Depression, Stress Could Dampen Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines

[Klaralven]

Decades of research show that depression, stress, loneliness, and poor health behaviors can weaken the body's immune system and lower the effectiveness of certain vaccines. A new report accepted for publication in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests that the same may be true for the new COVID-19 vaccines that are in development and the early stages of global distribution. Fortunately, it may be possible to reduce these negative effects with simple steps like exercise and sleep.

Vaccines are among the safest and most effective advances in medical history, protecting society from a wide range of otherwise devastating diseases, including smallpox and polio. The key to their success, however, is ensuring that a critical percentage of the population is effectively vaccinated to achieve so-called herd immunity.

Even though rigorous testing has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines approved for distribution in the United States are highly effective at producing a robust immune response, not everyone will immediately gain their full benefit. Environmental factors, as well as an individual's genetics and physical and mental health, can weaken the body's immune system, slowing the response to a vaccine.

This is particularly troubling as the novel coronavirus continues to rage across the world, trigging a concurrent mental health crisis as people deal with isolation, economic stressors, and uncertainty about the future. These challenges are the same factors that have been previously shown to weaken vaccine efficacy, particularly among the elderly.

"In addition to the physical toll of COVID-19, the pandemic has an equally troubling mental health component, causing anxiety and depression, among many other related problems. Emotional stressors like these can affect a person's immune system, impairing their ability to ward off infections," said Annelise Madison, a researcher at The Ohio State University and lead author on the paper. "Our new study sheds light on vaccine efficacy and how health behaviors and emotional stressors can alter the body's ability to develop an immune response. The trouble is that the pandemic in and of itself could be amplifying these risk factors."

https://www.labmanager.com/news/depression-stress-could-dampen-efficacy-of-covid-19-vaccines-24859

[njhoneybadger]

1. Well I guess I'm screwed.

[Submariner]

2. Biden needs to ban all republicans

from getting the trump virus vaccine until ALL Democrats have received their shots. It is their fault the Trump virus is so out of control and deadly because they voted for this a*****e.

I, for one, would be depressed to a much lesser degree than the present circumstances, and at the same time we will be teaching these knuckle-dragger MAGAnazis a lesson about what happens when you vote for a racist fascist sack of crap. They brought this train of thought to the forefront.....f**k their feelings.

This plan might not go over too smoothly in the southern cracker states, but it would be fun watching their reaction to it if it was anonymously floated during a newscast.