COVID and flu vaccine rates are declining for US health care workers, CDC reports: ‘Disturbing trend’ (foxnews.com)

...They found that flu vaccine coverage was 81% among health care employees at hospitals and 47.1% at nursing homes.

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Nearly half of US veterans had long-COVID symptoms up to 6 months later Risk factors for long COVID were Black race, ages 50 to 64, diabetes, and severe infection. CIDRAP

Nearly half of 363,000 US veterans who tested positive for COVID-19 still had symptoms up to 6 months later, and the risk factors for this condition were Black race, older age, diabetes, and severe infection, concludes a study published yesterday in the Annals of Epidemiology.

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COVID increased gender life expectancy gap in US poco_bw CIDRAP

For more than 100 years, American women have outlived American men, largely due to differences in rates of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Now COVID-19 has widened the gendered life expectancy gap, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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About 36M American adults have received the updated COVID vaccine: CDC Newly released survey data from the CDC shows 36 million American adults, about 13.9% of the U.S. adult population, has received the updated COVID vaccine. ABC News ABC News

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Update: States Where the COVID-19 Surge Is the Worst Right Now After a week when hospital admissions and test-positivity rates for COVID-19 leveled off, the seven-day moving average for both categories resumed their declines for the most recent reporting period.This may be a respite, however. Infections could increase as the winter draws near as other viruses and illnesses may compromise immune systems, allowing the coronavirus to […] John Harrington 24/7 Wall St.

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Study suggests Covid rebound is far more common with Paxlovid than without A small and preliminary study published Monday seems to indicate that patients receiving Paxlovid are far more likely to experience Covid rebound than those who did not take it. Matthew Herper STAT

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Study: Hospital-based COVID-19 less serious after Omicron Wavebreakmedia/ iStock CIDRAP

Hospital-acquired (nosocomial) COVID-19 transmission was associated with higher rates of 30-day mortality and more severe disease during the early phases of the pandemic, but the risk has lessened in the post-Omicron landscape, according to a new study from JAMA Network Open based on outcomes seen in Sweden during the past 3 years.

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White House announces $6B in federal funding to strengthen climate resilience efforts nationwide - UPI.com The White House Tuesday announced more than $6 billion to strengthen climate resilience nationwide, including a broad range of initiatives aimed at boosting infrastructure to withstand the impacts of climate change. UPI

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Worsening warming is hurting people in all regions, US climate assessment shows | AP News

The Great Grift: COVID-19 aid thieves bought fancy cars, a Pokemon card — even a private island Patrick Parker Walsh is one of thousands of thieves who perpetrated the greatest grift in U.S. history — potentially plundering more than $280 billion in federal COVID-19 aid. AP News

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WHO updates COVID treatment guidelines, risk estimates for hospitalization The WHO lowered its treatment-benefit threshold from a 6% to a 2% reduction in the risk of hospitalization. CIDRAP

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