COVID-19

Vitamin D Deficiency Is Inversely Associated with COVID-19 Incidence and Disease Severity in Chinese People

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In the general linear model adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, and BMI, serum 25(OH)D concentrations were significantly lower among COVID-19 patients than the 2018–2019 controls [ln transformed values of 3.32 ± 0.04 vs. 3.46 ± 0.022 ln (nmol/L), P = 0.014]. Multivariable logistic regression showed that male sex (OR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.06, 4.82), advanced age (≥65 y) (OR: 4.93; 95% CI: 1.44, 16.9), and vitamin D deficiency (<30 nmol/L) (OR: 2.72; 95% CI: 1.23, 6.01) were significantly associated with COVID-19 severity (all P < 0.05).

These findings suggested that vitamin D deficiency impacts COVID-19 hospitalization and severity in the Chinese population.

Vitamin D Deficiency Is Inversely Associated with COVID-19 Incidence and Disease Severity in Chinese People — The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 151, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 98–103, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa332

More links are in my last post Vitamin D – What’s Your Level?

I am hoping all of my Chinese relatives read this.

I would not take Covaxin without efficacy data: Gagandeep Kang — Science Chronicle

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Serum’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are examples of atmanirbhar (self-reliance) but have an element of non-Indian science — and at least to me that is fine, says Dr. Gagandeep Kang. Though Covaxin uses inactivated virus, neutralising antibodies against the spike protein are critical for reinfection. So if Covaxin is based on an old viral […]

I would not take Covaxin without efficacy data: Gagandeep Kang — Science Chronicle

More on Colleges and Covid

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U.S. counties with large colleges or universities with remote instruction (n = 22) experienced a 17.9% decrease in incidence and university counties with in-person instruction (n = 79) experienced a 56% increase in incidence, comparing the 21-day periods before and after classes started. Counties without large colleges or universities (n = 3,009) experienced a 6% decrease in incidence during similar time frames.


Leidner AJ, Barry V, Bowen VB, et al. Opening of Large Institutions of Higher Education and County-Level COVID-19 Incidence — United States, July 6–September 17, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:14–19. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7001a4external icon

That’s it. That’s the post.

CDC reports more allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines, but cases remain few

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at present it looks like anaphylaxis cases are occurring at a rate of about 5.5 per 1 million vaccine doses given, though the agency cautioned that figure may change as the vaccination effort continues.

The allergic reactions do not change CDC’s recommendations on who can be vaccinated against Covid-19, with senior officials stressing that the risk of severe illness and death from the disease still outweighs the risk of developing anaphylaxis after vaccination.

CDC reports more allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines, but cases remain few — https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/06/cdc-reports-more-allergic-reactions-to-covid-19-vaccines-but-cases-remain-few/?utm_campaign=rss

Get jabbed.

Kaiser San Jose Covid Outbreak

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Hospital officials initially reported an outbreak of 44 infections traced back to the apparently impromptu Christmas celebration, but this would be the first fatality associated with the informal Dec. 25 visit. All 44, including the employee who died, had been working in the emergency department that day, according to NBC Bay Area, which also described the outbreak’s first victim as a woman who worked as a registration clerk in the department.

Coronavirus: 1 employee dead after outbreak infects dozens at Kaiser San Jose — https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/04/coronavirus-1-employee-dead-after-outbreak-infects-dozens-at-kaiser-san-jose/

Nosocomial Covid-19 Infections

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Regrettably, covid-19 among hospital staff is common even after all the precautions with masks, shields and other personal protective equipment. Studies show that front-line health-care workers in the United States have a covid-positive rate that is four times greater than the general population.

Patients are getting infected with covid-19 in the hospital. It happened to one of mine and killed him. — https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/acquiring-covid-19-in-the-hospital/2020/12/31/8cac8b82-3a50-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html

Tracking Covid mortality in healthcare workers is imprecise for a number of reasons. Any estimates are likely to be lower than the true number.

More than 2,900 US healthcare workers have died in the Covid-19 pandemic since March, a far higher number than that reported by the government, according to a new analysis by the Guardian and KHN.

Guardian/KHN find nearly 3,000 US health workers died of Covid — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/23/us-healthcare-worker-deaths-covid-19-pandemic

How the Lives of Older Citizens Changed in 2020

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We all know that Baby Boomers and seniors have had an incredibly challenging time during this pandemic. Older generations have shown particular resilience through this time, with many not being able to see friends and family for months. All in the name of rightly protecting their health. With Government and media messaging telling seniors they are the most vulnerable group, their determination to power through this challenge has been apparent across the world.

A representative group of 1,409 Baby Boomers and seniors from the USA and Canada were polled on behalf of Amica Senior Lifestyles, using Amazon’s online survey platform, Mechanical Turk. Survey responses were fielded in September and October 2020. They were asked a variety of questions relating to their lifestyle changes during and after the global pandemic. The age breakdown of our survey sample was as follows: 
55-64 (24.6%)
65-74 (70.8%)
75-84 (3.8%)
85+ (0.9%)
https://www.amica.ca/conversations/baby-boomers-seniors-coronavirus-statistics#lockdown

The source article is fairly long so I’ve provided the Table of Contents clickable links. I hope they work. Technology adaptation is tougher for the older ones. Did you know my smartphone has a CAMERA?

The Pandemic Will Not End Soon – a Case Study in Finger Pointing and Blame Games

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Some vaccine experts, though, said they are not surprised by the speed of vaccine distribution so far. “It had to go this way,” Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told STAT. “We had to trip and fall and stumble and figure this out.”

Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, said some of the gap between doses administered and delivered is likely due to a program run by CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate those in nursing homes. States participating in the program have to set aside 50% of their doses, which Hannan said could account for a share of the difference between doses shipped and doses administered nationally.

“I don’t think it’s bad,” she said of the pace of distribution so far. “I think it was always going to be like this. And I think that this is actually the easy part.”

Frustration over vaccine rollout builds, as new variant reported in U.S. for first time — https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/29/public-health-experts-grow-frustrated-with-pace-of-covid-19-vaccine-rollout/?utm_campaign=rss

We are definitely so screwed.

The Pandemic Will Not End Soon — Over half of U.S. adults ‘unlikely’ to get COVID vaccine under emergency use authorization

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The coronavirus vaccine is finally a real thing and millions of people have already received it. While the rollout has the world cheering, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University finds many Americans aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to be the first in line for the vaccine under an emergency use authorization. Their survey reveals 53.1 percent are definitely, likely, or somewhat unwilling to get the shot under emergency use conditions.

Over half of U.S. adults ‘unlikely’ to get COVID vaccine under emergency use authorization — https://www.studyfinds.org/half-adults-unlikely-to-get-covid-vaccine/

Journal Reference

Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine with and without emergency use authorization

Published:November 19, 2020 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.11.018

We are so screwed.

New variant does not increase reinfection risk, disease severity, deaths — Science Chronicle

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Preliminary results from a cohort study show no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation, 28-day case fatality and reinfection between the new variant and wild-type comparator cases. Preliminary results from a cohort study show no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between cases with the new variant (VOC 201212/01) and wild-type comparator cases. […]

New variant does not increase reinfection risk, disease severity, deaths — Science Chronicle