COVID-19 altered Thanksgiving traditions for millions of Americans – it is likely to do the same for the upcoming holiday season. Hospitalizations, daily case counts and deaths continue to hit record levels. The promise of a vaccine is rapidly approaching reality. FDA is expected to approve one or more vaccines in the upcoming weeks. Once approved, the vaccines will be made available to the 21 million health care workers and 3 million long-term care facility residents as soon as later this month. As vaccine supply increases in 2021, other vulnerable Americans, including people with preexisting conditions and essential workers will have access to the vaccine. Children and young adults are expected to get the vaccine last. Until then, public health mitigation efforts are critical to slowing the spread of the virus.
For this Weekend Reading Series, check out #Spending & Utilization for the results of the Kaiser Foundation’s excellent research on the impact of COVID-19 on health care cost and use. Next, check out the articles in #Viral Damage to read about lung transplants in severe COVID-19 patients and more. #Buyer Beware provides articles with useful advice for those shopping for health insurance! Take a few minutes to explore #Under 10 for timely articles that can be read in less than 10 minutes. Do not miss, #Flashback Friday for some super historical articles, including If You Recognize Any Of These 35 Pictures, I’m Sorry, You’re Officially Old That’s just the way it is.
I hope you enjoy the following:
1. #Spending & Utilization
- Kaiser Family Foundation: COVID-19 Is Causing Health Spending To Go Down
- Peterson-KFF: Health System Tracker
2. #Viral Damage
- US News & World Report: COVID-19 Can Damage Lungs So Badly That ‘Only Hope’ is Transplant
- New York Times: Covid Survivors With Long-Term Symptoms Need Urgent Attention, Experts Say
- New York Times: Exercise After Covid-19? Take It Slow
3. #Buyer Beware
- NPR: Think Your Health Care Costs Are Covered? Beware The ‘Junk’ Insurance Plan
- NPR: Hey, COVID-19 Long-Haulers: Take Care In Shopping For Health Insurance
4. #Under 10
- Pew Trusts: Federal Effort Aims to Standardize Addresses to Improve Patient Matching
- WebMD: CVS Will Give COVID Treatment in Patients’ Homes
- Associated Press: Are dining tents a safe way to eat out during the pandemic?
- NPR: How Rich Countries Are ‘Hoarding’ The World’s Vaccines, In Charts
5. #Flashback Friday
- BuzzFeed: If You Recognize Any Of These 35 Pictures, I’m Sorry, You’re Officially Old.
- Smithsonian Magazine: The Horse Flu Epidemic That Brought 19th-Century America to a Stop
- National Library of Medicine: Airborne Infection Control in 20-Century Peace and War
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]
