Month: April 2021

A man took his adult children to receive COVID-19 vaccinations over the weekend, knowing it was important for them to be immunized against the disease. But he didn’t feel concerned about his own risk of catching the virus, despite the fact that older people and men are more likely to die from COVID-19, Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director, said this week. He had not made plans to get vaccinated. “I was worried about him, and so were his children,” said Ferrer, who encountered the family at a Los Angeles vaccination site. “What’s staggering to realize is that the very group of folks who have the higher mortality rate are now also the group of folks that have the lower vaccination rates.” Throughout the pandemic, men worldwide have been far more likely to die from COVID-19 —...

A recent study of nearly 50,000 coronavirus patients found that those who were consistently inactive were at greater risk of death due to the virus than those who engaged in exercise. The study, which relied on the "Exercise Vital Sign" measurement developed by Kaiser Permanente Southern California, found that even those who were active on an inconsistent basis were at lower odds for severe COVID-19 compared to those who were inactive. "This is a wake-up call for the importance of healthy lifestyles and especially physical activity," Robert E. Sallis, M.D., a family and sports medicine physician at the Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, said, in a news release posted to EurekAlert.org. "Kaiser Permanente’s motivation is to keep people healthy, and this study truly shows how impo...

Opinion Outbreaks such as the South African variant that’s emerged in south London will require constant vigilance as lockdown eases Wed 14 Apr 2021 08.52 EDT All viruses mutate. They do this to adapt and survive better in their specific host. The virus that causes Covid-19 is no different: it has moved from the animal realm, where it most likely originated in bats, to the human world. Since then, scientists have been locked in a battle between the spread of the virus and the ability to immunise against it. We now have the vaccines to protect us against Covid-19 – but what happens when this virus mutates further, as it likely will? As lockdown restrictions ease, south London has already seen a cluster of new cases related to the South African variant. Over the next six months, dealing ...

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