Auxo Medical News

JAMA Network Open published a study surrounding alcohol consumption as the pandemic was erupting in 2020. Unfortunately, the report found that many people have been turning to alcohol in order to manage constant change and chronic stress.
The research findings indicate that drinking alcohol by adults went up 14% between
2019 and 2020. Notably, females specifically surged in alcohol consumption by a staggering 41% compared to the 2019 baseline numbers.
Knowing this unsettling reality, it’s important to understand the underlying factors, as
well as healthy coping alternatives since the world as we know it is still faced with this
unprecedented virus and countless mutations.

What is Triggering Increased Alcohol Use?

Not surprisingly, it is believed that the uptick in consuming alcohol is driven by uncertainty and fear caused by the novel COVID-19 virus. Before the pandemic wrecked
havoc across the globe, alcohol consumption was already a public health concern. For
those who were already battling mental health challenges, the pandemic only poured
fuel on the fire.

Examples of life circumstances that could lead to elevated alcohol use:
• Out of work
• Working in the frontlines (e.g. healthcare staff, grocery store employees,
etc.)
• Lack of financial security
• Emotional and social support deprivation
• Working remotely from home

• Responsible for homeschooling children
• Losing a loved one from the COVID-19 virus

Pre-pandemic, if someone had a stressful day or event take place, they could have
broken a sweat at the gym, met friends for dinner at their favorite restaurant, or catch a
movie at the neighborhood theater as a means to temporarily ‘check out’ from reality.

Instead, for more than a year, the new reality has included virtually zero social engagements, covering our faces with masks, isolating with little to no physical touch, and
other strict protocols in order to reduce spreading the virus.

Historically, alcohol has been positioned in advertising as a normal and acceptable
means to cope with stress, and to have fun. Alcohol is also easily accessible. Meeting
over Zoom to virtually engage in happy hour cocktails among friends and colleagues
became a marketable way to ‘taste’ what life used to be like during quarantine.

Recommended Guidelines for Alcohol Consumption

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for healthy adults,
light to moderate alcohol consumption is deemed acceptable. On the other hand, indulging in alcohol can cause undesirable health issues, ranging from car accident injuries, elevated blood pressure, and disease of the liver.
The CDC has outlined what they consider over-indulging when it comes to alcohol use:

• Women — Drinking four or more servings during the same instance, or eight alcohol
beverages over the course of a week

• Men — Drinking five or more servings during the same instance, or 15 alcohol beverages over the course of a week

Exploring At-Risk Populations

Those who are at higher risk for extreme alcohol consumption include people who are
faced with:
• Insufficient finances
• Scarce support among social network
• Pre-existing trials including substance abuse and mental health challenges
• Compromised coping skills
• Decreased access to treatment facilities and programs they previously engaged in
prior to COVID-19
Additionally, parents could be at a higher risk for overindulging in alcohol based on
their increased demands caused by the pandemic.

Beneficial Coping Tools for Stress

Handling stress in a healthy way is critical for self-care and overall wellbeing.
Some activities to help facilitate positive coping include:
• Make sleep a priority (6-8 hours a night)

• Daily physical exercise (30 minutes)
• Pursue creative outlets based on the individual’s personal interest (e.g. painting,
cooking, gardening, etc.)
• Drink water and stay hydrated (ideal amount is an ounce of water for each
pound you weigh, daily)
• Nurture your body with healthy, unprocessed foods
• Ask for emotional support from a social worker, counselor or therapist

Seek Help

If applicable, contact a trusted person in your life, or a healthcare provider, to help reduce your alcohol use. As stated above, talk therapy is another outlet to get support,
as well as help teach healthy coping skills for self-care and stress management.
Please visit our Auxo Medical blog every month to stay current on relevant matters in
healthcare

At the end of 2020, biotech companies such as Moderna and Pfizer, obtained emer- gency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer COVID-19 vaccinations. These vaccines are reportedly more than 94% effective in warding off the novel virus, as well as lowering serious side effects.

As of April 2021, more than 230 million doses have been given, and over 96 million people are fully vaccinated in the United States. Until recently, the majority of vaccines were prioritized to frontline workers, and people 65 years of age and older. President Joe Biden moved up the eligibility target for all American adults to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but many states around the country had already opened up criteria that anyone over the age of 16 is eligible to receive the vaccine.

Who is Paying for the Vaccinations?

For more than a year, the swift spread of a novel COVID-19 virus, has made its way around the globe. While there are non-pharmaceutical tools that are pivotal in slowing the spread, such as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing, vaccines appear to be the foundation of long-term defensive interventions in order to get our communities back to some semblance of normalcy again. 

Every year, vaccines are responsible for saving millions of lives, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). In short, vaccines enable the body’s immune system to recognize and battle viruses. Once vaccinated, if certain bacterias infiltrate the body, then the immune system is equipped to kill the germs in an effort to prevent illness. 

SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines in Development 

The dire need for successful vaccines has propelled research developers to acutely focus on COVID-19, which led to an accelerated pipeline of preclinical candidates as well as the vaccine development itself. 

As of April 2021, there have been at least seven COVID-19 vaccines distributed in countries across multiple platforms. Currently, more than 80 additional vaccine candi-dates are in development, and over 180 are in pre-clinical development. 

Due to the astounding global response and the extraordinary quantity and pace of re-search to develop an effective vaccine, a vaccine tracker was created and is hosted by the Vaccine Centre. It is an interactive, user-friendly tool that is accessible online. Launched one year ago in April of 2020, the goal is to collect updated data on all COVID-19 vaccine contenders, from the beginning steps to final execution. 

This transparent tool allows both the public as well as researchers the ability to stay ap-prised of the latest information, and is updated on a weekly basis. The insights include preclinical and clinical candidates. 

Vaccine Key Metrics & Execution 

The vaccine tracker includes important metrics of both trials that are actively underway, as well as those that are in pre-planning phases. Its database features a variety of de-tails such as the size and location of the study, randomization, and the recruitment standing of registered vaccine trials in humans for COVID-19. Once a week, a clinical trial database from the US National Institutes of Health, as well as the WHO landscape pinpoints newly registered and/or updated protocols.

In addition to the preclinical and clinical candidate vaccine tracking, there is also a fea-ture that captures data on storage requirement, forecasts for manufacturing the vaccine, and approval status by the FDA. For each projected vaccine, countries who plan on dis-tributing it along with their statistics are included in the tracker. As the vaccine develop-ment gets underway, the tracker outlines the roll-out stages and execution steps. 

The expeditious progression in developing the COVID-19 vaccine is evidence of the commitment and ingenuity of research experts, as well as the general public’s trustwor-thiness who agreed to participate in clinical studies. There have been nearly 700,000 people from around the world who are actively in, or plan to be a part of these studies. In order for the trials’ assessments to have full efficacy and safety, there must be vitreous information throughout the entire process. 

Consequences of continuing vaccine delivery for the COVID-19 virus will play an im-portant role in providing credibility and belief concerning vaccination now, and in the fu-ture. While proven vaccines will be a staple for protecting the public, people should con-tinue to wear face masks, social distance, and stay away from large crowds 

for the indefinite future. 

Stay tuned for an upcoming Auxo Medical blog post where we’ll discuss the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations.