Description
Added on the 11/12/2020 20:22:32 - Copyright : Wochit
People who received the flu vaccine in the year before testing positive for COVID-19 may have a milder case of the virus. Those who received the vaccine are nearly 2 1/2 times less likely to be hospitalized with a severe form of COVID-19. According to UPI, vaccinated patients were more than three times less likely to be admitted to an ICU with COVID-19. Researchers stress however that the flu vaccine does not offer protection against COVID-19. Instead, they theorize that it may help prevent progression to severe disease from the virus by "priming" the immune system. The researchers plan to look at whether other types of vaccinations offer the same benefit.
"I think we're coming to that point where we can look at COVID-19 in the same way we look at seasonal influenza" says Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme. Speaking at a WHO press conference, Ryan projects that COVID will, this year, become "a threat to health, a virus that will continue to kill, but a virus that is not disrupting our society or disrupting our hospital systems." SOUNDBITE
Images show closed Covid booths in Beijing as cases surge in the Chinese capital. The country is navigating a rapid turn away from its zero-tolerance coronavirus strategy, unwinding years of hardline restrictions. IMAGES
Images of locked down compounds and queues for Covid testing in Beijing. China currently faces its highest amount of Covid cases since the pandemic began, official data showed Thursday. IMAGES