Key Takeaways
With updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, or Novavax rolling out this fall, many people who are planning to get the shot are wondering if theyll have side effects.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), any vaccine can cause mild side effects, and they usually go away within a few days of getting a shot.
Stuart Ray, MD, an infectious disease specialist and a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Verywell that some side effects come on right when you get a vaccine while others might show up later in the day or the next day.
A common example? Having a sore arm after you get your annual flu shot.
Heres what we know about COVID vaccine side effects in 2023, including what experts say you can do to minimize any side effects that you may have.
Hannah Newman, MPH, senior director of infection prevention at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, told Verywell that common side effects of the updated COVID vaccine are similar to ones that people had with previous versions.
Possible side effects from COVID vaccines in 2023 include:
Ray explained that since a COVID vaccine is injected into a muscle in your arm (specifically, the deltoid muscle), its not unusual to feel a little pain. However, holding still during the injection, and then for the next few hours actively using that muscle, can help minimize the discomfort.
Its not as common as arm pain, but Ray said that some people may have a general feeling of being unwell (malaise), redness and swelling in their arm where the needle went in, or more muscle soreness after a COVID shot. Side effects like fever, chills, headaches, or noticeable swelling of lymph nodes around the arm (like in the armpit) are even less common.
According to Ray, side effects like arm discomfort come on when you get the shot and dont last very long. Muscle soreness, stiffness, or malaise may come on a few hours after you get the vaccine, and wont last more than a few days.
Its rare, but Ray said that more serious reactions to a vaccine (like anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction) can come on immediately after getting the shot or may not show up for a day or so after.
Newman said that if you have side effects, theyll most likely be mild. How long COVID vaccine side effects last can vary, lasting only a few hours to a couple of days. And some people dont have COVID vaccine side effects at all.
You should call your provider or seek medical care right away if you:
According to Newman, everyones immune system responds differently to different vaccines, and that can influence whether or not they have side effects.
Ray said that some people who react to vaccines may have more reactive immune systems, possibly because there are genetic and environmental factors at play. However, more research is needed to understand why some people have side effects after vaccines and others dont.
There is some evidence for higher immune responses in people with more side effects, but this relationship is not super strong, said Ray. People who experience few side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine tend to have excellent immune responses, so its just an interesting trend worthy of deeper understanding.
If you do have side effects after getting a vaccine, Newman said it means that your immune system is working and building a response. However, even if you dont experience side effects, your body is still building protection.
Ray said that individual immune responses and differences in the formulation of the newest COVID vaccine could explain why some people may get side effects this time around even if they didnt have side effects when they got vaccinated before.
The reaction to a vaccine is a complex combination of the persons own immune system plus other factors including precise formulation of the vaccine, said Ray. We do not completely understand this complex mixture of factors, but people tend to have similar reactions to a series of vaccinations.
According to Ray, since COVID vaccine formulations vary a little from brand to brand, there could be minor differences in side effects.
For example, Ray said that Pfizer and Moderna COVID shots are mRNA vaccines that tend to be very effective and also relatively reactogenic, meaning that they may cause more side effects than other, less effective vaccines,
However, Ray added that the shots are still more or less considered equal as long as these differences are not majorthat is, all the shots offer protection and are safe.
Newman said that all three of the currently available vaccine brandsPfizer, Moderna, and Novavaxhave had similar side effects reported: injection site tenderness, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain.
Novavax seems to have a lower risk of causing more serious side effects like inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) or swelling of the membrane around the around (pericarditis), but Newman said that the risk is not zero.
This is a rare side effect that can occasionally occur, especially in young men, said Newman, adding that there is also a risk of these conditions after infection with the COVID-19 virus as well.
Ray said that the immune response to the Novavax COVID vaccine compares to the one stimulated by mRNA vaccines, and there might be fewer side effects. However, we cant be too sure about these comparisons because we dont have a large head-to-head comparison in the same population.
Newman said that getting a COVID shot, flu vaccine, and/or the RSV vaccine on the same day should not raise your risk of having more side effects.
There has not been an association of more side effects or more severe side effects when multiple vaccines are given at one time, said Ray.
Getting more than one vaccine on the same day doesnt seem to be any worse overall than getting them on separate days. However, Ray said that if you plan to get them all at once, try to remember where you got each injection.
