|
As the COVID-19 virus evolves, so will vaccine guidelines.
One thing that’s been clear from the start is that immunocompromised people have a high risk of severe and prolonged COVID-19 infections. And those with a weakened immune system are especially vulnerable to the highly contagious delta variant making its rounds through the U.S., even if they are vaccinated – 44% of all breakthrough cases that lead to hospitalization are among this group despite making up just 2.7% of the population. This is why the FDA and CDC recently recommended that people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised receive a third vaccine dose to bolster their protection.
To learn more about why a third dose is necessary for immunocompromised people, we asked physician scientist Jonathan Golob of the University of Michigan to explain what conditions can result in a weakened immune system, and how immunocompromised people can best protect themselves from COVID-19.
Also today:
|
|
Vivian Lam
Assistant Health + Medicine Editor
|
|
Cancer and organ transplant patients, people with untreated HIV and people with other immunodeficiencies are at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
burakkarademir/E+ via Getty Images
Jonathan Golob, University of Michigan
People with weakened immune systems are at a high risk of severe and prolonged COVID-19 infections. An extra vaccine dose can bolster protection.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Pamina Firchow, Brandeis University; Tiffany Fairey, King's College London; Yvette Selim, University of Technology Sydney
People wanted to use photography not only to document the aftermath of war and violence, but also to actively support peace.
-
Todd Lehmann, University of Michigan
The Afghan military’s collapse was the collective result of individual soldiers making rational decisions based on what they expected their comrades to do.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Nadejda Williams, University of West Georgia
While they weren’t living through a pandemic, citizens of ancient Pompeii weren’t strangers to societal stress.
-
Stefanie Benjamin, University of Tennessee
Black Americans’ contributions to some of the country’s most iconic dishes and spirits are finally starting to be recognized in the media and in museum exhibitions.
|
|
Health
|
-
Rajib Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University
A public health scholar based in New Delhi explains how India has emerged from the massive spike in COVID-19 cases, even as the country braces for a new wave.
-
Leonard L. Berry, Texas A&M University; Paul Barach, Thomas Jefferson University
Outsourcing is common in many hospitals. But when health care systems outsource certain clinical tasks to separate companies, costs can go up, quality of care can fall and patients can be harmed.
|
|
Ethics + Religion
|
-
Noorzehra Zaidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
For Muslims, Ashura marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammed’s grandson Hussain.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Ahana Aurora Fernandez, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Vocal imitation is a key part of how humans learn to speak. New research shows that bats babble to learn and use baby talk to teach, just like people do.
|
|
Podcast
|
-
Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation
From the archive: new research helps unpick clues about the brain’s ability to change its structure. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
|
|
From our international editions
|
-
Alex Ezeh, Drexel University; Michael Silverman, Western University; Saverio Stranges, Western University
The emergence of variants of concern with increased potential for transmission and more severe disease in the younger population could make Africa more susceptible to a severe COVID-19 epidemic.
-
Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo, University of Toronto
Indigenous people and communities are not monolithic. How they react to and deal with tragedy will be different. Acknowledging that will help us all heal.
-
Andrew Lee, University of Sheffield
As New Zealand enters another lockdown after detecting a single COVID case, it’s time to consider whether stringent zero COVID strategies are feasible in the long term.
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
