MarketWatch reports that the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging found many Americans are reluctant to get vaccinated for COVID-19, especially those who are older than 50 and/or from Black and Latinx communities. According to the survey of more than 1,500 Americans, about 46 percent of respondents 50 to 80 would prefer to wait for others to get vaccinated first before undergoing inoculation themselves. Moreover, 14 percent in that age group would rather not get vaccinated at all. This is worrying, as Michigan Medicine's Preeti Malani notes that "effective vaccines will be crucial to getting this pandemic under control and preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, especially among people over 50 and those with underlying health issues." Frontline public healthcare workers are expected to be ahead of all other groups in gaining access to a COVID-19 vaccine if one becomes available. "As the public sees healthcare workers taking vaccinations and being the first ones to do it, as we see the effectiveness, and we see the clinical results, that will then build confidence depending on what the evidence is, and what we're seeing about the initial safety from the initial groups," said Atul Gawande with President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force. Meanwhile, a poll by COVID Collaborative indicated that only about 14 percent of Black Americans trust that a coronavirus vaccine will be safe, as do 34 percent of Latinx Americans.

Zoom recently announced on Twitter that it would lift the 40-minute time limit for all meetings on Thanksgiving so "your family gatherings don't get cut short," reports WWMT Newschannel 3 . Its usual procedure is to end meetings after 40 minutes for free if the user is not a customer. Many Michiganders have decided to host a virtual Thanksgiving dinner this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services issued an order limiting the size of indoor gatherings through the holiday, which took effect on Nov. 18, with a duration of three weeks. Families are allowed to gather with one other household in a residence, while also following COVID-19 precautions.

KSL NewsRadio 1160 reports that some Utah assisted living communities are taking creative measures to connect residents with families this Thanksgiving during the pandemic. Ridge Senior Living in Salt Lake City requires families to reserve individualized suites, separated from residents by Plexiglas. "They can sit and visit and then we disinfect," explained Ridge Marketing Director Cindy Fey. "We have really good ventilation in these spaces where we can completely air it out." The community also encourages social media, face time, Zoom visits, and window visits. The Ridge also will host in-house activities for Thanksgiving week, with families dropping off gifts in addition to in-person visits. Meanwhile, Covington Assisted Living founder Mindy Hill said her company's Utah communities are trying to safely prioritize in-person visits. "Those that come to visit it's two at a time, 18 and over," she noted. "They do have to have their temperature taken, answer a questionnaire, and they do have to wear their masks at all times."

Research presented at the American College of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting suggests that appropriate behavioral health (BH) treatment may improve outcomes in older patients, given the prevalence of BH issues in seniors with asthma. Pulmonology Advisor reports that the investigators used data from the 2010 Medicare 5 percent sample in patients 65 years and older to identify persons with asthma and four different BH conditions. They were compared with a group of non-asthmatic individuals with matching propensity scores for age, gender, and race, and an equal reference size. The prevalence of asthma was 3.73 percent, while incidence of asthma in patients with substance abuse disorder was 9.18 percent versus 5.34 percent without asthma. Asthma incidence in patients with anxiety was 1.89 percent compared to 1.26 percent without asthma, and incidence in patients with depression was 0.18 percent versus 0.08 percent without asthma. Finally, asthma incidence in psychiatric disorders was 1.05 percent against 1.19 percent among controls. The outcomes point to a need for public policy and health plan design to highlight BH screening for people with chronic asthma, including those in Medicare. The researchers concluded that "proactive screening for BH conditions followed by appropriate treatment will likely improve patient outcomes."

WWMT Newschannel 3 reports that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is offering some virtual Thanksgiving-themed social hours this week to help older adults connect with family and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants can link to the first social hour at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The state health department's aging and adult services agency teamed up with GetSetUp to provide the activities, which include classes and social hours online and via phone. Older Michiganders also can access more than 150 free online group classes engineered for and led by older adults. Popular classes include using a smartphone or tablet; employing services like videoconferencing, Gmail, Facebook, and YouTube; and virtual social hours.

