Could Your Blood Type Make COVID Worse?
Your blood type may strongly influence your risk of severe COVID-19, new research suggests.
After screening more than 3,000 blood proteins, scientists linked six with an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and found eight that could help protect against severe disease.
One of the proteins (ABO) linked to severe illness determines blood type, suggesting that blood types (groups) play a major role in whether people develop severe forms of COVID-19, according to the authors of the study published March 3 in the journal PLOS Genetics.
NFL Drops All COVID Restrictions
The National Football League’s COVID protocols will be lifted immediately under a deal reached between the league and its players association.
The agreement makes the NFL one of the first major sports leagues to take such action, CBS News reported.
The decision is based on “encouraging trends regarding the prevalence and severity of COVID-19, the evolving guidance from the CDC, changes to state law and the counsel of our respective experts” according to the memo sent to all NFL teams and staff and obtained by CBS News.
SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response after Third Vaccine Dose in Kidney Transplant
Kidney transplant recipients who contract COVID-19 are at high risk for severe disease, and were among the group prioritized for early vaccination. In immunocompromised individuals, including kidney transplant recipients, immune response to vaccination is reduced. There are two classes of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines available in the United States and Europe: (1) mRNA )mRNA-1273 [Moderna] and BNT162b2 [PfizerBioNTech]) and (2) viral vector (ChAdOx1 [AstraZeneca] and Ad26COVS1 [Janssen]). Of those, Ad260VS1 is the only vaccine that has been shown to induce a positive immune response following a single dose.