Editor's Note Results from Johnson & Johnson’s early-stage trials for its COVID-19 vaccine showed neutralizing antibodies in all participants who received the vaccine when they were tested at 57 days. The J&J Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is different than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in that it is anenovirus-based rather than mRNA-based.…

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Editor's Note Owners of hospitals in Chicago and Los Angeles plan to close their facilities in the first half of 2021, the January 14 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles informed its workers on December 31, 2020, that the hospital would be suspending all patient care…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, finds that in the first 9 weeks of in-person classes in North Carolina schools, there was extremely limited within-school secondary transmissions of COVID-19. The researchers examined 11 school districts with more than 90,000 students…

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Editor's Note Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert R. Redfield, MD, on January 12, signed an order to expand the requirement for a negative COVID-19 test to all airline passengers entering the US. The order, which will become effective January 26, requires that: Airline passengers get a…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that COVID-19 cases in children, adolescents, and young adults increased during the review period (March 1-December 12), with spikes in early summer, followed by a decline, and then a steep increase from October through…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on January 13, announced that it had approved four new elements of performance (EPs) for office-based surgery practices that prescribe medication. The EPs for Medication Management Standard MM.04.01.01, which will become effective July 1, address the following: Having a written policy that identifies specific medication…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California, finds that response to COVID-19 by the immune system can last for at least 8 months after the onset of symptoms. The researchers measured antibodies, memory…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 8 updated its guidance to clarify that overlapping may occur in phases of vaccinating priority groups, Reuters reports. The CDC reiterated that priority recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines are still healthcare workers, nursing home residents, those aged 75…

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Editor's Note This study examines factors influencing patients’ decisions to accept or decline telepsychiatry care after stay-at-home orders were initiated in Michigan. Researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, surveyed 244 patients whose in-person appointments were scheduled within the first 3 weeks of stay-at-home orders. The majority (202, 82.8%)…

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Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US rose in December to a seasonally adjusted 16,005,200 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on January 8. That’s 31,000 more workers than in November and the largest monthly increase since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The overall unemployment rate is 6.7%.

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