June 12, 2023 — In many ways, COVID seems to be in the rear view mirror. Travel, meetings, and busyness have cranked up to a level that makes it seem like the pause we took for the pandemic is a distant memory. But not for folks who develop long COVID – which is about ten percent of people who […]
July 8, 2022 — In a word, yes. COVID vaccines are still protecting people with obesity. Two new studies remind us that, although people with obesity are more vulnerable to this virus, the immune response is still good in this population. This is true of the immune response to infection as well as the protection afforded by vaccination. A […]
January 7, 2022 — In the midst of a huge surge of COVID cases due to omicron, hospitals are seeing a remarkable growth in children admitted with COVID. Until last week, the record for daily hospital admissions of children up to 17 years old with COVID was 340. That’s a seven-day average. But last week brought nearly twice as […]
December 30, 2021 — Early in the pandemic, a couple of things were clear about COVID risk. First, and most important, age is a person’s biggest risk factor. But that’s obviously not a modifiable risk. Soon after that was apparent, another risk factor became apparent – obesity. The risk linked to obesity was not as great as age, but […]
December 9, 2021 — More than a year ago in Obesity, Paul Ryan and Noel Caplice laid out a theoretical framework suggesting SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) might target and exploit fat tissue. They wrote: “Adipose tissue in individuals with obesity may act as a reservoir for more extensive viral spread, with increased shedding, immune activation, and cytokine […]
November 26, 2021 — Vaccinating children against COVID-19 is on parents’ minds, now that Australia’s rollout is open to those aged 12 and over, and regulators are actively considering vaccination for five to 11 year olds.[Note: in the U.S., FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as five on October 29.] Many parents will be thinking about […]
September 24, 2021 — Limited approval . . . heated debate . . . setback for booster plans. The pathway to rolling out booster shots has been torturous, for sure. But let’s be clear. As the dust clears, the approval of booster shots for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is hardly limited. Everyone over 65 can get it. Under 65, the […]
September 4, 2021 — Suffering creates a vacuum. But health stigma is always ready to fill that vacuum, so blame and shame flow in and amplify the suffering. This has long been the case with obesity. We’re now seeing it come into play with COVID and even with the intersection of COVID and obesity. This is called blaming the […]
February 27, 2021 — Power and privilege serves itself first. So a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines can bring forth an ugly dimension of humanity. Sharp elbows come out as some people try to put themselves first. But in other situations, we see a sharp contrast. We see people reaching out to help others who need vaccines urgently. The […]
February 25, 2021 — Yesterday, FDA released a detailed analysis of all the available data on a third COVID-19 vaccine up for approval in the U.S. Tomorrow, an independent advisory committee will meet to review this vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. But it already looks like it is heading for approval. For one thing, FDA reviewers concluded the vaccine […]
