COVID-19 in the News

Dr. Saskia Popescu, infectious disease epidemiologist and infection prevention expert at the University of Arizona, appears as a guest to discuss the severity of the omicron variant of COVID-19 and the toll it's taking on the health care system.

The world surpasses 300 million COVID-19 cases as the spike in new infections in the U.S. fueled by the omicron variant shows no signs of slowing down. Dr. Shad Marvasti, an associate professor and the director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is interviewed.

University of Arizona immunologist Deepta Bhattacharya discusses emerging data that suggest waiting longer than the currently recommended three weeks between doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine strengthens the immune response in the long run and reduce the risk of side effects such as heart inflammation. "From an immunological standpoint, it makes more sense to wait," Bhattacharya said, adding that decision "was more about reducing public health and community transmission and getting the process done quickly."

Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, most scientists believe the virus emerged in the wild and jumped from bats 3to humans, either directly or through another animal. Others theorize it escaped from a Chinese lab. Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona last month published a COVID-19 timeline linking the first known human case to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, where live animals were sold. "The lab leak idea is almost certainly a huge distraction that’s taking focus away from what actually happened," he said.

College officials were already bracing for a potential rise in coronavirus cases when students returned to campus after Thanksgiving break. Then the world learned of the omicron variant, with its troubling mutations and a host of unknowns. "I think we've got to wait and see," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. "We're thinking strategically about how to address all these very daunting issues over the next semester. We take it sort of semester at a time, but frankly, we take it a day at a time."

Two-dose vaccines are typically spaced months and sometimes years apart to provide long-lasting protection from disease. As children begin to get their COVID-19 shots, emerging research in adults suggests that waiting longer between doses could have similar benefits. The first COVID-19 shot generates memory B cells, which help fight infection. Over time, the stronger memory B cells survive while the weaker ones die, notes Deepta Bhattacharya, a professor of immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. A second shot bolsters that protection; if it happens later in the process, when the weaker cells have died, the shot will boost a stronger set of cells.

More Americans are getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that 32% of people in the United States remain unlikely to get vaccinated against the virus. While the issue of vaccine resistance has taken on new urgency and is receiving many more headlines because of the pandemic, hesitancy about inoculations is nothing new. In fact, the sentiment is not only as old as the republic itself, but older. "Interestingly, the points anti-vaxxers made in the 1800s are not much different from points being made today," notes Elizabeth Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Arizona.

The first inkling of a new, potentially fearsome threat arrived a few days ago. The latest variant of the coronavirus was on the move, the Biden administration was told. And, before long, evidence emerged that the variant – which would be dubbed omicron – carried worrisome mutations. "I haven't been one to panic about new variants, but this one looks like it might be the perfect storm," said Michael Worobey, an expert on viral epidemics from the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona researchers Brian Mayer, Melissa A. Barnett, Mona Arora, and Sabrina V. Helm write that with the arrival of the fall and winter holidays, consumers are understandably desperate for a "normal" season. For many, that includes big family dinners and Black Friday shopping sprees. But many grocery store workers have experienced high rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic.

Turning your camera off during virtual meetings can help reduce "Zoom fatigue," suggests new research by Allison Gabriel, McClelland Professor of Management and Organizations and University Distinguished Scholar in the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.