round of the study as Covid restrictions and surveillance systems are unwound in the U.K. and beyond.
Read CNBC's latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:
The British government on Friday pushed ahead with plans to cease two virus surveys and scale down a third. Meanwhile, Israel and Denmark, two front-runners in research and vaccines in the early days of the pandemic, have dramatically cut back testing.
The scaling back of Covid data could make it more difficult to predict surges and understand new variants.
It comes as China itself in the midst of its latest surge which has seen Shanghai enter into an extended lockdown also recorded a new subvariant labeled BA.1.1.
The variant does not match other Covid types sequenced in China or reported to theglobal variant database, and was found in a mild Covid case in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is shedding new light on how difficult the COVID-19 pandemic has been on high school students.
The agency has released its first nationally representative survey of teens mental state during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the survey, more than half 55 percent of high school students said they experienced emotional abuse from an adult in their home. In addition, 11 percent saying they experienced physical abuse.
The study reported that 37 percent of high schoolers experienced poor mental health during the pandemic and 44 percent said they felt persistently sad or hopeless the past year.
Another 29 percent said a parent or another adult in their home lost a job during that time.
These data echo a cry for help, said Dr. Debra Houry, the acting principal deputy director at the CDC, in a statement. The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students mental wellbeing. Our research shows that surrounding youth with the proper support can reverse these trends and help our youth now and in the future.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual youth, and female youth reported greater levels of poor mental health as well as emotional abuse by a parent or caregiver, the CDC reported. These groups also attempted suicide at a higher rate.
More than a third (36 percent) of students said they experienced racism before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. The highest levels were reported among Asian students (64 percent) and Black students and students of multiple races (both 55 percent).
The reports authors stated that The survey cannot determine the extent to which events during the pandemic contributed to reported racism. However, experiences of racism among youth have been linked to poor mental health, academic performance, and lifelong health risk behaviors.
Mental health professionals told Healthline the escalating numbers were concerning but hardly surprising.
We should acknowledge that youth mental health was already high on the radar, Ray Merenstein, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Colorado, told Healthline.
In part, there are not enough beds, practitioners, school supports and others to meet a growing need exacerbated by a variety of factors even before the pandemic, (including) social media pressures, stigma/bullying, academic pressure, Merenstein said. Its as though we were trying to build a bridge across a canyon but didnt have all the materials to finish the project. Then, the pandemic hit, making the canyon wider and the materials even more in demand.
Merenstein said that prior to the pandemic, one in six youth aged 6 to 17 in the United States experienced a mental health disorder each year. Its now one in three.
Even without experiencing their own pandemic-related trauma, children were feeling the effects of what the adults around them were going through.
When parents lose jobs or become ill or have financial struggles, it increases stress, which increases conflict, which increases instances of abuse, physical violence, arguments, Dr. Megan Campbell, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Childrens Hospital New Orleans, told Healthline. Another example that compounds the problem: the opioid epidemic has worsened, which often exacerbates difficult family dynamics and stressors that kids are being exposed to.
When kids are isolated at home, they dont have the advantage of the myriad of support opportunities outside of the home: teachers, friends, coaches, administrators, counselors who serve as role models, model healthy social interactions, and importantly, notice and report when kids arent doing well or need social services, Campbell added. Outlets where kids have fun and learn skills and express themselves (teams, sports, clubs, activities, social events) have decreased or been eliminated with a pandemic. People have been ill or have been terrified of becoming ill.
Our children are like sponges. If we are experiencing distress related to the collective traumas of COVID-19, they are likely to be impacted as well, added Anjali Ferguson, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Childrens Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University. We saw even greater disparities in health and outcomes for historically marginalized groups ones that existed well before the pandemic widened even more. Thus, placing many historically marginalized children at risk for adverse childhood experiences- a known predictor of poor mental health outcomes.
Ferguson told Healthline that by July 2021, an estimated 1.5 million children in the United States had lost a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID-19.
This number has only risen since then, Ferguson said. Further, 2020 also brought a racial reckoning across the world that highlighted the impacts of racial traumas/stressors on individual mental health and outcomes. Recent studies have noted that Black teens report greater depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation after exposure to police brutality videos.
Its a vulnerable age group even in the best of times, noted Dr. Asha Patton-Smith, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente in Virginia.
