Though the U.S. population is aging and the need for elder care is growing, nursing home capacity has dropped from pre-COVID rates.

A study published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that the decline varied widely by geographic area. One quarter of U.S. counties experienced reductions of 15 percent or more from 2019 to 2024, with the greatest loses (of 25 percent or more) reported in rural areas.

Findings reveal a general decline in vaccine hesitancy during the 15 months following the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in 2021-2022, with almost two-thirds of those initially hesitant going on to receive one or more COVID-19 vaccinations.

The most common reasons for original COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were concerns around vaccine effectiveness and side effects. But people who cited these reasons for hesitancy were more likely to change their minds and subsequently get vaccinated.

 In contrast, participants who reported being hesitant because of a generalised anti-vaccine sentiment, a mistrust of vaccine developers, or having a low perceived risk from COVID-19 remained more reluctant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

The authors say that public health officials and policymakers need to recognise that certain types of vaccine hesitancy are highly context-specific and may be more readily addressed, while others are more resistant to change.

A multiyear community asthma program on the Navajo Nation increased asthma-related care and awareness among families, even as the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted health care and school systems. The findings come from a new study led by researchers at National Jewish Health and collaborators at the University of Arizona and several partner institutions, in close partnership with Navajo Nation leaders, schools and health systems.

A Viewpoint published in Genomic Psychiatry examines how Brazil's extraordinary genetic diversity creates unparalleled opportunities for longevity research. Dr. Mayana Zatz and her team describe their longitudinal ongoing study which has collected so far over 160 centenarians, including 20 supercentenarians distributed across multiple Brazilian regions. The cohort includes remarkable cases, such as Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was recognized as the world’s oldest living person until her death at age 116 in April 2025, as well as the world’s oldest living man, aged 113, three supercentenarians who survived COVID-19 before vaccines were available, and families with multiple centenarian siblings. Brazil's centuries of genetic admixture may harbor protective variants invisible in more homogeneous populations.