Month: September 2021

Get expert advice on gathering safely from Harvard Health Publishing. Spoiler alert: vaccination is key to helping keep everyone healthy. Below, our faculty contributors share their own plans and advice for safely enjoying the holidays this year while answering three important questions.

Roger Shapiro, MD

Associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston

What are your plans this year for gathering — or not gathering — with family or friends during Thanksgiving and other winter holidays, and why?

Unlike 2020, my family will be gathering for Thanksgiving in 2021. Everyone in the family is vaccinated, and most are now boosted as well. We are all comfortable with the protection that being vaccinated brings, and there is agreement that if a COVID-19 exposure were to occur, it is unlikely to cause severe illness.

What advice can you offer people planning to gather in person to reduce the chance of getting or spreading the virus that causes COVID-19?

Everyone who can get vaccinated should be vaccinated, and those who qualify for a booster should get one. Children 5 to 11 may not have their second shot by Thanksgiving but can certainly be fully vaccinated by Christmas. If there are unvaccinated members of your family, your situation is no different than in 2020: gathering is unsafe for the unvaccinated because the first exposure to this virus can be lethal without protection from a vaccine. Additionally, people who are unvaccinated are more likely to be infected before traveling, so they are more likely to bring the virus to the table, possibly causing illness (even if mild) among those who are vaccinated. For families that are all vaccinated and wishing to further reduce the possibility of transmission, taking a rapid antigen test prior to gathering can add a layer of protection.

For people planning to travel to gatherings, what would you advise?

If you are all vaccinated, enjoy the return to a normal holiday season. Vaccines are your main source of protection. If you want to add additional protection, you can consider using rapid antigen tests just before gathering to confirm that everyone is negative. If there are immunocompromised members of your family who may not be fully protected by a vaccine, you should discuss the risks case-by-case with your doctor.

Suzanne Salamon, MD

Chief of clinical programs in gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston

What are your plans this year for gathering — or not gathering — with family or friends during Thanksgiving and other winter holidays, and why?

Let me start by saying my 99-year-old mother lives with us, and even though she’s had her third shot of the COVID vaccine, I’m very concerned about immune status. I also have a two-year-old granddaughter who cannot yet get the vaccine. So, everyone’s immune status is not equal. Certainly older people, even those who’ve had their third shot, may not have the same immune status as a 35-year-old.

We have really curtailed the size of our Thanksgiving dinner to under 10 people, since the CDC recommends smaller groups. Nobody wants to see people sitting at home alone during the holidays, but we have to make it as safe as possible for those who are there.

What advice can you offer people planning to gather in person to reduce the chance of getting or spreading the virus that causes COVID-19?

COVID cases are on the rise now in many places, even though a month ago the numbers were trending down. Unfortunately, we need to be more vigilant once again.

Many people are afraid to insult family and friends by asking them about vaccine status before they come. Tell people that you really want to see them, but some family or friends may be immune-suppressed or at higher risk if they get COVID-19, and you’re trying to make the gathering safe for everyone. That’s why I’d ask people to let you know their COVID vaccine status. Even after the two-vaccine series, research is showing diminished antibodies after six months, which may put people at higher risk for getting and/or spreading the virus. I would ask people who are not vaccinated not to come.

When people gather, ventilation is really important in reducing the concentration of any virus that might be present. Have the gathering outside or on a screened porch, if at all possible. We hosted Thanksgiving last year in our garage. We left the garage doors open and set up small tables and little space heaters for warmth. People could be social yet stay separated, and ventilation was great. You can decorate small tables with colorful plastic tablecloths and candles, even put down a rug. If you’re inside, windows and doors can be kept open, which will help move the air around. Have some small space heaters and sweaters available.

Ask everyone to bring a mask, or keep a box of masks available. Wear masks while you’re all chit-chatting until you sit down to dinner. In the bathroom, have a roll of paper towels or paper guest towels rather than a cloth towel, and leave the fan on for ventilation.

For people planning to travel to gatherings, what would you advise?

Planes are thought to be very safe. In the air terminal, sit apart from people. Keep your mask on during the flight.