Teens were already dealing with feelings of helplessness, depression, and other mental health impacts before COVID-19, Patton-Smith told Healthline. The pandemic exacerbated these struggles and made it harder for teens to get help. Its difficult to say for certain, but it is likely that without a pandemic, these percentages would have been substantially lower, yet still on the rise
With disruptions in normal routines and moving to virtual learning, students faced isolation, loneliness, and loss of structure in their day, Patton-Smith said. Many teens lost important connections forged in the school environment, both with peers and with school staff, which caused many students to lose their support systems, which often provided an outlet to cope with issues they may be facing and helped to identify students in need of additional support.
In many cases, what high schoolers sought to fill the void with was just as harmful, said Nick Allen, Ph.D., the director of the University of Oregons Center for Digital Mental Health and the co-founder of Ksana Health.
Many teenagers also increased their use of social media, and while that was probably protective in many ways because it allowed them to maintain some contact with their peers, using digital media may have also contributed to problems such as sleep disruption or exposure to bullying, Allen told Healthline.
Now that were learning more about the pandemics impact on children, mental health professionals say parents and caregivers can get to work solving some of the problems.
I think the major thing parents need to do is check in with their children and see how they are doing emotionally, Patton-Smith said. Parents should not only listen to what their children are telling them, they should also note any behaviors that may signal that there are issues (irritability, crying, aggression, isolation).
Even if your child is struggling, children are very resilient and with the proper support, they can get back to a more balanced space, she said. It is important for parents and educators to reassure teens that they are supported and to make sure that their schools are inclusive and safe. Parents who notice significant changes in their childs behaviors should start with an open, non-judgmental conversation and reassure your child that help is available.
Parents might encourage children to use one of the many digital tools available to help with reducing stress and practicing mindfulness, such as the Calm app, Patton-Smith said. Reach out to your childs mental health provider or primary care doctor if youre concerned about your childs behavioral changes.
The good news is that children and teens are extremely resilient and with the proper support, it is likely that they can move past this challenging time with more resilience and new coping skills, she added.
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Even Mild COVID-19 Infections Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Research Shows
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The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project tracking the publics attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations. Using a combination of surveys and qualitative research, this project tracks the dynamic nature of public opinion as vaccine development and distribution unfold, including vaccine confidence and acceptance, information needs, trusted messengers and messages, as well as the publics experiences with vaccination.
The latest analysis from a KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey finds that as the omicron surge recedes, a majority of adults say they are limiting their activity levels from pre-pandemic at least somewhat in order to protect themselves from COVID, with 42% who are doing some but not all the activities they did before the pandemic and 17% who are doing very few of the activities they did before COVID-19. Around four in ten adults say they have basically returned to normal in terms of activities that they engaged in before the pandemic (27%) or that they never changed their activity level to begin with (14%).
Unvaccinated adults (57%), Republicans (55%), and White adults (47%) are the groups most likely to say they never changed activity levels or have basically returned to normal. Nearly half of those with household incomes of $90,000 or more say the same. Black adults (34%), those with a chronic condition that puts them at higher risk for COVID-19 (25%), and those living in households with incomes less than $40,000 (23%) are the most likely to say they are doing very few of the activities they did before the pandemic.
About six in ten adults (59%) say that now that COVID-19 case rates are lower, people should continue to wear masks in some public places to minimize the spread and avoid another surge in cases, while four in ten say that people should stop wearing masks in most public places so things can go back to normal. There are significant divides not only by partisanship, and vaccination status, but also by race, ethnicity, and income.
Eight-five percent of Democrats say that people should continue to wear masks, as do 57% of independents and 67% of vaccinated adults. Around seven in ten Republicans (69%) say that people should stop wearing masks so that things can return to normal, as do 67% of unvaccinated adults.
While White adults are split (49% say people should stop wearing masks, 49% say they should continue to wear them in some public places), large majorities of Black adults (88%) and Hispanic adults (69%) say that people should continue to wear masks in some public places to minimize the spread of COVID-19. Around two-thirds of those with a household income of less than $40,000 a year (68%) say the same, compared to 55% of those with an income between $40,000-$89,900 and 54% of those with an income of $90,000 or more. This finding that people of color are more likely to support continued mask wearing may reflect larger shares of Black and Hispanic adults being employed in service industries compared to White adults, putting them at an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19.
