The many channels available to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States is terribly confusing and frustrating for seniors, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams in Salon . There is little evidence that older Americans were solicited for input on the design of the various vaccine signup websites. "There are myriad problems and frustrations in communities across the country, and a common theme is that seniors with Internet proficiency and supportive intermediaries are vastly privileged," Williams notes. She cites an Associated Press story earlier this month estimating that 16.5 percent of Americans 65 and older lack Internet access, including 25 percent of blacks, about 21 percent of Hispanics, and more than 28 percent of Native Americans 65 and older. "The situation is additionally fraught because once a loved one manages to jump through all the hoops and get the vaccine, they have to come back and get the second dose," Williams writes.

The Wall Street Journal reports that scientists are wondering whether mixing COVID-19 vaccine doses from different manufacturers could improve immune response. Researchers say heterologous prime-boost vaccination could enable the immune system to fight an invader in multiple ways, and perhaps reduce the odds of the immune system repelling a vaccine with the second of two shots under a conventional approach. This strategy has been deployed successfully in the past with Ebola, malaria, and other infectious diseases. The hope with COVID-19 is that mix-and-match dosing not only will offer more protection against emerging variants, but also mitigate supply shortages by giving administrators additional options when patients present for the second part of their inoculation. The University of Oxford is enlisting volunteers for a study that will evaluate a dual combination of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it helped develop, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. AstraZeneca also plans to investigate how its product works in combination with the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia.

The University of Missouri (MU) Center for Eldercare & Rehabilitation Technology has embarked on the Intelligent Health Sensor Research initiative, a project designed to explore fall risk among older adults in order to take preventive measures, reports the Columbian Missourian . The MU team has been recruiting older residents since early 2019 to analyze fall risk and other health changes, in conjunction with monitoring systems. MU scientist Stephen Sayers recently completed a study of the effects of lightweight, fast-mobility weightlifting on people older than 65. His team gauged fall prevention by strapping participants to a rope system, letting them drop forward and then arch a leg to prevent a fall. MU Professor Trent Guess said the team quantified the actions via motion capture and voltage sensors, and participants who performed high-speed training reacted 25 percent faster than the opposite group, and their legs reached out 25 percent farther. Sayers' study also determined that blood pressure was anywhere from 5 percent to 15 percent lower in the high-speed group, which plays a role in the development of heart disease.

The Sydney Memory and Aging Study at the Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA) in Australia found a link between the effect of hearing loss on cognitive abilities and increased risk for dementia, reports Medical Xpress . The research in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition analyzed data from 1,037 Australian men and women 70 to 90 years old. Participants reporting moderate-to-severe hearing problems had poorer cognitive performance overall, especially in terms of attention/processing speed and visuospatial ability, and had a 1.5 times higher risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia at six years' follow-up. Although hearing loss was independently associated with a higher MCI rate, this was not evident in people with dementia, likely due to the number of people with dementia at follow-up being too small to indicate a statistically significant effect. "Hearing loss may increase cognitive load, resulting in observable cognitive impairment on neuropsychological testing," noted Macquarie University's Paul Strutt. CHeBA Professor Henry Brodaty added that these outcomes "contribute to the evidence base providing support for a study looking at the effect of hearing devices on cognitive function."

In response to a query in the Sentinel & Enterprise 's "Dear Annie" advice column, a writer suggests that compulsive decluttering may be a sign of undiagnosed dementia. "A few years ago, I discovered too late that my 77-year-old husband found a storage bin labeled 'Smith Family Mementos' in a closet, went through it, and threw most of it in the garbage before I got back from grocery shopping," the respondent notes. "I didn't notice anything was missing until days later, long after the garbage truck had come and gone. My husband was in the early, undiagnosed, and unrecognized stages of Alzheimer's disease." The respondent explains that as her husband lifted each item out of the bin, he failed to recognize the person or recall the event associated with it, so he discarded it. "Not long after, I started finding other important items in the trash, such as old military uniforms and important medical records," she continues. "Dementia doesn't just affect memory; it also affects judgment and time perception. With each passing day, dementia patients live more and more in the present only." Since her husband has been diagnosed, she has moved proactively to clear their house of small, but important items by shipping them off to relatives for safekeeping or putting them in lockable filing cabinets and lockboxes.