Traveling by car is pretty safe. If you get out to go to the bathroom or get coffee, wear a mask and wash your hands. Traveling by bus or train is tricky, because even though there is a mask requirement, people will take off their masks. Be sure to wear your own mask. I personally double-mask. Two surgical masks block out a lot and can be a bit more comfortable than the N95 masks we wear in the hospital. A plastic face shield over the mask may be a good idea for added protection.

John J. Ross, MD

Hospitalist with specialty in infectious diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

What are your plans this year for gathering — or not gathering — with family or friends during Thanksgiving and other winter holidays, and why?

We are having an unmasked, multigenerational, fully-vaccinated, traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws, just like the Before Times.

What advice can you offer people planning to gather in person to reduce the chance of getting or spreading the virus that causes COVID-19?

Everyone in attendance should have a primary COVID vaccination. Getting vaccinated against COVID reduces the risk of hospitalization or death due to COVID by more than 90%. It also reduces your risk of death from any cause. People who are eligible for booster shots should get them. That includes anyone over 65, and people over 18 with underlying medical conditions, high occupational risk, or those who live in high-risk settings such as group homes, shelters, and long-term care facilities.

Certain vaccinated people are more likely to get breakthrough COVID. This includes people of advanced age, and those with serious medical conditions or weak immune systems. These people should be extremely cautious around those who are not vaccinated or partly vaccinated. I would recommend that they mask around unvaccinated people, physically distance, and use extra ventilation (opening windows, or ideally moving the whole shebang outdoors). Rapid antigen tests may also be helpful in the setting.

For people planning to travel to gatherings, what would you advise?

For those who have long distances to travel, I would recommend flying if possible. Airplanes have excellent ventilation, and masks are mandatory. While masks are also required on trains, they are not as well ventilated as planes, and train travel has been associated with significant COVID risks.

Amy Sherman, MD

Division of infectious diseases, associate physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

What are your plans this year for gathering — or not gathering — with family or friends during Thanksgiving and other winter holidays, and why?

This Thanksgiving, my fiancé and I are driving to New Jersey and New York (with our dog!) to visit our families. We will have dinner with 14 others from my close family — larger than last year’s Thanksgiving, but smaller than pre-COVID years. Everyone has been vaccinated, and most have received a third dose. We will then visit with my fiancé’s 94-year-old-grandma, choosing to see her independently instead of bringing her to a large gathering.

Although no measures can absolutely make an indoor gathering 100% safe, we will apply layers of protective measures to reduce risk, with vaccinations as the base layer. Additionally, everyone will get tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 before gathering, limit exposure risks in the week before Thanksgiving, avoid public transportation, and drive instead of flying. When we’re together, we’ll spend time outdoors as much as possible. Maybe this year will bring new traditions — an outdoor bonfire instead of nighttime movie marathons, or Friday morning jogs instead of Jazzercise with my aunt!

What advice can you offer people planning to gather in person to reduce the chance of getting or spreading the virus that causes COVID-19?

We are in a much better place this year compared to last year. Connecting with family and friends is important for our mental health and well-being. However, we still need to be cautious, especially when gatherings include people who are older, immunocompromised, or at risk of severe COVID-19. We also have seen recent outbreaks in school-age kids who are not yet vaccinated. I would encourage your family and friends to get vaccinated if they haven’t already. For those family members at higher risk, consider smaller and more intimate gatherings, or do hybrid in-person/Zoom meetings. And layer up with the other risk reducing strategies I suggested!

For people planning to travel to gatherings, what would you advise?

Avoid public transportation if possible. If this is not possible, wear a mask on the bus, train, or airplane, even if you’ve been vaccinated. Vaccinations decrease the severity of disease, but you still could become infected and transmit the virus to others.

Read more advice on gathering for winter holidays this year, such as who can and should get a COVID-19 vaccine booster, whether to take a rapid test or PCR test before spending time with family or friends, how to navigate tricky relationships, and healthy eating through the holiday season.