Its worth remembering where you got each injection so that if you have an intense local reaction to one of them, youll have a better chance of knowing which one it was, said Ray, though its still not likely youll have any problem.
Suellen Hopfer, PhD, associate professor of Health, Society & Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, told Verywell there are a few things you can do to help with COVID vaccine side effects. Here are some general tips to keep in mind:
To try to prevent side effects, Hopfer recommends getting a good nights sleep the night before and getting your shot in the morning if you can, which studies have suggested may enhance the immune response and possibly lead to fewer side effects.
And remember, if your side effects are getting worse or not getting better within a few days, call your provider.
Side effects from COVID vaccines are generally mild and go away within a few days. Resting up the night before and staying active and hydrated after you get the shot may help with any temporary discomfort you have. If youre concerned about side effects, call your provider.
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) Office of Public Health (OPH) in Region 7 (Northwest Louisiana) is preparing residents for flu season by hosting a drive-thru vaccine clinic on Wednesday, October 25 from noon to 6 p.m. at Ochsner LSU Health St. Mary Medical Centers Fountain, 1 St. Mary Place, Shreveport.
Flu vaccines are available at no cost to individuals. However, if you have insurance, bring your insurance card for billing purposes.
Ochsner LSU Health St. Mary Medical Center will also offer skin cancer screenings at the event.
Additional flu vaccination clinics will be offered around the region later this fall. Region 7 serves the parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Webster.
Flu vaccine guidance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and LDH recommend that all individuals ages 6 months and older receive a flu shot by the end of October. The flu shot is particularly encouraged among high-risk populations such as pregnant women, children below the age of 5, adults ages 65 and up, and immunocompromised children and adults with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma.
When youre preparing for respiratory illness season, you probably get a flu shot. Maybe a COVID-19 vaccine. And if youre looking for a way to safeguard your family against RSV, protecting everyone just got easier with an FDA-approved RSV vaccine and monoclonal antibody treatment.
RSV (or respiratory syncytial virus) is a highly contagious lung infection. It can cause serious complications, especially in young children and adults with a weakened immune system, says Stanley Martin, MD, system director of infectious diseases at Geisinger.
Those most at risk for contracting RSV include:
RSV spreads through direct contact with a sick person or through infected respiratory droplets in the air. The virus can also live for hours on hard surfaces. It can enter the body through the eyes, nose or mouth. That means you could be infected by touching a contaminated object, then rubbing your eye.
The vaccine is a single injection to help prevent respiratory syncytial virus. This safe, effective immunization can not only reduce your risk of getting RSV, but it can also lower the risk of serious illness that requires hospitalization.
Like other shots, it works by introducing an inactive protein into the body. After you receive the injection, your immune system starts working to produce antibodies, Dr. Martin says. Those antibodies help protect against RSV.
For infants, a monoclonal antibody can be given to build immunity against RSV. This isnt the same as a vaccine, he explains. The antibody treatment gives antibodies directly to the body to help fight off an RSV infection.
The RSV shot is recommended for:
The monoclonal antibody is recommended for:
For maximum protection, think about timing.
If youre over 60 and considering the vaccine, start by having a conversation with your healthcare provider. They can look at your risk factors to help you decide if the shot is right for you.
Pregnant people between weeks 32 and 36 of pregnancy are recommended to consider the upcoming respiratory viral season (typically September through January) to prevent RSV in their babies once theyre born.
The antibody treatment for infants can provide protection for at least five months, says Dr. Martin. If given at the right time, it can last through RSV season.
Want to learn more about the RSV vaccine or antibody treatment? Talk to your healthcare provider. They can help you decide if its right for you or your family.
Side effects of the RSV vaccine include:
The most common side effects of the antibody treatment are pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, says Dr. Martin. Whether you received the vaccine or treatment, most side effects are mild and go away in a day or two.
Wondering where to get the RSV vaccine? To schedule an RSV shot for yourself or an antibody treatment for your child, contact your healthcare provider or schedule an appointment through MyGeisinger.
After you get your shot, youll be protected. And youll help protect everyone around you. That means youll have more time to focus on feeling your best.
The science behind your flu shot Know the symptoms of RSV Think you cant get COVID and RSV at the same time? Think again.
The 1970s was the deadliest decade in the "entire history of Bangladesh," said environmental historian Iftekhar Iqbal. A deadly cyclone, a bloody liberation war, and famine triggered waves of migration. As people moved throughout the country, smallpox spread with them.