Patch.com says the California-based nonprofit San Diego Oasis is encouraging adults 50 and up wherever they live to attend free or low-cost virtual classes happening nearly every day of the week all year round. Through its recent virtualized annual Fitness-Palooza, San Diego Oasis's videos have become accessible nationally and internationally at any time. This on-demand option allows older adults the opportunity to keep pace with their fitness and wellness programs. San Diego Oasis also offers multiple free technology-focused classes through a partnership with Cox Communications. "Our online classes are the remedy to battle the challenges the pandemic has thrown their way," said San Diego Oasis CEO Simona Valanciute. "We provide exercise and flexibility classes, technology workshops, and so much more, giving our students an array of classes that will keep them active and independent to help stop the aging clock." Adults 50 and older are at the highest risk not just for contracting the coronavirus, but also for social isolation and loneliness. Those who live purposefully and actively engage are less likely to develop Alzheimer's, more likely to harbor positive attitudes, and feel more connected and curious to explore.

WTVR CBS 6 reports that police in Virginia's Henrico County this week sent a first batch of 200 Valentine's Day cards to seniors living in long-term care communities through the county's "Spread the Love" program. The initiative requests that citizens make homemade cards for some of the 8,000 residents at these communities. Cards are requested to have a general message and not be intended for a specific person or gender. "We saw an opportunity to give back to the community in a special way and wanted to participate," said Henrico Police Lieutenant Matthew Pecka.

CNBC reports that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has applied for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 vaccine, following publication of data indicating it offered about 66 percent effective virus protection. If approved, J&J's vaccine would be the third coronavirus vaccine authorized for emergency use in the United States after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. J&J's vaccine only requires one dose, while the other two are dual-dose medications. "Upon authorization of our investigational COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, we are ready to begin shipping," said J&J Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels. "With our submission to the FDA and our ongoing reviews with other health authorities around the world, we are working with great urgency to make our investigational vaccine available to the public as quickly as possible." Despite the J&J product's 66 percent general efficacy, it seemed less effective against other COVID variants. However, leading U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci noted that the vaccine appeared to be 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease, which "will alleviate so much of the stress and human suffering and death in this epidemic."

Forbes reports that U.S. seniors are carrying more debt than ever, which is exacerbating the ongoing retirement crisis. A 2019 Congressional Research Service report determined that the percentage of U.S. households led by people aged 65 and older with any type of debt rose from 38 percent in 1989 to 61 percent in 2016, while the debt level climbed from about $7,500 to more than $31,000. Those carrying debt into retirement, especially credit card debt, endure more stress and have a lower quality of life than those who do not — while older Americans who own their homes outright have less difficulty staying afloat. Senior households are more likely to have a mortgage, revolving debt, and even student loans, while the amount owed on all types of debt has expanded in recent years even after adjusting for inflation. A study in Aging and Mental Health found that carrying a credit card balance is the strongest predictor of struggling to pay monthly bills and facing financial stress, "stronger than other non-housing consumer debt and mortgage debt." Meanwhile, a survey by AARP and the Ad Council of Americans between age 40 and 59 found that 33 percent said paying off a large debt was their most critical goal, and 21 percent cited building up their retirement savings. Moreover, 11 percent wanted to strengthen their emergency fund.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests sleep deprivation may worsen frailty's impact on depressive symptoms among older adults, reports EurekAlert . Among 5,026 community-dwelling older adults in China, participants who were frail at the study's outset were more likely to later develop depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, those who suffered worsening frailty tended to become more depressed, with these effects exacerbated by short sleep. The implication is that interventions that target sleep disturbances — like exercise and mindfulness-based stress reduction — might help mitigate the negative effects of frailty on mental health. "We hope our research findings raise people's awareness of the combined effect of frailty and sleep on older adults' mental health, and provide implications for interventions to improve sleep quality for prefrail and frail older adults," said Peking University's Xinyi Zhao.