As the holiday season approaches, there’s a lot to keep in mind. Let’s just start with the easy questions: Who’s hosting Thanksgiving? Who’s making the turkey? The stuffing? Dessert?

But as we embark on our second round of holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have additional questions and decisions to make about how to keep everyone safe:

• Inside or outside? While outside is safer, it may be too cold where you are to consider dining outdoors.
• Is it necessary to wear masks or keep a physical distance? That depends on everyone’s vaccination status, recent exposures, and risk tolerance.
• Must everyone be vaccinated? For many, this one’s a dealbreaker. Some hosts may insist. And some family and friends may come only if everyone is vaccinated.

The role of COVID testing could be changing

We know a lot more about testing for COVID-19 than at this time last year:

• PCR tests. This is still the most accurate test of current infection. It detects small amounts of genetic material from the virus that causes COVID-19. But it often takes days to get the result back.
• Rapid tests. This is typically an antigen test. It detects small bits of viral protein using similar technology to that used in pregnancy tests. An advantage of this type of testing is that the results are back in minutes. And while these tests have a higher rate of false negatives than a PCR test, getting a negative result strongly suggests you aren’t contagious. Even if you are infected, a negative result suggests there’s too little virus to infect others, at least at the time of the test. So, rapid COVID tests could be used as a way to screen people just before an activity during which exposure is possible — like Thanksgiving or other holiday gatherings.

One approach is to offer testing for each person as they arrive. It might slow the reunion process down a bit, but only for a few minutes. If a visiting friend or family member tests positive, they should leave along with anyone else they might have already exposed. The next step for them would to be to quarantine while waiting for results from a PCR test.

Cost, availability, and other limits of rapid testing before gatherings

While rapid testing may be a useful way to reduce your risk as holiday gatherings approach, it’s not perfect. Cost per test is high, generally $10 to $40 in the US. That’s especially hard for people with limited resources and those at higher risk for infection and complications from COVID-19. Rapid tests may be hard to find, too, although the Biden administration has vowed to address lack of availability by pledging several billion dollars to expand rapid testing. The health department in your community may be able to help you find test sites.

The FDA has given emergency use authorization to nearly 40 different tests, and research suggests that different brands vary widely in their accuracy. Currently, there are no specific recommendations from experts about which rapid test is best.

Additionally:

• Results only apply to the time that the test is performed. You could have a negative test today despite being infected and a positive test tomorrow. These false-negative results may occur because it’s so early in the infection that there isn’t much viral protein present. Or it could be because of how the sample was obtained — maybe the swab wasn’t inserted deeply enough into the nose or wasn’t twirled around for long enough. Repeated testing can be helpful to address the concern of false-negative results; in fact, some tests specifically recommend repeat testing within a few days.
• False-positive results may occur. A test may indicate infection when no such infection is present. It’s what happened on a now-infamous episode of The View. Two hosts quickly exited the set during a live broadcast because their COVID tests were positive. Soon after, their results were declared incorrect after further testing was done. Although false-positive results should be quite rare, manufacturing problems may make them more likely. In fact, some tests have been recalled because of an unexpectedly high rate of false-positive results.
• Be prepared to download an app and follow instructions carefully. Rapid tests for COVID-19 typically require you to download an app and connect your phone or computer to the testing device through the app. Then you need to use a swab to collect a sample from inside your nose, apply the swab to the chemicals from the kit, and wait 15 minutes or so for your device to tell you the result. It’s not a particularly intuitive or consumer-friendly process. Many people may find it challenging.

The bottom line

Despite its limitations, rapid testing for COVID-19 is a strategy worth considering for holiday gatherings or group activities during which exposure to the virus is possible. Ideally, simplified rapid testing will become readily available at low (or no) cost soon. So, think about putting rapid COVID testing on your holiday to-do list, and consider offering tests to guests before you sit down for the turkey. It doesn’t take long, and the turkey probably won’t be ready on time anyway.

