75% of patients still suffering 6 months later
A Chinese study, published Friday in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet, found that more than 75% of COVID-19 patients reported symptoms six months after hospital discharge.
In what the British journal said was the largest study so far of so-called “COVID-19 longhaulers,” researchers looked at 1,733 patients from Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated.
More than 60% of patients reported fatigue and muscle weakness, about 25% reported sleep difficulties and hair loss, and 23% reported anxiety and depression.
Researchers said a lung function assessment found “a considerable proportion” of patients had a pulmonary diffusion abnormality six months after showing symptoms, 22% to 56% across different levels of severity.
The U.S. has more than 22.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 374,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 90.6 million cases and 1.9 million deaths.
Biden gets second vaccine dose
President-elect Joe Biden received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday. Biden and his wife, Jill, each received their first shots of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine on Dec. 21 at ChristianaCare Hospital in Newark, Delaware, as part of a campaign of high-level officials to demonstrate that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Vaccine production, shots ramp up
The U.S. is entering the second month of the biggest vaccination drive in history with a major expansion of the campaign, opening football stadiums, major league ballparks, fairgrounds and convention centers to inoculate a larger and more diverse pool of people.
After a frustratingly slow rollout involving primarily health care workers and nursing home residents, states are moving on to the next phase before the first one is complete, making shots available to such groups as senior citizens, teachers, bus drivers, police officers and firefighters.
“Every shot in the arm is a step closer to ending this pandemic,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
As of Monday morning, nearly 9 million Americans had received their first shot, or 2.7% of the U.S. population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say as much as 85% of the population will have to be inoculated to achieve “herd immunity” and vanquish the outbreak.
Germany’s BioNTech, which developed the first COVID-19 vaccination on the market with American partner Pfizer, says it expects to produce 2 billion doses in 2021 with ramped-up manufacturing. The company said in a presentation Monday to the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that it’s also looking to expand vaccinations to include pregnant women and children.
Investigating origins of the coronavirus
Experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive in China on Thursday for a long-anticipated investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, the government said Monday. The trip was originally scheduled for last week but was delayed after Chinese officials said the itinerary was still under negotiation.
How to inoculate against misinformation
Top scientists have created an online guide to arm people with scientific facts and practical tips to fight lies, hoaxes and conspiracy theories that are threatening public trust in the COVID-19 vaccines.
More than two dozen leading experts in vaccine psychology, education and virology say they volunteered contributions to The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook to take on misinformation and propaganda spread by anti-vaccination activists that could lower vaccination rates and cause needless deaths.
Even as coronavirus cases surge and hospitals overflow with critically ill patients, opposition to the vaccines is resonating, not just with fringe communities, but with swaths of mainstream America. Studies show that belief in COVID-19 falsehoods can dissuade people from getting the vaccine.