Kane County Connects reports that Illinois' Department on Aging and Department of Human Services have distributed over 1,100 connectivity and assistive devices to older adults and people with disabilities during the pandemic, after receiving $1.7 million from the Administration for Community Living last May. The funding was used to procure iPads, tablets, and Internet/Wi-Fi/hotspot access to counter isolation and loneliness among these demographics. The devices feature applications like FaceTime, Zoom, mental stimulation apps, and more so users can connect with family and friends. Illinois Assistive Technology Program Director Paula Basta remarks, "Providing these new technologies help establish the social connection that our seniors need to maintain their health."

A new study published in medRxiv found older adults in long-term care communities develop detectable antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination, which may mean it is safe to reopen these communities, reports HealthDay News . Between March 15 and April 1, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) researchers tested blood from 70 residents of assisted living, personal care, and independent living communities. All had been administered either the Moderna or Pfizer coronavirus vaccines, and all developed antibodies against the virus. The researchers say there remains a need to monitor symptoms and controls on reopening, because it is uncertain how long the antibodies last. "Theoretically, having vaccine-induced antibodies will protect against the virus, but we'll need studies that follow long-term care residents over time before we can be confident saying how well and for how long vaccines offer protection," explains UPMC's Alan Wells.

Japan is expected to obtain COVID-19 vaccines for all of its senior citizens by the end of June, according to the minister overseeing the vaccination rollout, Taro Kono. The Japan Times reports him as saying that there should be enough doses to vaccinate about 36 million people 65 or older twice by then. "We will deliver the vaccines in accordance with the inoculation programs of municipalities across the country," Kono said. The health ministry claims that the vaccines are less likely to cause side effects for people 65 or older, while the country is scheduled to start administering vaccines to seniors from Monday. The ministry polled some 20,000 medical workers for whom vaccinations began in February, of whom 38 percent developed fevers of over 37.5 degrees Celsius after their second shot of the Pfizer vaccine. Just 9 percent of people 65 and older had fevers, and were also less likely to experience headaches and sluggishness after shots. The health ministry estimated that 1.1 million coronavirus vaccine shots were administered in Japan between Feb. 17 and April 11.

A U.K. study published as a "pre-print" in The Lancet compared immune reactions to Pfizer's and AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines and found strong and similar antibody responses in persons over 80 years old after a first dose of either shot, reports Reuters . The scientists analyzed blood samples from 165 Britons ages 80 and 99 who had received a first COVID-19 vaccine dose. They also learned that T cells showed a more enhanced response in those receiving the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine than in recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. "These vaccines are both equivalent and effective at inducing antibody responses in the great majority of people in this study, even after one dose," said Birmingham University Professor Paul Moss. Moreover, immune responses were "markedly enhanced" in those with prior infection by SARS-CoV-2, with 691-fold and fourfold increases in humoral and cellular immune responses.

Apple has launched new workouts for its Fitness Plus subscription service for pregnant women and older adults, reports CNet . "With more options for getting started, and staying active and healthy during pregnancy as well as at any age or fitness level, we hope even more people will be inspired to keep moving with our amazing team of passionate trainers," said Apple's Jay Blahnik. Apple said the new workouts will be available next Monday. Apple Fitness Plus was rolled out at the end of 2020 with multiple workout options, including HIIT, yoga, cycling, dance, treadmill, strength and core, and cooldowns. The $10 monthly service streams directly from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, and uses the Apple Watch to show onscreen metrics. Apple also has introduced new trainers, and said the next episode of its Time to Walk series will feature actor and activist Jane Fonda.

A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association found that vulnerable neurons in the prefrontal cortex can "leak" calcium with age, reports EurekAlert . This leads to the buildup of phosphorylated tau proteins that cause neurofibrillary tangles in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. "Altered calcium signaling with advancing age is linked to early-stage tau pathology in the neurons that subserve higher cognition," said Yale University Professor Amy Arnsten. These brain cells also tend to lose a key calcium signaling regulator with age, the protein calbindin, which shields them from calcium overload. Neurons in the prefrontal cortex require relatively high levels of calcium to execute their cognitive operations. As regulation declines with increasing age, neurons become susceptible to tau pathology and deterioration. "Understanding these early pathological changes may provide strategies to slow or prevent disease progression," suggested Arnsten.

Parkour exercises can help prevent falls among older adults, according to U.S. News & World Report . "The common thought was that parkour should be accessible to everyone," says Blake Evitt at Parkour Generations Boston, who trained with the sport's founders in France. Parkour classes in Europe always included one or two senior students, while in the United States the sport has mainly been targeted at young men. The PK Move nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia teaches parkour to underserved populations, including people 50 and older through its PK Silver fitness and falls prevention program. PK Move President Sean Hannah says falls among seniors usually happen during daily activities, which makes practicing fall prevention and mitigation critical. "What if you need to step over something while carrying an object?" he asks. "We break it down by steps. That's as playful to seniors as jumping across rooftops is for someone like me."

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced Tuesday that the drugmaker has accelerated production of its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine and will be able to deliver 300 million doses to the United States two weeks early, reports CNBC . He said Pfizer can deliver 10 percent more doses to the U.S. by the end of May than it had previously agreed to, for 220 million shots in total rather than 200 million. The announcement came as dozens of states temporarily halted the use of Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) single-dose vaccine, after six women in the U.S. developed a rare blood-clotting disorder. Some states, including New York, said they will use Pfizer's vaccine in place of the J&J shot for appointments that had already been booked.

The Wall Street Journal reports that researchers are racing to better understand a rare blood-clotting disorder that affected six recipients of Johnson & Johnson's (J&J's) COVID-19 vaccine and led health authorities on Tuesday to suspend its use. Nearly 7 million Americans have received the vaccine. In two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine , scientists said this immune response appears to target a protein on the surface of platelets. J&J vaccine recipients who experienced the clotting condition were diagnosed with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, in which clots form inside large blood vessels in the brain with an accompanying drop in platelet levels. The six affected recipients — all women between the ages of 18 and 48 years old — developed symptoms six to 13 days after inoculation, while one male participant in the clinical trial of the J&J vaccine experienced similar clotting. Clots also might be forming in other parts of the body among J&J vaccine recipients, but only ones in the blood vessels in the brain have been spotted thus far partly due to its limited U.S. rollout. Federal officials recommend that people who develop severe headache, abdominal or leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should immediately contact their healthcare providers.

A study in Neurology suggests the loss of both hearing and vision may elevate the risk of developing dementia and cognitive decline later on, reports EurekAlert . The researchers studied 6,520 people between the ages of 58 and 101. At the beginning of the study, 932 subjects had normal seeing and hearing, 2,957 had either visual or hearing impairment, and 2,631 had both impairments. Dementia was more than twice as common in the cohort with both hearing and vision loss at the start of the study, with 8 percent of that group having dementia then, compared to 2.4 percent with one sensory impairment and 2.3 percent with no impairment. Over a six-year follow-up period, 245 people developed dementia, and 146 of the 1,964 subjects with both impairments developed dementia, versus 69 of the 2,396 people with one impairment and 14 of the 737 with no impairments. Moreover, dementia occurred in 16 of 142 people who could not determine whether they had a sensory impairment. Those with both hearing and vision loss were twice as likely to develop dementia than the group with normal sensory function, while those with only one impairment were no more likely to develop dementia than those with normal sensory function.