“The clinical trials were designed to determine whether the vaccines can prevent symptoms and hospitalization in people. They did not test whether or not somebody can still carry the virus despite being immunized and potentially pass that virus to others,” said Ajay Sethi, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences.
You don’t actually need a standing desk, for example. You just need to avoid sitting still for extended periods. “Take a break. Get up. Or at least ‘squirm shamelessly,’” John Hawks, a University of Wisconsin anthropologist, writes, in his Wall Street Journal review of “Exercised.”
Rapid COVID-19 tests used at nearly all University of Wisconsin System campuses missed 20 percent of positive cases among those showing symptoms, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For asymptomatic individuals, the tests missed nearly 59 percent of positives.
There is a “critical need” for convalescent plasma donation to help patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19, UW Health officials say. Convalescent plasma is from the blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Director of UW Health’s convalescent plasma program, William Hartman, explained that while it is valuable to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, donating plasma after recovering from COVID-19 can help reduce the impact of the virus.
While COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and limited vaccinations have begun, it will be several months before vaccines are widely available.
Quoted: “The rollout has not gone real smoothly, and for as many doses out there, we’re not vaccinating very quickly,” vaccine committee co-chairman Jonathan Temte, the Associate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement for UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said Tuesday about deciding who is included in the next phase.
“And the larger we make any particular group, the much longer it’s going to take,” he said. “One of the questions is how long do we put off some of those high-risk individuals.”
In possibly the most Wisconsin contest you’ll ever see, Tommy Thompson challenged comedian Charlie Berens, creator of the “Manitowoc Minute,” to a “smash off” in his latest video to encourage Wisconsinites to get tested for COVID-19.
Created by a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the totally free Healthy Minds Program app has meditations, exercises, and podcast-style lessons designed to build foundational mindfulness skills. Not only that, but you’ll have the opportunity to learn how and why meditation works, which might just be compelling for skeptics and enthusiasts alike.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison hope the new framework can help define well-being, and the parts of it that they’ve found can be improved with training.1 The December paper was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Recent studies have shown symptomatic, pregnant patients with COVID-19 are at increased risk for more severe disease, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and death than nonpregnant patients, according to William Hartman, MD, PhD, a principal investigator for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial at the University of Wisconsin’s Madison campus and an assistant professor of anesthesiology.
Parents also saw a benefit, engaging in more responsive feeding practices and showing more skill in sensitively scaffolding their child’s learning and development, said Dr. Robert L. Nix of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who coauthored the study with colleagues there and at Pennsylvania State University.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison received its first 1,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday and plans to complete vaccinations for its highest priority group within two weeks.
UW-Madison received its first COVID-19 vaccines on Monday and plans to begin inoculating some employees as soon as Tuesday.
When it comes to the coronavirus, there’s some risk every time you leave your house, said Nasia Safdar of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. But golf is a relatively safe activity, especially if players take precautions, like only riding in carts with members of their household, she said.
He did his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before taking a faculty position at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
“In the last 10 to 15 years, there has been an explosion of research linking well-being in its many forms to numerous indicators of health. When that work [began], we didn’t know that purpose in life would emerge as such an important predictor of numerous health outcomes,” says Carol Ryff, psychologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and director of the MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) national study of Americans. Research has shown that people who have high levels of purpose in life spend fewer nights in hospitals, have lower odds of developing diabetes, and over two times lower risk of dying from heart conditions than do others.
British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which has enrolled at least 23,000 so far in its ongoing U.S. study, recently decided to offer individual participants the opportunity to be unmasked as they become eligible for the approved vaccines.
“You never really want to unblind,” said Dr. William Hartman, a researcher for AstraZeneca’s trial at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Eligible members of the University of Wisconsin- Madison campus community were approved Wednesday to be vaccinated by University Health Services (UHS).
Children can still read the emotional expressions of people wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say.
“We now have this situation where adults and kids have to interact all the time with people whose faces are partly covered, and a lot of adults are wondering if that’s going to be a problem for children’s emotional development,” said study co-author Ashley Ruba, a postdoctoral researcher in the Child Emotion Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
When masks cover a significant part of the face, how well can people understand the facial expressions of the people wearing them? Children can still understand, to an extent, the expressions on masked faces, according to a new study published in PLOS One.
