COVID-19

Patients and physicians are publicly shaming insurance companies on social media for the troublesome prior authorization process; HHS has awarded $1.4 billion in grants for the creation of new technologies and tools to prevent COVID-19 infection; Novo Nordisk has increased lobbying efforts to allow Medicare coverage of weight loss drugs.

In this multicenter cohort study, COVID-19 vaccination at any gestational stage improved antibody responses for pregnant individuals and their infants. Booster vaccine recipients demonstrated increased benefits in these effects at delivery.

Researchers using the Big Five Inventory-2 Short Form questionnaire in a large-scale survey have associated certain personality traits with the openness to accept or refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.

Patients with a specific gene are more likely to develop long COVID; senators send letters to the Internal Revenue Service, urging them to investigate the practices of nonpartisan hospitals; pregnant workers and workers with newborns could potentially gain job accommodations through a new proposal.

The body of research on nirmatrelvir-ritonavir demonstrates a plethora of benefits in the treatment of COVID-19, and authors of a recent study identified more advantages to administering the treatment to patients with COVID-19.

More symptoms, older age, and longer hospitalization time increased the risk of post–COVID-19 conditions, aka long COVID, in children.

After the COVID-19 vaccine was released, disparities in COVID-19 incidence shrunk. However, although efforts were made to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine in low-income areas, discrepancies in overall vaccination coverage persisted between higher- and lower-income communities.

Intraparty disagreements over mifepristone cause pause in spending bill agreement until August recess ends; Officials urge the FDA to regulate cannabidiol as a dietary supplement; State medical boards tasked with protecting Americans frequently failed to stop doctors for COVID-19 misinformation.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a particularly negative impact on the uptake of non–COVID-19 vaccines for adults in some countries. Even countries with great progress in adult vaccination prior to the pandemic saw a decline after the pandemic.

Political leanings appear to be associated with mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Biden administration takes steps to ensure parity between mental and physical health benefits; extreme heat and air pollution amplify heart attack risk.

Insurers supervising the health care of Medicaid patients repeatedly reject providers’ approval of care; individuals are more likely to develop dementia if they live in disadvantaged neighborhoods; a type of an immunity gene is found in people who test positive for COVID-19 but don’t develop symptoms.

CMS releases its 2024 Physician Fee Schedule, including a conversion factor cut, and proposes behavioral health efforts; a World Health Organization (WHO) agency says that aspartame may cause cancer, but another one maintains that it remains generally safe; HHS calls for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to ensure reasonable pricing for their upcoming fall shots.

Lifesaving organ supply disruption avoided for now; approximately a quarter of the US population had not been exposed to COVID-19 by the end of 2022; Gavi will offer developing countries a new polio vaccine.

Healthy sleep before being infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection and before and during the COVID-19 pandemic might protect against post–COVID-19 condition, or long COVID.

This article examines how primary hospitals in Chengdu, China, responded to the relaxation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures in December 2022.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is not associated with health literacy. Personal perception of threat was associated with reduced vaccine hesitancy.

The FDA approves Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 drug; hundreds of thousands of people lose Medicaid coverage after pandemic protections expire; irregular menstrual cycles seem to be linked with higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks.

Older age, more comorbidities, and having higher baseline inflammatory markers were among these factors.

Preprints, or research that is not peer reviewed, are becoming increasingly important in medical communication for findings of randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

Vaccines were safe in transplant recipients, but their efficacy was affected by immunosuppressive therapies.

Patients who had limited proficiency with English or preferred the use of another language had increased hospitalization and death rates if they delayed time to their first dose of the vaccine.

The study was designed and conducted by undergraduate researchers.

Recent papers highlight possible role of inflammation in connections between COVID-19, cancer markers.

Paul G. Alexander, MD, MPH, executive vice president and chief health equity and transformation officer, RWJBarnabas Health, speaks on strategies his organization implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to address continuity of care and communication challenges in underserved communities and further efforts to improve health equity.

Coverage from the 64th Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting and Exposition, December 10-13, 2022, New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the public health emergency soon coming to an end, people covered by Medicaid will encounter new barriers, discusses Dennis Scanlon, PhD, professor of health policy and administration, Penn State University.

The Biden administration has said it would give 60 days notice before ending the public health emergency, which was set to end April 11, and the national emergency was set to end March 1.

Affordable Care Act health care sign-ups are breaking records; updated COVID-19 boosters are proving successful against new variants; GenBioPro, which manufactures mifepristone, has filed suit regarding the constitutionality of a state abortion drug ban.

Patients who received nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) had lower risk of both hospitalization within 14 days and death within 28 days compared with patients who did not receive the treatment.