In Episode 7 of "Eradicating Smallpox," Shohrab, a man who was displaced by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, shares his story. After fleeing the storm, he and his family settled in a makeshift community in Dhaka known as the Bhola basti. Smallpox was circulating there, but the deadly virus was not top of mind for Shohrab. "I wasn't thinking about that. I was more focused on issues like where would I work, what would I eat," he said in Bengali.
When people's basic needs like food and housing aren't met, it's harder to reach public health goals, said Bangladeshi smallpox eradication worker Shahidul Haq Khan.
He encountered that obstacle frequently as he traveled from community to community in southern Bangladesh.
He said people asked him: "Theres no rice in peoples stomachs, so what is a vaccine going to do?"
To conclude this episode, host Cline Gounder speaks with Sam Tsemberis, president and CEO of Pathways Housing First Institute.
He said when public health meets people's basic needsfirst, it gives them the best shot at health.
Senior Fellow & Editor-at-Large for Public Health, KFF Health News @celinegounder
Cline is senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health with KFF Health News. She is an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist. She was an assistant commissioner of health in New York City. Between 1998 and 2012, she studied tuberculosis and HIV in South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Gounder also served on the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.
Sam Tsemberis Founder, president, and CEO of Pathways Housing First Institute @SamTsemberis
Shohrab Resident of the Bhola basti in Dhaka Iftekhar Iqbal Associate professor of history at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam Shahidul Haq Khan Former World Health Organization smallpox eradication program worker in Bangladesh
Podcast Transcript
Epidemic: "Eradicating Smallpox"
Season 2, Episode 7: What Good Is a Vaccine When There Is No Rice?
Air date: Oct 24, 2023
Editor's note: If you are able, we encourage you to listen to the audio of "Epidemic," which includes emotion and emphasis not found in the transcript. This transcript, generated using transcription software, has been edited for style and clarity. Please use the transcript as a tool but check the corresponding audio before quoting the podcast.
[Ambient sounds from a ferry play softly.]
Cline Gounder: Im on a boat in southern Bangladesh, headed toward Bhola, the countrys largest island.
We're traveling by ferry on calm waters. But my head spins and my stomach roils just a bit as I imagine how these same waters nearly destroyed Bhola Island.
[Tense instrumental music begins playing.]
It was 1970.
In November, under an almost-full moon and unusually high tides.
The island was hit by one of the most destructive tropical storms in modern history: the Bhola cyclone.
[Shohrab speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shohrab: There were floods. Back then there werent any embankments to stop the water from rising.
Cline Gounder: Counterclockwise winds, torrential rains, and treacherous waves swept entire villages into the sea. People held onto whatever they could to keep their heads above water.
[Shohrab speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shohrab: I remember at that time the water level rose so high that people ended up on top of trees. The water had so much force. Many people died.
Cline Gounder: The Bhola cyclone killed some 300,000 people. And for those who survived, there wasnt much left to return to. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, their farms, and their access to food.
The man whose voice youve been hearing was one of the survivors.
[Shohrab speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shohrab: My name is Shohrab. I am 70 years old.
Cline Gounder: Shohrab was a teenager when the cyclone hit. And in the days and weeks after the storm, he and his family joined a mass migration of people who fled southern Bangladesh.
They traveled about a hundred miles north from Bhola Island to the streets of Dhaka, the busy capital of Bangladesh.
There, they settled in a makeshift community, a kind of unsanctioned encampment dubbed the Bhola basti.
In Bengali that word,"basti," means settlement or "slum," in some translations.
The residents forged a community, but soon, the poor people there and what they built would be seen as a threat to the effort to keep smallpox in check.
Not just in South Asia but around the world.
Im Dr. Cline Gounder. This is "Epidemic."
["Epidemic" theme music plays.]
[Ambient sounds from the Bhola basti, including voices of people speaking Bengali, play softly.]
Cline Gounder: More than 50 years after the cyclone, Shohrab lives in the same area in Dhaka.
I interviewed him at a tea stall near his home. It's the kind of place where men gather to gossip and share stories over hot drinks.
Inside there's a colorful display of snacks and sweets hanging from the ceiling. Just outside we sat on well-worn wooden benches.
And as we sip our tea, he tells me about life in the encampment in the 1970s
[Sparse music plays softly.]