This finding is consistent with previous Vaccine Monitor surveys, which found Black and Hispanic adults were more likely to be worried that they personally will contract COVID-19, as well as be worried that someone in their family or their child will get sick. Black and Hispanic adults, as well as those with lower incomes were also more likely to say they dont get paid time off if they get COVID-19.
On the more specific question of mandating masks on public transportation, the public is more evenly divided. The federal government currently requires people to wear masks on airplanes, trains, and other public transportation. With this requirement set to expire on April 18, adults are split on whether the federal government should let the requirement expire (51%) or extend the requirement (48%).
Majorities of Democrats (72%) and vaccinated adults (54%) support extending the masking requirement on transportation. By contrast, three-quarters of Republicans (76%) and unvaccinated adults (73%), and over half of independents (55%) would prefer to let the requirement expire on April 18.
However, preferences for this federal mandate extend beyond partisanship and vaccination status, with lower income adults and people of color voicing support for keeping the requirement after April 18. At least six in ten of Black (69%) and Hispanic adults (61%) say the federal government should extend the requirement, compared to 41% of White adults. Over half of adults with lower incomes (55%) want to extend the masking requirement, compared to 44% of those with a household income of between $40,000-$89,900, and 45% of those with an income of $90,000 or more. Similar to views of general masking, this divide by racial and ethnic groups as well as income groups may reflect those most likely to be working in areas where they would be exposed to COVID-19 without mask mandates.
Those with chronic conditions are also more likely to support extending the federal mask mandate on transportation (56%), while more than half (55%) of those without chronic conditions want to let the mandate expire.
Most adults report continuing to wear a mask at least sometimes in public places. Around half of adults (51%) say that in the past 30 days they wore a mask every time or most of the time when indoors in public places, including 28% who say they wore one every time. Another 29% say they wore a mask some of the time, and 19% say they never wore a mask indoors in public places.
In line with attitudes about mask requirements on transportation, Democrats are more likely to say they always or mostly wore a mask indoors in the past 30 days (75%), compared to independents (46%) and Republicans (30%).
Two-thirds of unvaccinated adults say they have been wearing a mask some of the time or never have worn a mask indoors in the past 30 days (67%), while one-third (32%) report wearing one every or most of the time. A majority of vaccinated adults say they wore a mask every or most of the time (56%).
Showing differences by race and ethnicity, twice the share of Black adults compared to White adults report wearing a mask always or most of the time in the past 30 days (80% vs. 39%). Around two-thirds of Hispanic adults say the same (65%).
The survey finds the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on adults and children over the last two years. Whether it comes to their education, work, finances, mental or physical health, many regardless of race, ethnicity and income report feeling the negative effects of the pandemic.
The most common negative effects of the pandemic, as reported by parents, are about their childrens education and mental health. Almost two-thirds of parents say that the pandemic has negatively affected their childrens education (63%), with 28% saying it had no effect, and 9% who report it had a positive effect. Moreover, over half (55%) of parents say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their childrens mental health, compared to 36% who say it made no difference, and 9% saying it had a positive effect.
Among all adults, half say the pandemic has had a negative effect on their personal mental health (49%), and 41% say it has had a negative impact on their physical health. Few say it has had a positive effect on either their physical (11%) or mental health (9%).
About four in ten adults say the pandemic had a negative impact on their financial situation (41%) while a similar share report it had no impact (44%), with 15% who say it had a positive impact. One-quarter of adults say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their employment situation (26%), with 59% who report it has not had an impact.
Results are more mixed when it comes to the pandemics effect on family relationships. Around a third say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their relationships with family members (32%) while 18% say it has had a positive impact. Half say it has not had any impact one way or another.
Adults in households with lower incomes report being harder hit by the pandemic, especially when it comes to financial and employment impacts. Adults with a household income of less than $40,000 a year are more likely to say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their financial situation (56%), compared to 43% of those with an income of between $40,000 and $90,000 and 23% of those with a household income of $90,000 or more a year.
In addition, the share of those with lower incomes who say the pandemic had a negative impact on their employment situation (37%) is more than twice the share of those with annual incomes greater than $90,000 (15%).
Younger people also report disproportionate effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when it comes to their mental and physical health. Two-thirds of young adults aged 18-29 (67%) report that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health, compared to just over half of 30-49 year-olds (54%), and under four in ten 50-64 year-olds (38%) and those over the age of 65 (37%).
