Covid-19 News

Fortune featured a study by Qiao Wu, Jennifer Ailshire, and Eileen Crimmins of USC Leonard Davis on the effects of long COVID.

Health spoke to Mireille Jacobson on COVID boosters and why people should get them. “It’s not a strong belief, like ‘I’m not going to get boosted’ is my sense,” she said. “You definitely don’t have that kind of ease that you had at the beginning. And I just think a lot of people are done with it—a lot of people don’t go rush out and get their flu shot either, so I see it as a very similar thing.”

USA Today spoke with Theresa Andrasfay on Americans’ continued decrease in life expectancy due to COVID. “Everyone was hit in 2020 … 2020 was about policy response and 2021 becomes a story of vaccination, and the U.S. was not a success story,” she said.

U.S. News & World Report spoke with Mireille Jacobson about a study that found money, convenience and good info can’t undo COVID vaccine resistance. “There is literature and evidence from other vaccination campaigns like the flu, and even some childhood vaccinations, showing that financial incentives do move the needle. We were expecting similar results,” However, it looks like “people have much stronger beliefs and objections about COVID-19 vaccination,” she said.

Vox spoke with Theresa Andrasfay of the USC Leonard Davis School about COVID-19 death rates among young people. She said high rates of chronic disease, obesity, and diabetes had not yet affected mortality statistics, but when a disease — Covid-19 — came along that had these as risk factors, “it was like lighting a match.”

NBC Right Now (via HealthDay) featured a study led by Eileen Crimmins on the rates and risk factors of long COVID. “What’s somewhat more interesting are the things that didn’t matter,” Crimmins said. “Gender didn’t predict long COVID. Race/ethnicity didn’t predict long COVID. And having conditions like hypertension [high blood pressure], heart disease, cancer, they didn’t predict long COVID.” The study was also featured in KCBS, Olean Times Herald, India Education Diary and Medical Xpress.

U.S. News & World Report featured Theresa Andrasfay and her research on COVID-19 Latino deaths, which showed a three-year drop in life expectancy. “A three-year reduction in life expectancy is huge in historical terms. We usually have not seen reductions this large except during times of war or major pandemics. … Of course, it’s really sad to think about the individuals who died of COVID, but it also has broader implications for the family members of those who died,” she said.

The Atlantic featured research by Mirielle Jacobson of the USC Leonard Davis School and Tom Chang of the USC Marshall Schoolin a story on using financial incentives to motivate individuals to get vaccinated. “I think there are a lot of people who are in this camp of ‘Yeah, I’m gonna get a booster but I’m not in any rush.’ And I would think those folks are probably pretty responsive” to financial incentives, Jacobson said.

Asian Journal quoted USC Family Caregiver Support Center Director Donna Benton on the need to recognize caregivers as essential frontline workers. “Many times the care we have here in California the majority of care is done by us: family members and elder caregivers. We are an essential part of the health care system,” she said.