[Shohrab speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shohrab: I used to rent a place there. Five or six of us used to live in one room. Sometimes it was eight people in a room.
Cline Gounder: To cover his portion of the rent he worked as a day laborer, doing odd jobs here and there. Over time the basti became home.
But Shohrabs new home was likely seen as an eyesore by outsiders and by the Bangladeshi government.
Such settlements often lack running water, or electricity, or access to proper sanitation. Those conditions spotlight suffering and for local leaders that spotlight can be uncomfortable.
But, public health experts had a different concern: that the settlement of Bhola migrants in Dhaka would become a deadly stronghold for smallopox. Cramped and unsanitary living conditions put the residents at high risk.
I ask Shohrab if he remembers seeing or hearing about people with smallpox when he first arrived.
[Shohrab speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shohrab: I wasnt thinking about that. I was more focused on issues like where would I work, what would I eat, etc.
Cline Gounder: As he tried to rebuild his life, other things like food and shelter were more urgent.
[Music fades to silence.]
Widening beyond that one migrant encampment in Dhaka, researchers say the picture was similar in cities and villages all across the country.
Bangladesh was hit with a series of crises. Environmental historian Iftekhar Iqbal says each brought human suffering and that each was a blow to the smallpox eradication effort.
Iftekhar Iqbal: Seventies was really a time when, the coming of the smallpox couldnt come at a, at a more unfortunate time.
Cline Gounder: In 1970 the Bhola cyclone hit. In 1971, just four months later, the country fought a bloody liberation war. Then, in 1974, heavy rain and flooding triggered a famine. And in 1975 there was a military coup.
Iftekhar Iqbal: The 1970s was the deadliest decade in the history of Bangladesh.
Cline Gounder: This period is when the country became Bangladesh winning its independence from Pakistan in the liberation war. But residents of the young nation faced cascading upheaval and turmoil. And too much death.
[Instrumental music plays softly.]
On the global stage stopping smallpox was important, but many in Bangladesh were just trying to make it to the next day.
Daniel Tarantola: No. 1 priority is food and food and food. And the second priority is food and food and food.
This was an area where survival was always in question.
Cline Gounder: That's Daniel Tarantola.
He's from France and arrived in the region with the mission of helping to eradicate smallpox, but he says the people in front of him needed help with many other things.
Besides hunger, some of the villages he visited were dealing with two epidemics: smallpox and cholera.
Daniel Tarantola: And we were not equipped to do anything but smallpox containment and smallpox eradication. By design or by necessity, we didnt have the means to do anything much more than that.
Cline Gounder: Over the course of this season weve talked about big, complicated issues like stigma and bias, distrust, or First World arrogance that threatened to derail the smallpox eradication campaign. We've documented the public health workers who found a way around those roadblocks.
But sometimes the need is so big, so entrenched, that your inability to meet it can be demoralizing. I sometimes felt that during my own fieldwork: battling HIV and tuberculosis in Brazil and southern Africa, and during an Ebola outbreak in Guinea, West Africa.
Daniel Tarantola says in South Asia the best he could do was focus on the task at hand.
Daniel Tarantola: Meaning that you had to set up a program to eradicate smallpox or at least eliminate it from Bangladesh and at the same time not get if I can use the word distracted, um, by other issues that prevailed in Bangladesh.
[Music fades out.]
Cline Gounder: Those were tough emotional realities for health workers and the people they wanted to care for.
But
Daniel Tarantola: The level of resilience of this population is absolutely incredible given the number of challenges that they have had to survive.
Cline Gounder: One of the main ways people survived the upheaval in Bangladesh was by picking up and moving away from the things trying to kill them.
Remember how Shohrab fled to Dhaka after the cyclone?
Well, mass migration is a survival strategy but one that can worsen disease.
When the cyclone refugees from Bhola landed in that under-resourced basti in Dhaka, all smallpox needed was an opportunity to spread.
[Solemn music begins playing.]
That opportunity came in 1975 when the Bangladeshi government decided to bulldoze the Bhola basti.
Daniel Tarantola says it was a bad idea.
Daniel Tarantola: We knew there was smallpox transmission in this particular area and therefore they should wait until the outbreak subsides before dismantling the shanties.
Cline Gounder: Government officials did not wait for the outbreak to subside. They bulldozed the basti anyway.
Daniel Tarantola: That resulted in a wide spread of smallpox.
