Herd immunity: challenges and the way forward in Korea.

Vaccination is considered to be the most effective measure for preventing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Many countries, including of Korea, are focusing on achieving herd immunity with the goal of reaching a vaccination rate of 70-80%. However, achieving herd immunity does not mean eradicating COVID-19, and the following challenges can occur in the process of achieving herd immunity. First, as the vaccination rate is likely to slow down over time, it is necessary to promote the benefits of vaccination through risk communication strategies and provide incentives for those who have been vaccinated. Second, a booster dose may be required depending on future studies on vaccine-induced immunity. Third, since variants capable of evading immunity and with higher transmissibility can emerge, rapid contract tracing and regular community genomic surveillance could help mitigate the impact of new variants. When the impact of COVID-19 is controlled to the level of seasonal influenza, the current public health measures that have been strictly imposed on society since the beginning of the pandemic will no longer be needed. The overall response strategy to COVID-19 will need to change accordingly, based on evaluations of the level of population immunity. These changes will include more efficient and targeted contact tracing and eased quarantine measures for vaccinated close contacts and travelers. Mask wearing and a minimum of social distancing will still be required in the journey towards the end of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic will end, but the virus will not disappear.

Association between face covering policies and the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 in European countries.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the impact of the strengthening or relaxation of face covering mandates on the subsequent national case incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Europe as the full vaccination rate was increasing. METHODS: European countries in which case incidence increased for 3 consecutive weeks were monitored and analyzed using COVID-19 incidence data shared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The epidemic trend of COVID-19 in Europe was compared with that of countries elsewhere in the world based on WHO weekly epidemiological reports from June 20 to October 30, 2021. In addition, this study provided insight into the impact of government mask mandates on COVID-19 incidence in Europe by measuring the index scores of those facial covering policies before and after mandate relaxation or strengthening. The effects of the vaccination rate and the speed of vaccination on COVID-19 incidence were also analyzed. RESULTS: The incidence of COVID-19 after the relaxation of face covering mandates was significantly higher than before relaxation. However, no significant difference was observed in vaccination rate between countries with increased and decreased incidence. Instead, rapid vaccination delayed the resurgence in incidence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that face covering policies in conjunction with rapid vaccination efforts are essential to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Effects of Changes in Environmental Color Chroma on Heart Rate Variability and Stress by Gender.

With increasing time spent indoors during the coronavirus disease pandemic, occupants are increasingly affected by indoor space environmental factors. Environmental color stimulates human vision and affects stress levels. This study investigated how changing environmental color chroma affected heart rate variability (HRV) and stress. The HRV of nine males and fifteen females was measured during exposure to 12 color stimuli with changes in chroma under green/blue hues and high/low-value conditions, and a stress assessment was performed. The effect of chroma on the HRV of males and females was verified, but the interaction effect between chroma and gender was not. ln(LF) and RMSSD were valid parameters. ln(LF) of males and females decreased as chroma increased under the green hue and low-value conditions; RMSSD was reduced as chroma increased in the blue hue and low-value conditions. ln(LF) decreased as chroma increased under blue hue and high-value conditions in males. Color-stress evaluation revealed that the higher chroma under high-value conditions, the more positive the stress emotion, and the lower the chroma under low-value conditions, the more negative the stress emotion. As chroma increased under low-value conditions, color is a stress factor; for men, this effect was more evident in the blue hue.

Effects of Changes in Environmental Color Chroma on Heart Rate Variability and Stress by Gender

With increasing time spent indoors during the coronavirus disease pandemic, occupants are increasingly affected by indoor space environmental factors. Environmental color stimulates human vision and affects stress levels. This study investigated how changing environmental color chroma affected heart rate variability (HRV) and stress. The HRV of nine males and fifteen females was measured during exposure to 12 color stimuli with changes in chroma under green/blue hues and high/low-value conditions, and a stress assessment was performed. The effect of chroma on the HRV of males and females was verified, but the interaction effect between chroma and gender was not. ln(LF) and RMSSD were valid parameters. ln(LF) of males and females decreased as chroma increased under the green hue and low-value conditions;RMSSD was reduced as chroma increased in the blue hue and low-value conditions. ln(LF) decreased as chroma increased under blue hue and high-value conditions in males. Color–stress evaluation revealed that the higher chroma under high-value conditions, the more positive the stress emotion, and the lower the chroma under low-value conditions, the more negative the stress emotion. As chroma increased under low-value conditions, color is a stress factor;for men, this effect was more evident in the blue hue.

Different media, same relationships: what the Iris piano trio learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: Art-based research in health and well-being during the pandemic.)

The Iris Music Project is a non-profit dedicated to reimagining residential and healthcare communities as spaces of creative exchange. By February 2020, our chamber music group, the Iris Piano Trio, had developed a model for music programming at Charles E. Smith Life Communities (CESLC) in Rockville, Maryland (United States), that emphasized collaborative relationships between professional musicians and community members. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the Trio's work and tested its model. In this article, the researchers describe how the Trio remained connected and relevant to CESLC residents by experimenting with virtual programmes that adapted our model to a digital setting. The researchers argue that our prior relationships with residents and staff enabled us to impact their lives throughout the pandemic despite the isolation created by COVID-19 closures. The pandemic strained, but did not fundamentally change, the Trio's ensemble-in-residence model, suggesting its potential as a generalized model in the field of music and health.

Thymic Aging May Be Associated with COVID-19 Pathophysiology in the Elderly.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and particularly exhibits severe symptoms and mortality in elderly individuals. Mounting evidence shows that the characteristics of the age-related clinical severity of COVID-19 are attributed to insufficient antiviral immune function and excessive self-damaging immune reaction, involving T cell immunity and associated with pre-existing basal inflammation in the elderly. Age-related changes to T cell immunosenescence is characterized by not only restricted T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire diversity, accumulation of exhausted and/or senescent memory T cells, but also by increased self-reactive T cell- and innate immune cell-induced chronic inflammation, and accumulated and functionally enhanced polyclonal regulatory T (Treg) cells. Many of these changes can be traced back to age-related thymic involution/degeneration. How these changes contribute to differences in COVID-19 disease severity between young and aged patients is an urgent area of investigation. Therefore, we attempt to connect various clues in this field by reviewing and discussing recent research on the role of the thymus and T cells in COVID-19 immunity during aging (a synergistic effect of diminished responses to pathogens and enhanced responses to self) impacting age-related clinical severity of COVID-19. We also address potential combinational strategies to rejuvenate multiple aging-impacted immune system checkpoints by revival of aged thymic function, boosting peripheral T cell responses, and alleviating chronic, basal inflammation to improve the efficiency of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity and vaccination in the elderly.