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Trust and Income Inequality Fueling the Spread of COVID-19
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Trust and Income Inequality Fueling the Spread of COVID-19

Trust in public institutions is linked to fewer COVID-19 deaths, but trust and belonging to groups is associated with more deaths, according to a wide-ranging, McGill-led study of 30-day COVID-19 mortality rates in 84 countries. Greater economic inequality is also associated with COVID-19 mortality. The study led by McGill researchers published in Social Science & Medicine,...

Easier-to-Use Coronavirus Saliva Tests Start to Catch On
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Easier-to-Use Coronavirus Saliva Tests Start to Catch On

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out across the country, health care providers and scientists relied on the standard method for detecting respiratory viruses: sticking a long swab deep into the nose to get a sample. The obstacles to implementing such testing on a mass scale quickly became clear. Among them: Many people were wary of...

Refuge in the Storm? ACA’s Role as Safety Net Is Tested by COVID Recession
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Refuge in the Storm? ACA’s Role as Safety Net Is Tested by COVID Recession

The Affordable Care Act, facing its first test during a deep recession, is providing a refuge for some — but by no means all — people who have lost health coverage as the economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. New studies, from both federal and private research groups, generally indicate that when the...

5 Things to Know About a COVID Vaccine: It Won’t Be a ‘Magic Wand’
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5 Things to Know About a COVID Vaccine: It Won’t Be a ‘Magic Wand’

President Donald Trump makes no secret he would like a COVID-19 vaccine to be available before the election. But it’s doubtful that will happen and, even after a vaccine wins FDA approval, there would be a long wait before it’s time to declare victory over the virus. Dozens of vaccine candidates are in various testing...

Women More Likely to Embrace Behaviors Aimed at Preventing the Spread of COVID-19
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Women More Likely to Embrace Behaviors Aimed at Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

  Women are more likely than are men to follow guidelines outlined by medical experts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, new research finds. In an article published in Behavioral Science & Policy, New York University and Yale University researchers report that women have practiced preventive practices of physical distancing, mask wearing, and maintaining hygiene to...

COVID-19 Vaccines: Open Source Licensing Could Keep Big Pharma from Making Huge Profits Off Taxpayer-Funded Research
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COVID-19 Vaccines: Open Source Licensing Could Keep Big Pharma from Making Huge Profits Off Taxpayer-Funded Research

An international, multi-billion-dollar race is underway to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, and progress is moving at record speed, but with nationalistic, competitive undertones. If and when an effective vaccine is invented, its production will require an unprecedented effort to vaccinate people across the globe. However, for the country that invents a safe and effective vaccine,...

Private Health Insurers Paid Hospitals 247% of What Medicare Would
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Private Health Insurers Paid Hospitals 247% of What Medicare Would

Prices paid to hospitals nationally during 2018 by privately insured patients averaged 247% of what Medicare would have paid, with wide variation in prices among states, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Some states (Arkansas, Michigan and Rhode Island) had relative prices under 200% of Medicare, while other states (Florida, Tennessee, Alaska, West Virginia...

Vaccine Proponents and Opponents Are Vectors of Misinformation Online
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Vaccine Proponents and Opponents Are Vectors of Misinformation Online

In a new paper published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, researchers from the George Washington University, University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University assessed content from the most active vaccine-related accounts on Twitter and found that even accounts with pro-vaccination views and higher public health credibility can be vectors of misinformation in the highly...