Cline Gounder: Here's environmental historian Iftekhar Iqbal again.
Iftekhar Iqbal: This eviction is considered one of the policy errors that led to the second wave of postwar smallpox.
Cline Gounder: In the wake of that eviction in 1975, thousands of people scattered. Some surely returned back home to Bhola.
[Music fades out.]
Cline Gounder: Public health's failure the government's failure to meet the basic need for safety, for food and housing, delayed the goal to stop the virus.
Shahidul Haq Khan, the Bangladeshi public health worker and granddad we met in Episode 4, says he learned that lesson over and over as he urged people to accept the smallpox vaccination.
Their frustration with him and by extension public health was clear.
[Shahidul speaking in Bengali fades under English translation.]
Shahidul Haq Khan: There was no rice in peoples stomachs, so what is a vaccine going to do? "You couldn't bring rice? Why did you bring all this stuff?" That was the type of situation we had to deal with.
[Atmospheric music begins playing.]
Cline Gounder: What good is a vaccine when there is no rice?
UM researcher Walid Abdelwahab is a co-principal investigator on a $12.3 million contract to develop a vaccine adjuvant for use in a tuberculosis vaccine.
MISSOULA The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $12.3 million contract to the University of Montana to develop a novel vaccine adjuvant for use in a tuberculosis vaccine. Adjuvants are substances that boost the effectiveness of vaccines.
The five-year award went to UMs Center for Translational Medicine and its partners. The contract is titled Development of UM-1098: A Novel Synthetic Th17 Inducing Adjuvant and Delivery System.
The development and clinical evaluation of safe and effective adjuvants is urgently needed for the advancement of vaccines to combat the ongoing threat of bacterial and fungal infections, including tuberculosis, pertussis and others, said Jay Evans, director of the UM center. TB affects a significant portion of the global population, and the only licensed vaccine, BCG, has limited effectiveness. Thus the development of an effective vaccine is critical to end the global TB epidemic.
According to the World Health Organization, 1.6 million people died from TB in 2021. Worldwide, TB is the 13th leading cause of death and second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 (above HIV and AIDS).
Drs. Evans and Walid Abdelwahab are the co-principal investigators on the contract, along with their colleagues Drs. David Burkhart, Asia Riel and Blair DeBuysscher with Center for Translational Medicine. The project also includes researchers from the University of Chicago (Dr. Shabaana Khadar), the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Dr. Smriti Mehra) and Missoula-based Inimmune Corp., a corporate development partner (Drs. Kendal Ryter and Shannon Miller).
Evans said vaccine development for TB and other bacterial and fungal pathogens has been hampered by the lack of appropriate adjuvants and effective formulations. This new contract builds upon a recently completed $13 million NIH Adjuvant Discovery Contract, which identified the lead candidate being advanced toward human clinical trials in the current award.
This funding represents tremendous support for our continuous research efforts in advancing safe and efficient adjuvants and formulation strategies for further development of vaccine candidates against TB, Abdelwahab said. This contract is a strong endorsement of our exceptional vaccine research team at UM.
The project involves a large vaccine research team at UM with more than two decades of research on improving vaccines through the use of adjuvants and novel delivery systems to ensure vaccines are safely and efficiently delivered to the targeted cells. The UM research will involve both undergraduate and graduate students, providing them with an opportunity to do research on a new vaccine that may have a profound impact on global health.
There is extraordinary research ongoing at UM that could positively impact the lives of countless people, Evans said. Our Vaccine Research Team is dedicated to nurturing and cultivating an interactive research community at UM, specifically geared toward advancing these technologies to help individuals and communities in Montana and across the globe.
Inimmune is a biotech company located at the Universitys business incubator, MonTEC. It will assist with vaccine manufacturing efforts and advancement of this new technology to human clinical trials. The Inimmune efforts will be led by Ryter, the companys vice president of manufacturing and development.
Inimmune is very excited to be chosen as a collaborator to advance this exciting new technology, Ryter said. Adjuvants and immunomodulators that effectively drive a Th17-biased immune response are not part of the standard vaccine tool kit, and we see this approach as having tremendous potential in developing therapies for some of the most difficult to treat and impactful infectious diseases in the world, such as TB.
Founded in 2016, Inimmune focuses on the discovery and development of new immunomodulatory therapeutics for treatment of allergic diseases, cancer and infectious disease. Learn more at https://inimmune.com/.
