On Monday, Reuters states, Mexico began vaccinating millions of seniors against the coronavirus. But dozens of Mexicans over the age of 60 ended up waiting in line for hours due to delays in administering the shots. Mexico started by vaccinating healthcare workers late last year. It is now beginning a second phase for seniors, even as it waits for more vaccine shipments. The government is aiming to have inoculated everyone over 60, or 12 percent of the Mexican population, by the end of April. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum apologized for Monday's delays. Some sites did not receive their allotment of the vaccines until three hours after lines started forming at 8 a.m. The city had given shots to more than 10,500 people by mid-afternoon.

Announcements from the White House this week herald a pending increase in the volume of COVID-19 vaccines being made available for Americans, reports the New York Times . The Biden administration confirmed Tuesday that states collectively are to receive 13.5 million doses a week — about 2 million more than previously — partly because of a change in how Pfizer's vaccine is being allocated. The manufacturer is receiving credit for six doses per vial instead of five, according to a White House spokesperson. Not only has the Biden administration leveraged the Defense Production Act to provide Pfizer with more materials to help boost output, officials say there are now plenty of the specialized syringes needed to pull the additional dose from the Pfizer vials. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki this week confirmed that 2 million doses per week will be earmarked for a new pharmacy-based initiative. The 40,000-plus pharmacies already participating in the program initially received half that amount, with an expectation that supply would be tight.

Most adults over the age of 50 understand that overuse of antibiotics is a problem, reports Newswise . But a growing minority have used antibiotics for something other than their original purpose and even think the drugs can help treat colds, which are caused by viruses not bacteria. according to a new paper in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology . Key findings from the new paper include: 89 percent of older adults agreed that overuse can lead to antibiotics not working the next time they're needed; almost 56 percent concurred that doctors overprescribe antibiotics; however, 41 percent said that if they had a cold or flu that lasted long enough to cause them to see a doctor, they'd expect to receive a prescription for an antibiotic; and, finally, more than one-third of respondents said they believe antibiotics can help them get better if they get a cold or the flu. The research results come from a national poll of people between 50 and 80 carried out as part of the National Poll on Healthy Aging. The study's authors, who hail from the University of Michigan's Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, say their findings highlight the importance of careful guidance from health care providers to older men and women about the proper use and disposal of antibiotics prescribed to outpatients.

A new study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry used single-photon emission computed tomography plus the intravenous radioactive compound 123IFP-CIT to distinguish dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from Alzheimer's disease (AD), reports Medical Xpress . We know that 123IFP-CIT binds to dopamine transporters on the membrane of dopamine-producing neurons, which are concentrated in the striatum. These neurons are depleted in DLB but not in AD, and autopsies of study subjects confirmed that the imaging protocol not only differentiates DLB from AD, but also DLB from Parkinson's disease. "Our findings may have a significant impact both for patients and caregivers," said Francisco Oliveira at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown. "In addition, the selection of patients for clinical trials can now be done with more accurate biomarkers."

According to a newly published study conducted by JAMA Network Open and reported on by United Press International , daily tai chi and exercise help older adults with insomnia sleep more soundly. The research found that men and women in their 60s and 70s diagnosed with insomnia who practiced tai chi daily woke up, on average, two fewer times during the night than those who did not use the ancient Chinese approach. Furthermore, those who engaged in a daily exercise program woke up an average of three fewer times than people who did not exercise. More than 50 percent of older adults worldwide report suffering from sleep disturbances, with as many as 40 percent experiencing insomnia, according to previous research efforts.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced that the state will start the next round of COVID-19 vaccinations on March 1, prioritizing people 65 and older and those with certain severe and chronic health conditions, reports the Salt Lake Tribune . He said those groups comprise roughly 400,000 Utahns, and the state should be ready for that influx when more doses arrive from now through April. The federal government announced Tuesday that it would ship another 5 percent of its current vaccine allocation to Utah, in addition to a 16 percent boost declared last week. Cox said this amounts to about 42,000 doses in total this week, plus 8,000 more shots the state received from federal partners. He added that Utah plans to get another 33,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine every week by late March, while 84,000 more doses per week of the AstraZeneca version of the vaccine could be arriving by April. Cox and state epidemiologist Angela Dunn stated that Utah will spend the rest of February allocating shots to people already eligible for the vaccine — mostly those 70 and older. The governor also promised that Utahns over 70 who are struggling to get shot appointments "will be able to get theirs" in the weeks ahead.

Severe winter storms affecting more than a third of the continental United States are hampering vaccine distribution across numerous states, observes CNN . At least seven states issued emergency declarations due to the severe weather, including Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas. In San Antonio, the city has suspended vaccine appointments scheduled to take place Tuesday at the Alamodome until Saturday because of the storm that triggered below-zero temperatures. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parsons has canceled all of the state's mass vaccination events scheduled for February 15-19 due to the extreme winter weather. