Month: February 2021

SALT LAKE CITY — As the COVID-19 vaccine campaign ramps up, and more Utahns get protected, people wonder when they can get together with loved ones who have already been vaccinated. Some individuals over 70 will soon be fully vaccinated, but is it too early to visit? Dr. Emily Spivak, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Utah Health, said we still need to act cautiously around people who have been vaccinated. On the plus side: the vaccines prevent that person from getting symptomatic infection and severe illness. But researchers don't know how well the vaccines prevent asymptomatic infection, or the ability of people to spread the virus without knowing they're sick. So the best recommendation is to keep following local health guideline...

Orange County’s first known case of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in the United Kingdom in has been confirmed in a 21-year-old man, officials announced Monday. The California Department of Public Health, which learned of the case from a reference lab, reported it to the Orange County Health Care Agency over the weekend, according to Dr. Clayton Chau, the county’s health officer. The man, a resident of San Clemente, was first tested on Jan. 26, Chau said in a memo to the Board of Supervisors. His symptoms have since “resolved.” He has no history of international travel and is not linked to a larger outbreak, Chau added. Officials are tracing his close contacts to determine if any of them were infected. The U.K. ...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — An investigation is underway after an elderly man died shortly after receiving a COVID vaccine at the Javits Center. State health officials say a man in his seventies – whose name has not been released – collapsed 25 minutes after receiving the shot and later died at the hospital Sunday morning, CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas reported. In a statement, the state health commissioner said, during the 15 minute observation period after getting the vaccine, “… he exhibited no adverse reactions or any distress.” COVID VACCINE “Until we know more about a detailed medical history of this patient, or one or two others that have had something similar happen, we won’t really know what caused it,” said CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez. State health officials do not believe the man...

Experts say pandemic-related unemployment and loneliness could be driving alcohol use. Rates of alcohol liver disease have increased as alcohol sales and alcohol use have risen. Over time, alcohol liver disease may lead to cirrhosis, which can be deadly. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. In the 11 months since the pandemic began, drinking rates and alcohol sales have been steadily increasing. Doctors have been warning it's a concern, and some say we're already seeing the consequences, with alcoholic liver disease is increasingly affecting people younger than 40.  Although the trend "has been alarming for years," Dr. Raymond Chung, a hepatologist at Harvard University, told Eli Cahan of the Los Angeles Times and California Healthline, the pandemic has ex...