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Contact: Jay Evans, research professor, UM Center for Translational Medicine director, 406-381-0573, jay.evans@umontana.edu.
HELSINKI (AP) Norways 86-year-old King Harald V, who has been in frail health in the past few years, has tested positive for the coronavirus and has mild symptoms, royal officials said on Sunday.
His Majesty the King has been diagnosed with corona and is on sick leave until he is symptom-free. The king has cold symptoms and stays at home, the royal household said in a brief statement.
The Norwegian monarch had also tested positive in March 2022 with mild symptoms. Officials have earlier said Harald had received three COVID-19 vaccine shots but its not known whether he had received booster shots.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre wished the king a speedy recovery in a comment to the Norwegian news agency NTB, which said Haralds son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, would take over his duties for now.
The aging monarch, who has been seen using crutches in various occasions, has been hospitalized several times in recent years.
In August 2022, he spent three days with a fever at a hospital, and in December the same year, he was again admitted for an infection that required intravenous antibiotics.
In October 2020, the king underwent surgery to replace a heart valve after being hospitalized with breathing difficulties.
Despite health problems, he has been attending major public events in Norway and its Nordic neighbors. In September, Harald attended celebrations in Stockholm marking the 50th anniversary of Swedens King Carl XVI Gustafs accession to the throne.
In May, the monarch, who was released from a hospital just days earlier, appeared on the royal castles balcony in Oslo to salute the thousands of children marching by as the country celebrated its Constitution Day.
The king is Norways head of state but holds no political power, so his duties are ceremonial. Harald ascended to the throne following the death of his father, King Olav, in 1991.
Severe COVID-19 can lead to lasting changes in the innate immune system, potentially explaining why it can affect numerous organs and cause prolonged inflammation in some individuals, according to a recent study. The research found changes in blood-forming stem cells in individuals recovering from COVID-19 that increase the production of inflammatory cytokines. One such cytokine, IL-6, might be a key driver behind these changes, and its early intervention could lessen its effects.
A recent study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that severe cases of COVID-19 might lead to persistent changes in the innate immune system, our bodys initial barrier against disease-causing agents. This could shed light on the reasons behind the widespread organ damage observed in the illness and the elevated inflammation levels in individuals experiencing long COVID. The research was recently published in the journal Cell.
Researchers led by Steven Z. Josefowicz, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City examined immune cells and molecules in blood samples from 38 people recovering from severe COVID-19 and other severe illnesses, as well as from 19 healthy people. Notably, the researchers established a new technique for collecting, concentrating, and characterizing very rare blood-forming stem cells that circulate in the blood, eliminating the need to extract such cells from bone marrow.
In these rare stem cellsthe parents of immune-system cellstaken from people recovering from COVID-19, the scientists identified changes in the instructions for which genes got turned on or off. These changes were passed down to daughter cells, leading them to boost the production of immune cells called monocytes.
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a macrophage, one of the innate immune cells derived from monocytes. Credit: NIAID
In the monocytes of people recovering from severe COVID-19, the changes in gene expression led the cells to pump out greater amounts of molecules called inflammatory cytokines than monocytes of people who were healthy or had non-COVID-19 illnesses. The researchers observed these changes as much as a year after the participants came down with COVID-19. Due to the small number of study participants, the scientists could not establish a direct association between cellular and molecular changes and health outcomes.
The investigators suspected that an inflammatory cytokine called IL-6 might play a role in establishing the changes in gene expression instructions. They tested their hypothesis both in mice with COVID-19-like disease and in people with COVID-19. In these experiments, some of the subjects received antibodies at the early stage of illness that prevented IL-6 from binding to cells. During recovery, these mice and people had lower levels of altered stem cell gene-expression instructions, monocyte production, and inflammatory cytokine production than subjects that didnt receive the antibody. In addition, the lungs and brains of mice that received the antibodies had fewer monocyte-derived cells and less organ damage.
These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can cause changes in gene expression that ultimately boost the production of inflammatory cytokines, and one type of those cytokines perpetuates the process by inducing these changes in stem cells even after the illness is over. Additionally, the findings suggest that early-acting IL-6 is likely a major driver of long-term inflammation in people with severe COVID-19.