Young adults are also more likely to report difficulties with their physical health due to the pandemic, with 53% of those under 30 reporting a negative impact, 47% of those 30-49, 37% of those 50-64, and 28% of those over the age of 65. In addition, larger shares of young adults report negative effects on their employment situation (36%) compared to older adults, including those ages 50-64 (23%) and those 65 and older (17%).
In their own words, when asked about the biggest challenge and/or positive change brought about by the pandemic over the past two years, the top responses regarding both negative and positive effects were related to human interactions and relationships, or the lack thereof.
When asked about changes that have been brought about by the pandemic over the past two years, 27% say the hardest thing has been isolation and not seeing people. Another 13% say they have struggled with not being able to do things or travel, and 13% cite the financial impact, including inflation.
Some say the hardest part has been avoiding COVID-19 and staying safe (6%), employment changes and job loss (5%), having to wear a mask (4%), the effect on mental health (4%), the impact on kids and online schooling (3%), and losing family members and loved ones (3%).
In their own words: Thinking about the changes brought about by the pandemic over the past two years, what, if anything, has been the hardest thing for you and your family?
Being evicted and still not recovered financially. 43 year old, male, White, Democrat, South Carolina
Not allowed to be with my wife when she was hospitalized with stage 4 cancer. 65 year old, male, White, Republican, Arkansas
Finances, health, loss of family members, being hospitalized, lasting effects. My familys going through things because of the whole COVID thing. Their finances are going down and theyre struggling; I had to leave my apartment everything was chaotic. 31 year old, female, White, Independent, Tennessee
Concern over preexisting conditions. 24 year old, female, Asian, Democrat, Illinois
Deal with all mandates and restrictions. 30 year old, male, Hispanic, independent, Indiana
Just the online schooling, I had to quit work to stay at home. 31 year old, female, White, Democrat, Ohio
Division over whats real or not and what we should follow. 25 year old, male, Hispanic, Republican, Florida
Having to wear masks everywhere, its terrible. 24 year old, male, White, Independent, Michigan
Inability to visit elderly parents. 63 year old, male, White, Independent, Florida
Getting clear information about it and how best to manage through the maze of many, many authorities giving advice about Covid. 90 year old, female, Black, Democrat, New York
Mask mandates and business closures, especially as a truck driver. 58 year old, male, White, independent, South Dakota
Medical debt, inability to work from disabilities exacerbated or initiated by covid. 31 year old, other, White, independent, Oregon
Loss of non-family social relationships. 22 year old, female, White, Democrat, New York
Mental health got a lot worse due to distancing people from each other. 38 year old, male, White, independent, Illinois
The grief of people dying. 39 year old, female, White, independent, Texas
When asked if anything has changed for the better in the last two years, 24% say they are closer to their family or have spent more time with their families. Some (8%) also say that job changes or remote work were a positive change, 7% cited improvements in their financial situation, 5% said they had better health practices or awareness, and 4% cited a general appreciation of life or their current situation. A third of respondents said nothing changed for the better.
In their own words: Thinking about the changes brought about by the pandemic over the past two years, what, if anything, has changed for the better for you and your family?
Being able to use telehealth communications for doctors and by doing a lot of things by phone and email now, very convenient for families. 25 year old, female, White, independent, Kentucky
Closer bonding with family and more stability with work life. 30 year old, male, Asian, independent, Texas
Eating more prepared meals from home and saving money. 66 year old, female, White, Republican, Illinois
Better handwashing and wearing a mask has helped with overall health. 66 year old, male, White, Democrat, California
Gives me a good excuse to get out of dinner with in-laws. 37 year old, other, Hispanic, independent, Pennsylvania
It helped cherish the moments you have with each other and to be less wasteful. Realize that habits/behaviors can change all the time; make the best changes. 39 year old, female, Black, Democrat, Tennessee
The stimulus checks helped keep me out of debt. 52 year old, female, White, independent, Colorado
More remote opportunities in education and employment. 21 year old, male, White, Democrat, Maryland
Most immunocompromised people with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma benefited from a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines, a promising sign after it was shown that two doses tended to not be sufficient for them. However, some people with multiple myeloma still remained vulnerable and may need a fourth dose or antibody treatments as restrictions lift and new variants emerge, according to a fast-tracked study in Cancer Cell.