Quoted: “It’s a more hopeful view of well-being,” study researcher Cortland Dahl of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds, a cross-disciplinary research institute, told HuffPost. “It’s the idea that you can take active steps that improve well-being, very much so in the way that you might take steps to improve physical health.”
Mariah Clark awoke on Dec. 16 to an exciting text message from her supervisor: She would get her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine the next day.
“I knew that we’d be among the first” to get vaccinated, said Clark, whose work as an emergency department nurse at UW Health in Madison puts her in direct contact with COVID-19 patients and elevates her to the top tier of people recommended for vaccination.
“I didn’t think I would be getting it quite so soon,” she said.
Quoted: Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin who consulted on guidelines for prioritizing the COVID-19 vaccine for the National Academies of Science, said showing confidence in the vaccine is good reason for elected officials to be vaccinated early in the process. This may be especially true for Republican leaders. A December poll from ABC News/Ipsos showed Republicans were four times as likely as Democrats to say they would never get the vaccine.
“The amount of vaccine hesitancy that has been created in the last 20 years, 25 years is profoundly disturbing and goes deep into our society. So it takes a long time to build up confidence for people, and people who are unsure,” Charo told ABC News.
Noted: The University of Wisconsin-Madison, like others, has had a record number of medical school applicants. Dr. Mary McSweeney, assistant dean of the medical school, attributed the increase to a national sense of purpose.
“After 9/11 there was a huge increase in the number of young people going into the military. And now, we see a physician, Fauci nationally, and [Dr. Jeff] Pothof more locally, two physicians who are inspiring the next generation of young people to come and be part of the solution,” she told Channel 3000, a CBS affiliate in Madison.
The university’s medical school has received 6,400 applications for 176 spots this year, Dr. Sweeney said.
Some medical residents, or doctors in training, at UW Hospital who are exposed to COVID-19 patients said they haven’t been able to get vaccinated, even as some staff doctors with less exposure have received shots.
UW-Madison admissions representatives say applications are up a record-breaking 26 percent.An incoming medical student says COVID exemplified existing issues in the healthcare field, and she’s ready to combat them. “Becoming a doctor is a really good way to be a catalyst for change within the black community,” Oyinda Fawole, incoming medical student said.
UW Health’s Dr. Jeff Pothof is hoping this will be the last of our State Street Doctor series. In the first segment we did back in March, Pothof answered any questions people had about COVID-19. In our second segment in July, doctors were learning more about the virus, so we did another.
Noted: Kelsey Vandersteen, a trauma I.C.U. nurse at UW Health University Hospital in Madison, Wis., will receive her first injection on Wednesday — probably months ahead of her young daughters and husband, who works from home for a software company.
Even after her second shot, she doesn’t intend to change her behavior, including wearing a mask. She says she hopes this will model good behavior for others. Besides, she said: “I prefer the mask. It protects me from other stuff as well. We’ve been completely healthy — not a sniffle since March.”
Quoted: Still, there was a high bar to clear for Pfizer and Moderna to get their vaccines in front of the committee. Dr. James Conway, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute, said he was “reassured and a little taken aback” at the rigorous safety and effectiveness data the FDA required to issue an emergency approval for a COVID-19 vaccine, even at a time when President Donald Trump and others in Washington were pushing to speed the process up.
Quoted: One key benefit of therapy is the close relationship between the patient and the provider, which fosters a strong sense of belonging. “You’re meeting with somebody with whom you have a real relationship—this is a person who cares about you, seeks to understand you, is warm and accepting,” says Bruce Wampold, a professor emeritus of counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “And for many people, this is particularly healing.”
Noted: Dr. Ajay Sethi, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said travel bans need to be carefully considered because they can cause fear and disruption. Such restrictions can buy time, he said, but may not always be effective. He noted, for example, that Trump’s oft-cited ban on travel from China occurred after the virus was already circulating in the U.S.
Quoted: According to Dominique Brossard, a science and risk communication expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, that is because, “Humans do not make decisions based on facts. Facts alone do not change our mind.”
Noted: Also Monday, Andrew Petersen, president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the system is having conversations with the federal government about how it can help distribute the vaccine.
The success campuses have had in partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide rapid-result testing to Wisconsinites was an example of how UW’s reach could help with the vaccination effort, he said.
“We’re doing tests in 13 of our communities where we have campuses and physical assets. We’re not only testing our students that live in residence halls, but also off campus. But we’re also testing the community, which we think is a tremendous community service,” says Drew Petersen, UW System Regent President.