These findings shed light on the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and may provide new leads for therapies. The results also underscore the importance of staying up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccines, which are proven to protect against serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
Reference: Epigenetic memory of coronavirus infection in innate immune cells and their progenitors by Jin-Gyu Cheong, Arjun Ravishankar, Siddhartha Sharma, Christopher N. Parkhurst, Simon A. Grassmann, Claire K. Wingert, Paoline Laurent, Sai Ma, Lucinda Paddock, Isabella C. Miranda, Emin Onur Karakaslar, Djamel Nehar-Belaid, Asa Thibodeau, Michael J. Bale, Vinay K. Kartha, Jim K. Yee, Minh Y. Mays, Chenyang Jiang, Andrew W. Daman, Alexia Martinez de Paz, Dughan Ahimovic, Victor Ramos, Alexander Lercher, Erik Nielsen, Sergio Alvarez-Mulett, Ling Zheng, Andrew Earl, Alisha Yallowitz, Lexi Robbins, Elyse LaFond, Karissa L. Weidman, Sabrina Racine-Brzostek, He S. Yang, David R. Price, Louise Leyre, Andr F. Rendeiro, Hiranmayi Ravichandran, Junbum Kim, Alain C. Borczuk, Charles M. Rice, R. Brad Jones, Edward J. Schenck, Robert J. Kaner, Amy Chadburn, Zhen Zhao, Virginia Pascual, Olivier Elemento, Robert E. Schwartz, Jason D. Buenrostro, Rachel E. Niec, Franck J. Barrat, Lindsay Lief, Joseph C. Sun, Duygu Ucar and Steven Z. Josefowicz, 18 August 2023,Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.019
The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
As we enter cold, flu and COVID season, Canada is continuing to experience a health-care crisis. One in six Canadians dont have a family doctor and less than 50 per cent are able to see a primary care provider on the same or next day. Both the B.C. Nurses Union and Hospital Employees Union report over one-third of their members are considering quitting, largely due to burnout.
Because women make up 75 per cent of the health-care workforce and are responsible for the majority of care work in the community and at home women bear the brunt of this crisis, much as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020 and 2021, as co-lead of the Gender and COVID-19 Project based at Simon Fraser University, I spoke with nearly 200 women working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response.
Their stories, compiled in my book Conscripted to Care, range from well-paid physicians to those making minimum wage cleaning rooms in long-term care (LTC) facilities, with participants identifying along a range of social positions related to factors including race, ethnicity and sexuality. Their combined experiences illustrate the cracks within our health system created by gender inequality.
Not only is the health sector feminized, but women particularly racialized women are more likely to be in positions at the lower end of the pay scale, that also require close and prolonged contact with patients. When space, equipment and staff are scarce, these frontline workers are left to fill intractable gaps.
An LTC care aid described working under conditions so short staffed that some residents had missed several baths in a row:
You feel bad because there are people, and this is their homes and their lives potentially, right. And theyre not getting the care that they need and so how I mean it always ends up coming back on us is we have to eventually just have to stop and find the energy or find the time it eventually just catches up to us. The work just doesnt disappear, we just dont do it for that day.
Such circumstances can lead to moral distress, the experience of being unable to provide ethically required care due to structural constraints. In a recent study we found 57 per cent of LTC workers surveyed were considering leaving their profession due to moral distress.
The care economy is the paid and unpaid labour related to caregiving such as childcare, elder care and domestic chores.
Like health care, the care economy is primarily staffed by women. For example, in Canada, over 96 per cent of early childhood educators (ECEs) are women.
Jobs in the care economy tend to be poorly paid and valued. ECEs felt this distinction during the pandemic, noting they were rarely mentioned in celebrations of essential workers:
You know, theyre clapping for the nurses, theyre clapping for all the essential workers, but they never mention us. Like, were taking care of your children and yet nobodys clapping for us.
The pandemic demonstrated how essential childcare was to a strong health-care workforce. A nurse I spoke to described how lack of access to childcare forced her to reduce her hours by 50 per cent, and a physician described how, due to a nanny having to self-isolate, she was called away from surgery by her childs school when he was ill. Midwives describe leaving the field due to lack of childcare corresponding to shiftwork hours.
Due to gender norms and roles, in Canada, women do 1.5 times more unpaid care work than men. This means that when formal health and care systems fails, the burden is most likely to fall on women.
For example, in 2020, a mother who had recently immigrated to Canada explained how her child suffered from severe anxiety, due to past experiences of violence, but had been receiving support at her daycare.