A study in Cell Reports found that Dlgap2, a gene that helps effect communication between neurons in the nervous system, is associated with memory loss in mice and is a risk for Alzheimer's dementia in humans, according to ScienceDaily . Analysis of post-mortem human brain tissue also revealed low concentrations of Dlgap2 in people experiencing "poorer cognitive health" and "faster cognitive decline" before death. "The reason why this is so important is because a lot of research around cognitive aging and Alzheimer's has been hyper-focused on well-known risk genes like APOE and brain pathologies," said University of Maine Professor Catherine Kaczorowski. "We wanted to give ourselves the option of looking at new things people keep ignoring because they've never heard about a gene before." Dlgap2 was found to influence the formation of dendritic spines on neurons, which can impact cognitive function, as longer and thinner spines exhibit higher mental performance than stubbier spines in mice. Decreased cognition also corresponds with a decline in dendritic spines.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Nicole Rogus-Pulia said there is often a connection between dementia and dysphagia — swallowing disorders — with people suffering from both conditions often excusing themselves from family dining, reports Being Patient . Rogus-Pulia and University of Mississippi Medical Center speech-language pathologist Rinki Varindani Desai cite dysphagia signs like throat-clearing, changes in voice quality, spilling food from the mouth, holding food, chewing for too long, or fatigue. Moreover, people with dysphagia may shun certain foods, and suffer weight loss, dehydration, or recurring chest infections. Experts say neurodegeneration in the brains of people with dementia likely worsens swallowing problems, which may ultimately result in dysphagia. In a study in Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports , Rogus-Pulia and colleagues said cognitive impairment and attention deficits can affect people's ability to swallow safely. Desai said caregivers can help prevent dysphagia-related complications by spotting early symptoms and consulting with a physician who can refer them to a speech-language pathologist for evaluation and therapy. Following a clinical swallow assessment, the pathologist may test further to determine the cause of the dysphagia and provide treatment.

According to SlashGear , a new study led by the University of Warwick debunks the assertion that weight loss becomes harder with age. Investigators report in Clinical Endocrinology that adults older than 60 can lose weight just as effectively as younger people. They analyzed data on 242 patients involved with a "hospital-based obesity service" and divided into two groups, one for those under 60 and the other for people between 70 and 78. Participants spent about the same amount of time in the program and underwent weight loss that was "equivalent statistically." The program exclusively involved lifestyle changes, including mental health support and diet changes, without surgery or medication. "Age should be no barrier to lifestyle management of obesity," explained lead study author Thomas Barber. "Rather than putting up barriers to older people accessing weight loss programs, we should be proactively facilitating that process. To do otherwise would risk further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions."

Reuters reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued emergency use authorization for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' COVID-19 experimental antibody therapy, a treatment administered to President Trump that he claimed helped cure him of the disease. According to the FDA, the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab should be administered in combination for treating mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and children with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for severe COVID-19. This recommendation also applies to people 65 years or older or with certain chronic medical conditions. Regeneron stated that the clinical evidence from an outpatient trial suggests monoclonal antibodies such as REGEN-COV2 provide the greatest benefit when administered early after diagnosis and in persons who have not yet activated their own immune response or who have high viral load. The firm also expects to have doses of REGEN-COV2 treatment ready for about 80,000 patients by the end of November, about 200,000 patients by the first week of January, and roughly 300,000 patients by the end of January. The FDA cautioned that the antibodies are not authorized for people who are hospitalized due to COVID-19 or who require oxygen therapy because of the virus.

BBC News reports that a new study suggests people are most likely to pass on COVID-19 within the first five days of having symptoms, with "live" virus detected up to nine days after manifestation of symptoms. The study in Lancet Microbe reviewed 79 global studies on COVID-19, involving symptomatic people in hospitals who had already tested positive for the pathogen. Scientists could identify and replicate viable virus from throat samples taken up to nine days after infections began, and the amount of viral RNA particles in the throat samples peaked at the time symptoms started or within five days. Moreover, inactive viral RNA fragments continued to show up in nose and throat samples for up to 17 days after symptoms began, on average. However, no viable replicating virus was found after nine days, meaning most people were unlikely to still be highly contagious past that point. "People really need to be supported to make sure they isolate as soon as they get symptoms, however mild," advised the University of St. Andrews' Muge Cevik. "By the time some people get the results of swabs, they may be past their most infectious phase."