A University of Wisconsin- Madison nursing student gave $930 worth of gas to health care workers on Monday to say thank you for the work they do. “God’s blessed us with money and so I would love to pay it forward as much as I can,” said Mikayla Srnka.
UW Board of Regents President Drew Petersen said the idea is under discussion with the federal government, given how well he said the System rolled out free COVID-19 testing to the community through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Testing will be required at UW-Madison as students return to campus in January. Every student will have to be tested twice weekly. “The goal of this mandatory testing is to identify cases sooner, so folks can take precautions, stop the spread,” said UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone.
UW Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine & Public Health James Conway leads UW Health’s immunization efforts as the programs’ medical director. After serving as a scientific advisor for both Moderna and Pfizer this summer, Conway now works on a Wisconsin Disaster Medical Advisory Committee about the state’s COVID-19 vaccine allocation and distribution and also works in Dane County’s distribution efforts.
Our brains, generally speaking, operate qualitatively, not quantitatively, explains Dominique Brossard, a professor and chair in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who focuses on risk communication. In short, that means we tend to think in terms of emotion, not numbers.
There is concern, though, that changes in behavior may not last long enough to prevent another big rise in coronavirus cases, said Ajay Sethi, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A UW doctor calls the vaccine more precious than gold, and vaccinators are handling it that way.
It’s hard to imagine the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to the frontline workers who come into contact with it every day. But for UW Health respiratory therapist Becky Sturdevant, she knows that the COVID unit is where she’s needed.
Doctor shares her experience.
At UW Hospital, which received 3,900 doses this week, about 1,000 employees should be vaccinated by the end of the week, according to spokeswoman Emily Kumlien.
“Imagine that the patient, who has some degree of cognitive impairment, says ’yes’ to the vaccine but the surrogate says ’no’ and tells the nursing home, ’How dare you try to do this?” said Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
UW Health expected to vaccinate 250 employees against COVID-19 by Wednesday and SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital anticipated immunizing about 500, as a weeks-long effort to inoculate Wisconsin’s 450,000 health care workers and nursing home residents against the coronavirus before others can get the injections started to ramp up.
Medical school applications are at an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the University of Wisconsin is no exception. In fact, it’s exceeding national trends.
UW Health is the health system of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has more than 1,750 doctors and 21,000 staff at seven hospitals and more than 80 outpatient sites, according to its website.
UW Health has received its first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning.
“(They will) be monitored for a short period of time after the vaccine to make sure there are no adverse effect,” Dr. Matt Anderson said. “Then, they’ll be on there way and get the follow-up one done in about three weeks.”
“It’s important because so many people have died from this,” Schubert told UW Health staff afterwards. “I wanted to have an impact on my community about this and show them that I’m playing my part and getting vaccinated.”
The first UW Health employee to get the Pfizer COVID-19 was respiratory therapist Tina Schubert, who received the vaccine around 2:30 p.m. from manager of UW Health’s employee health services Megan LaClair-Netzel.
Ten UW Health employees on Monday were among the first people in Wisconsin to get the nation’s first approved vaccine against COVID-19, as 3,900 doses of Pfizer’s inoculation arrived at UW Hospital in ultra-cold freezers, offering a glimmer of hope against the pandemic.
UW Health will immediately begin to vaccinate its employees Monday afternoon.
On the day U.S. deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 300,000, respiratory therapist Tina Schubert became the first UW Health employee and one of the first Wisconsinites to be inoculated with the vaccine made by Pfizer and the German biotechnology firm BioNTech.
UW Hospital began vaccinating frontline health care workers on Monday after the hospital received thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the beginning of an effort to tamp down the pandemic.
Quoted: “Research would confirm again and again, when people feel that what’s asked from them is not actually followed by those in power, there’s a sense of betrayal that will occur,” said Dominique Brossard, professor and chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: The Pfizer vaccine will be kept at storage facilities across the state as it is distributed. University of Wisconsin Health will serve as a storage facility for south-central Wisconsin’s supply of the Pfizer vaccine. Marshfield Clinic Health System said it will be an initial distribution site for the rest of north-central Wisconsin.
Much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed across Wisconsin starting in mid-December. Though widespread availability of the vaccine is still months away, we know you may have questions.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has assembled a panel of experts from the University of Wisconsin to help answer questions from readers.