When the daycare closed due to COVID the childs health deteriorated to the point she was vomiting due to stress. The mother called the nurses line and was told to keep her child home due to fear of COVID infection at the hospital, and so was left to care for her sick and distressed child alone.
A single mother and community health worker explained how she struggled to balance the needs of those she cared for at work and at home during the pandemic.
Im a single mom. This is how I show up in the world, its a huge part of how I identify. Theres a lot of things that have to be done because there is no other choice. I have tiny humans to keep alive and try to keep their mental health OK through a pretty earth-shaking experience. I mean if nobody else is going to show up, you can pretty much count on the mom. She will show up and that is beautiful and wonderful, but also heavily fucking exploited.
While pandemic restrictions exacerbated weaknesses within the health and care system, the knock-on effects continue with the current crisis and are felt most acutely by frontline staff the majority of whom are women. This leads to increased risk of moral distress and burnout, which in turn fuels the crisis.
Policy responses can interrupt this vicious cycle through increased investments in the care economy and increasing mental health services for those providing care.
Improved working conditions including flexibility, pay and benefits in feminized health and care sectors would empower those providing care to be able do their best. After all, it is these women we all rely upon.
Suffolk County reported the following information related to COVID-19 on October 19, 2023
According to CDC, hospital admission rates and the percentage of COVID-19 deaths among all deaths are now the primary surveillance metrics.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations for the week ending October 14, 2023
Daily Hospitalization Summary for Suffolk County From October 19, 2023
NOTE: HOSPITALS ARE NO LONGER REPORTING DATA TO NYSDOH ON WEEKENDS OR HOLIDAYS.
Fatalities occurring in Suffolk County (Data showing fatalities by place of residence is archived as of 10/12/23 and is no longer being updated)
COVID-19 Case Tracker October 17, 2023
Note: As of May 11, 2023, COVID-19 Community Levels (CCLs) and COVID-19 Community Transmission Levels are no longer calculatable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* As of 4/4/22, HHS no longer requires entities conducting COVID testing to report negative or indeterminate antigen test results. This may impact the number and interpretation of total test results reported to the state and also impacts calculation of test percent positivity. Because of this, as of 4/5/22, test percent positivity is calculated using PCR tests only. Reporting of total new daily cases (positive results) and cases per 100k will continue to include PCR and antigen tests.
COVID-19 Vaccination Information
Last updated 5/12/23
Vaccination Clinics
As of September 12, 2023, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services is not authorized to offer COVID-19 vaccines to ALL Suffolk County residents.
The department will offer the updated vaccine to only uninsured and underinsured patients through New York State's Vaccines for Children program and Vaccines for Adults program, also known as the Bridge Access Program.
Those with insurance that covers the COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to receive their vaccines at their local pharmacies, health care providers offices, or local federally qualified health centers.
The department has ordered the updated COVID-19 vaccine and will announce when the vaccine becomes available.
FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
New York State Links
CDC COVID Data Tracker Rates of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations by vaccination status
For additional information or explanation of data, click on the links provided in throughout this page.
Theres much to look forward to at the start of winter. The holiday season starts winter off with a bang, while outdoor enthusiasts know their chances to hit the slopes and ski and snowboard are just beginning. Sports fans know January marks the return of the National Football League playoffs, while travelers who need a little winter warmth often designate February as a month to soak up some sun in a faraway locale. With so much to do each winter, its especially problematic when you come down with a cold. However, winter tends to be cold and flu season in many areas, as viruses tend to spread more easily when people spend more time indoors. This winter, people may wonder if their sniffles indicate they have a cold, the flu or a sign of something more serious, such as COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Anyone unsure of whats behind a cold-like illness is urged to speak with their physician. In addition, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases notes that the common cold, the flu, COVID-19, and RSV present some similar symptoms, but also some unique ones. Though each illness is complex, the frequency with which some symptoms present may indicate which issue a person is dealing with. Knowledge of those symptoms and their frequency can help people determine if the culprit behind their winter illness is a cold, the flu, COVID-19, or RSV.
Cold
Flu
COVID-19
RSV
Individuals who are concerned by the presence of cold- or flu-like symptoms are urged to speak with their physicians. Though many instances of cold, flu, COVID-19, and RSV will go away without medical intervention, each condition can pose a significant health risk in certain situations.