"This study is the first to comprehensively capture the immune effect of the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with plasma cell disorders and blood cancers like multiple myeloma," said one of the study's lead authors, Samir Parekh, MD, Director of Translational Research in Multiple Myeloma at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), and Oncological Sciences, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "It provides guidance to myeloma patients, who are at risk for severe infection because they may be immunocompromised due to the disease itself and the cancer treatment."
Mount Sinai's previous research had shown that breakthrough infections occurred in multiple myeloma patients due to poor or no response to the normal regimen of COVID-19 vaccines, the majority of which were the two-dose mRNA vaccines. These vulnerable patients' lack of complete protection led to antibody testing and a third vaccine in hopes that this would increase the immune response. This study was important in understanding whether vulnerable patients were adequately protected by the third dose or needed to continue to follow strict social distancing and masking or seek additional vaccines or treatments when available.
In this latest study, blood samples were collected from 476 patients with plasma cell disorders over a period of 15 months and were compared to samples collected from healthy, vaccinated health care workers. The findings showed that the third dose significantly increased the level of antibodies in patients with and without prior COVID-19 infection but levels of COVID-19-fighting antibodies in multiple myeloma patients remained below those observed in healthy people.
Just more than a quarter of the multiple myeloma patients had no detectable antibodies after the standard two doses of the vaccine, but in these patients, 88 percent developed antibodies after a third dose. The third dose also resulted in a significant increase of other immune cells such as T cells and B cells, which also help neutralize COVID-19.
After the third dose, neutralization of the wild-type virus increased in multiple myeloma patients in patients who had minimal or no response to the standard two doses. However, neutralizing titers against the Omicron variant was still lower in myeloma patients as compared to healthy controls. Therefore, a subset of patients may still remain vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Our findings underscore the need for continued monitoring of immune responses and further research around measures such as additional vaccine doses or passive immunization for individual multiple myeloma patients who may remain vulnerable after third-dose vaccination, especially as COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted worldwide and new waves of viral variants are emerging."
Viviana A. Simon, MD, PhD, Study's Lead Author, Professor of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Testing, deaths also rise, but hospitalizations are lowest since last July
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon has seen an increase in daily reported cases of COVID-19 for the most recent reporting week following more than two months of steady declines, the Oregon Health Authority reported Wednesday.
The number of COVID-19 tests was also substantially higher, with a small increase in percent positivity.
Hospitalizations continue to steadily decline, falling to weekly levels last seen in early July 2021. The number of COVID-19-related deaths typically a lagging indicator was higher for the week ending April 3 than the previous weekly reporting period, which ended March 27.
Starting Wednesday, OHA will publish the COVID-19 data and outbreak reports every other Wednesday, consistent with thenew reporting scheduleshared last week.
The finalCOVID-19 Weekly Data Report, released Wednesday, shows an increase in weekly cases, a continued decline in disease-related hospitalizations and an increase in deaths.
OHA reported 1,988 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of March 28 through April 3, a 42% increase over the previous week. This reverses a nine-week streak of declines.
There were 97 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, a 44% decline over the previous week.
There were 140 COVID-19-related deaths, up from 99 the previous week. This marked the first week that fewer than 100 deaths were reported since the week of June 28 to July 4, 2021.
Reported COVID-19 test results increased by 16%. There were 78,387 tests administered. Test positivity increased slightly, from 2.7% to 2.9%.
WednesdaysCOVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Reportshows 50 total active outbreaks in care facilities, senior living communities and congregate living settings with three or more confirmed COVID-19 cases or one or more COVID-19-related deaths.
With the switch to weekly dashboard reporting, the Oregon COVID-19 Vaccine Daily Update will be replaced by theOregon COVID-19 Vaccine Weekly Update. The dashboard will still show vaccine administrations reported to the ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS) registry, by day reported. The dashboard will also show administrations reported in the past week and since the beginning of the vaccine rollout.
COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered in the past week will replace doses delivered in the last day. A full inventory of vaccine deliveries can be downloaded from the dashboard using the link found on the top-right corner of the page.
With 19,987 second boosters reported last week, a total of 26,798 people have received second boosters in Oregon since their authorization March 30. Second boosters will be added to thevaccine weekly updatedashboard and on theage tabof the vaccine metrics dashboards Wednesday.
OHA recently updated its methodology for identifying valid boosters and valid second boosters, to incorporate time between doses. County-level demographic data for second boosters will be incorporated on the dashboards at a future date when uptake is more widespread.
