Roundup: Cable News & Vaccine, Ivermectin Fail, Vaccine Side Effects, Personality Change, Baby-Bump

 

I used to do these roundup posts more frequently, when pandemic news was coming in so fast and furious that even my (then) daily posts couldn't keep up. As it happens, the last couple of weeks has produced several tidbits that are too limited for their own post, but still worthy of sharing. 

One Cable News Outlet (Guess Which One) Causes Vaccine Hesitancy

A recent study published in in Nature looked at how watching a certain cable news outlet causes increased vaccine hesitancy. The researchers used exogenous (i.e. not study related) geographical variation in the channel lineup to tease out the causal effects. They controlled for differences in partisanship, local health policies, local COVID-19 infections/death rates, and consumption of other major television networks. 

The network in question is—wait for it—Fox News. I for one am shocked. SHOCKED!  Every one additional hour watching Fox News per week for the average household reduced the number of vaccinations by 0.35–0.76 per 100 people in the same area. This is yet more evidence that right-wing pandemic politics is killing their own.

Yet Another Ivermectin Fail

Here's another shocker: Yet one more study shows that Ivermectin is useless against COVID-19. We have known for some time that Ivermectin is of no use against the infection. 

There never was any reason why it should work—insistence of a certain orange cult leader and his followers notwithstanding. Then in April the results of a large clinical trial in Brazil showed there was no significant difference in recovery between people who did and didn't take the drug as a cure.

This time the study was done by Duke, and they got the same results. Needless to say, none of this will stop the COVIDiots from taking the horse deworming paste to cure their infection. In that world, the pronouncements of quacks and traitors who have deep thoughts about these things take precedence over the rambling of mere scientists and their lame empirical evidence.

I Was Right About Vaccine Side Effects

Back in the day when the vaccine first became available, there was a lot of variation in reactions to the shots. Some people I knew had no reaction at all. Others were laid up for a day or two. Personally, I had a very sore arm every time and after the second jab I had brief chills/fever overnight. 

At the time I thought that surely one's reaction was somehow related to how well the vaccine provoked their immune system and should have an effect on how much immunity they got. However, I checked with some health professionals I know, who said there is no evidence for it and that the difference in reactions is most likely due to the adjuvants they include in the shots.

Well it turns out that I was right after all. A recent study compared self-reported vaccine side-effects to levels of antibodies that could be measured in people's blood. Symptoms were either local (arm pain/rash) or systemic (chills, fever, etc.). Systemic symptoms after a vaccination were associated with greater antibody response than in local-only or no symptom cases.

The Pandemic Might have Changed Your Personality

The pandemic has done a number on people's heads. This includes mine: I'm more irritable than I was before, though I feel like this effect is fading somewhat now that the acute phase of the pandemic is over.

Some psychologists wanted to take a closer look, so they did a longitudinal study of 7,109 people from 2020 to 2022. They measured the "big five" personality traits at several points in time. Neuroticism (negative emotions like anger, anxiety, or depression) actually decreased a little in 2020.

But in 2021-2022 there was no significant change in neuroticism compared to pre-pandemic levels. Moreover there were significant small declines in the other four traits. People became slightly less open, conscientious, extraverted, and agreeable. 

The authors reckon this is "equivalent to about one decade of normative personality change." Maybe this explains current-day politics?

COVID Baby Bump

People once thought that childbirth would decline during the pandemic due to the risks posed to children by COVID-19. But people needed something to do during lockdown. A recent study shows that those who could boned, causing a small increase in the birth rate.

The results mean "the first major reversal in declining U.S. fertility rates since 2007." The researchers say that women under age 25 started their families earlier. Women ages 30-34 and women with a college education were more likely to benefit from working from home. "Working," riiiight!