Lately it seems like everywhere I look, someone is vaping as they walk by, stand outside a store, or roll up in the car next to me at a stoplight. It’s not surprising: e-cigarette use, or vaping, has become remarkably popular in recent years. About 6% of adults in the US now report vaping. That’s about 15 million people, double the number from just three years ago. Of course, regular cigarettes are known to cause cancer and a host of other health problems.

While considered less harmful than smoking tobacco, vaping isn’t risk-free. We know some, but not all, of its risks. We also know vaping is increasingly popular among teens and young adults, and this makes the recent FDA announcement authorizing sales of three additional vaping products surprising.

A surprise announcement from the FDA

In its announcement, the FDA authorized the R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company to market and sell its Vuse Solo device with tobacco-flavored vaping liquid to adults.

The FDA denied marketing authorization for 10 flavored products made by the same company. It also reports having denied more than a million flavored vaping products from other companies.

By the way, the agency emphasizes it is not actually approving these vaping products, or declaring them safe. The announcement states that marketing authorization will be reversed if

• the company directs advertising to younger audiences
• there is evidence of “significant” new use by teens or by people who did not previously smoke cigarettes
• R. J. Reynolds does not comply with extensive monitoring requirements.

Why did the FDA take this action?

The decision was reportedly based on data from the company — unfortunately not provided in the press release — demonstrating these products would benefit individuals and public health. How? By helping smokers quit.

Some studies have suggested that e-cigarette use can be modestly helpful for smokers trying to quit. For example, an analysis of 61 studies found that e-cigarette use was more effective than other approaches to quitting smoking. The study authors estimated that out of every 100 people who tried to quit smoking by vaping, nine to 14 might be successful. When only using other methods, such as nicotine patches or behavioral counselling, only four to seven smokers out of 100 might quit. A separate study suggests vaping may help smokers who aren’t able to quit reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day — at least for six months, the duration of the study.

Does vaping harm health less than smoking cigarettes?

Despite claims that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes and that it might help smokers quit, concern about its risks is well deserved.

• Nicotine addiction. Whether in cigarettes or vapes, nicotine is highly addictive. And the amount of nicotine in many vaping products is much higher than in regular cigarettes. Side effects include reduced appetite, increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, and diarrhea.
• Harm to lungs and heart. Vapors from e-cigarettes may contain cancer-causing toxins, metals, and lung irritants. Vaping raises risk for lung diseases, such as emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s also linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. Even secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapors may trigger asthma.
• Severe, potentially fatal lung injury. In 2019, doctors began seeing people who had recently vaped and developed shortness of breath, cough, fever, and extensive lung damage. Dubbed EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury), more than 2,800 cases and 68 deaths were reported. The condition has been linked to vapors containing THC and a form of vitamin E (called vitamin E acetate) used as a thickening agent when vaping THC. Cases have fallen markedly since 2020. Possibly because of falling case numbers, the FDA announcement of new vaping products didn’t even mention EVALI, which seems odd. If you do vape, see these recommendations to reduce the risk of EVALI.
• Health risks during pregnancy. Nicotine can damage a baby’s developing brain and lungs; some flavorings may be harmful as well. As a result, experts recommend that people who are pregnant not vape.

For teens and children, vaping has additional risks

An alarming number of middle-school and high-school age kids report vaping, despite the nationwide prohibition against selling e-cigarette products to anyone under age 18 (21 in some states). Its popularity is partly related to the marketing of flavors known to appeal to minors, such as bubblegum and berry-flavored products. According to one national survey, approximately 85% of teen vaping involved non-tobacco flavored products.

It’s important to know that

• nicotine negatively affects the developing brain
• the high exposure to nicotine and other toxic chemicals through vaping may be particularly harmful to kids because of their smaller body size
• the addictive potential of nicotine may mean that kids who vape are more likely to become cigarette smokers.

The bottom line

For nonsmokers and teens, there is no controversy: don’t start smoking and don’t vape.

If you’re an adult smoker trying to quit, be aware that the balance of risks and benefits and the long-term health consequences of vaping are uncertain. We need more solid research to help people make decisions. Meanwhile, the FDA has come down on the side of a limited authorization to help adult smokers quit. We’ll know only in retrospect if that was the right move.