Starting Wednesday, OHA will update ongoing COVID-19 variant reporting within itswastewater dashboard.
Oregon State University, OHAs partner in wastewater surveillance, is now able to detect COVID-19 variants in wastewater at lower levels and the updated wastewater dashboard will reflect this enhanced surveillance capacity.
In addition, the dashboard will now also display whether a variant was detected in wastewater at low, medium or high levels.
These changes will strengthen our surveillance and monitoring efforts by detecting emerging variants earlier and more effectively, said Melissa Sutton, M.D., medical director for respiratory viral pathogens and a senior health adviser for OHAs COVID-19 response.
OHA is now providing COVID-19 updates on a biweekly basis. Wednesdays release marks the first release with the new biweekly reporting schedule. Information about new COVID-19 cases, current hospitalizations of COVID-19-positive patients and deaths, along with other COVID-19 data, continue to be available daily on theOHA websiteanddata dashboards. The daily COVID-19 data also will be posted every weekday on OHA's TwitterandFacebookpages.
COVID-19 vaccination dashboards, the Oregon COVID-19 Case and Testing Counts Statewide dashboard and the Oregon COVID-19 Testing and Outcomes by County dashboard will continue to be published weekly on Wednesdays.
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Oregon, visit OHA's web page (EnglishorSpanish), which has a breakdown of distribution and other information.
A man receives a booster dose of Pfizer's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination centre in Brussels, Belgium, January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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April 6 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.
Vaccine-related blood clots tied to gene, antibody variants
New research may help shed light on a rare but serious blood-clotting problem associated with the COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N).
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Five unrelated people with this clotting complication, known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, all had unusually-structured antibodies against a protein called PF4 that is involved in blood clotting, the researchers found. Furthermore, all five had a specific version of a gene responsible for producing these antibodies, they reported on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. "The combination of a variant in a gene and the evolution of this antibody towards targeting in a highly deleterious manner the PF4 protein... leads to this disastrous complication," the researchers said. The prevalence of this gene varies and is highest in people of European descent, according to the report.
The finding "paves the way for a potential genetic screening tool to identify patients carrying this gene variant who are at risk of this severe complication" after receipt of these vaccines, said Tom Gordon and Jing Jing Wang of Flinders University of South Australia, two of the study's authors. "Additionally, this provides a unique opportunity for targeted, specific therapy development aimed at neutralizing this highly damaging but very specific antibody."
Concentrated antibodies may help immunosuppressed patients
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are severely immunocompromised may benefit from treatment with a purified, highly-concentrated form of antibody-rich blood plasma from previously infected people known as hyperimmune globulin, according to a small trial.
Netherlands-based researchers measured the need for mechanical ventilation, high-flow nasal oxygen, readmission for COVID-19 after hospital discharge or lack of clinical improvement among 18 subjects four weeks after administration of either SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin or immune globulin that did not contain antibodies to the coronavirus. These adverse outcomes occurred in 20% of patients who received the hyperimmune globulin with COVID-19 antibodies, compared to 88% of those who did not, according to a report posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. The trial participants were organ transplant patients taking strong immunosuppressive drugs and others with diseases or medication regimens that impaired the function of immune cells called B cells.
In severely immunocompromised patients, SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin "may reduce the risk for severe COVID-19 and can be used when no monoclonal antibody therapies are available," the researchers concluded.
Glasses wearers may have lower COVID-19 risk
People who regularly wear glasses have a moderately lower risk of contracting COVID-19 while contact lenses offered no added protection, according to a large study that highlights the importance of the eye as a route of coronavirus infection.
More than 19,000 participants in the Virus Watch study in England and Wales responded to a questionnaire on the use of glasses and contact lenses. Starting as early as June 2020, participants had been reporting weekly on their COVID-19 status, and more than 11,000 provided monthly blood samples to show whether or not they had been infected with the coronavirus. After taking other risk factors into account, the researchers found a 15% lower risk of infection for those who reported wearing glasses always for general use compared to those who never wore glasses. The protective effect was reduced in those who said their glasses interfered with mask wearing, and there was no protective effect seen for contact lens wearers, according to a report posted on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
"Protective eye wear should be considered as part of broader strategies to prevent community transmission of infection and may be valuable to consider in the event of future pandemics and in high exposure occupations including healthcare," the researchers said.
Click for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
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Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
