Rural U.S. residents may be waiting weeks to receive COVID-19 vaccines even though health officials have started distributing shots to residents of long-term care communities, reports Fox Business . This is despite the fact that long-term care community residents face the highest death rates from the virus. Data from Johns Hopkins and the COVID Tracking Project indicates that less than 2 percent of positive COVID-19 cases lead to death throughout the general population, but that rate tops 12 percent in long-term care communities. Moreover, a Wall Street Journal analysis found that the top 25 U.S. counties with the highest per capita COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks were rural with less than 50,000 residents. The impact of delayed vaccine access in rural areas could expose those locations to added risk. Officials are concerned that rural areas have more "vaccine-averse" residents and those who remain skeptical about the pandemic. They fear a late rollout of vaccines to those regions could leave pockets of viral hot spots and delay their return to any semblance of normalcy.

Novavax announced that it is initiating a new clinical trial of up to 30,000 people in the United States and Mexico to test whether its experimental COVID-19 vaccine safely protects people from the virus, reports the Wall Street Journal . Novavax's inoculation will become the fifth COVID-19 vaccine to enter final-stage testing in the U.S. If results are positive, it could receive authorization sometime next year. Public health officials say that despite the introduction of the first two vaccines in the U.S., additional vaccines will be necessary to fulfill demand and control the pandemic. Although Novavax made no statement about when precisely the trial will produce results, it will likely be spring at the earliest. The vaccine contains proteins resembling the "spike" proteins on the surface of the coronavirus, which are supposed to trigger an immune response once injected. The Novavax trial is being funded with some of the $1.6 billion the drugmaker was awarded in July by the federal government, as part of the Operation Warp Speed initiative. The allocation also covers setup of large-scale manufacturing and delivery of 100 million doses for use in the U.S.

ABC 5 Cleveland reports that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to assisted living communities in Ohio is ramping up. For instance, more than 200 Pfizer shots were supplied to residents and staff at St. Mary of the Woods Living Center in Avon on Saturday. Initial vaccine shipments to Ohio were directed to hospitals. "The 16th of January will be our second dose of the vaccine," said St. Mary administrator Benajmin Massaro. More than 50,000 Ohioans started the vaccination process on Dec. 26, which accounts for less than one half of 1 percent of the total state population. "This really is a first step back to normalcy," Massaro noted. He hopes the state will start to relax assisted living visitation restrictions so residents can see their families next year.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Minnesota nonprofits are moving more programs and services online to counter senior isolation during the pandemic. Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly has expanded statewide for the first time this year, training volunteers to call and check in with older adults, as well as deliver holiday packages to seniors. The Jewish Family Service of St. Paul also has implemented free phone calls from volunteers to seniors in long-term care communities, in addition to calling or sending gifts to Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors. Senior Community Services launched a pilot program to train its clients to navigate FaceTime, set up Hulu, or tap into online grocery delivery services. Finally, Woo Bandel with the Minnesota and North Dakota chapter of the Alzheimer's Association said his organization has shifted educational programs online and begun a virtual support group for caregivers of loved ones in long-term care communities.

Policy experts have long acknowledged a gender gap in retirement security, reports the New York Times (Dec. 12, Miller). Women tend to earn less than men, and they are more likely to take time off from work to care for children or elderly parents. Even a short-term interruption in wages can have a surprisingly large impact on retirement. Each year out of the work force translates into losses considerably larger than the immediate salary over the arc of a career, according to research by the Center for American Progress. The losses compound over time in the form of missed wage growth, retirement savings and Social Security benefits, as illustrated by a calculator developed by the center. For example, a 35-year-old woman earning $80,000 a year who leaves the work force for five years can expect to lose $197,000 in retirement assets and benefits, assuming she retires at age 67, according to the calculator.

The Hill reports that confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States recorded since the start of the pandemic exceeded 19 million on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University . After recording over 100,000 cases in one day for the first time in early November, the country recorded 226,274 cases on Saturday. The COVID Tracking Project estimates that the U.S. averaged 185,000 cases daily between Dec. 19 and Dec. 26. As of press time, a total 332,502 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the U.S. since the pandemic began. Health experts also warn of a spike in the coming weeks resulting from people traveling and gathering for the holidays. "As we have gone from the late fall to the early winter, the numbers really are quite troubling," said leading U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. "With the hospitalizations over 120,000, we really are a critical stage. Even though we advise not to gather for Christmas, it's going to happen."

WANE.com reports that senior residents at three Lutheran Life Villages campuses in Fort Wayne, Ind., can now visit with family using Holiday Houses. These are large rented mobile office spaces that provide a warm decorated safe space for families to see their loved ones. "The pandemic has been hard because we are used to having our campuses full of people, and these Holiday Houses will be one small way to ensure we feel the connection of people this holiday season," said Lutheran Life Villages CEO Alex Kiefer. The spaces feature air purifiers, ultraviolet lights, and personnel to sanitize in between visits, while family members and residents must remain socially distanced and masked during sessions. The Holiday Houses will remain in place throughout the winter. "We've had almost 100 visits, each of the last three weeks, just in our Holiday Houses alone," Kiefer said. "It's been wonderful to be able to take some of that engagement that was happening through the window over the summer and be able to bring those people together in a much more weatherproof setting than the outdoors today."

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that residents and staff in nursing communities throughout the state are scheduled to be vaccinated for COVID-19 starting this week, with those in assisted living communities to receive inoculations starting in January. CVS and Walgreens are expected to use some of Wisconsin's apportionment of the recently approved Moderna vaccine to start immunizing about 28,500 residents and a similar number of staff at the state's 360 nursing communities as soon as today. After the pharmacy chains supply the first dose of the two-dose vaccine to residents and staff who want it, they intend to start giving initial shots to the approximately 67,000 residents and a similar number of staff at 4,500 or so assisted living communities before the end of next month.

WRAL TechWire reports that many Americans are being forced to take early retirement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Young workers' participation in the labor force has nearly fully recovered — likely reflecting both lower health risks from the virus and a decline in college enrollment — while the participation of older workers and women has recovered more slowly," wrote Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs in a note to clients. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the labor force participation rate stood at 61.5 percent in November, a 1.9 percent decline from the February rate. Briggs said there were roughly 830,000 "excess retirees" in October, representing about 25 percent of the difference between the pre-pandemic workforce and the current workforce. Workers who retire are highly unlikely to return to work and would be categorized as permanent job losses. Briggs also noted that the Census Pulse Households Survey indicates that more workers applied for early Social Security benefits this year due to the pandemic. Although he suggested the early retirement trend should peter out with the increased number of retirees eventually offset by fewer retirees in coming years, this does little to console those forced to terminate their careers.

The Wheelock Terrace assisted living community in Hanover, N.H., has built a hugging wall to help residents better cope with isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the New Hampshire Union Leader . The hugging wall was constructed using see-through vinyl shower curtains and PVC pipe. It's hung in a doorway with residents inside the building and guests outside, allowing them to put their arms into projected sleeves in order to hug each other. Wheelock Terrace Marketing Director Pudge Eaton worked with a plumber friend to design the wall, and her crafting skills came in handy in its completion. For example, Eaton used embroidery hoops to create the holes needed for the sleeves. Her hope has been that the wall has made the holiday season a bit more cheery for residents.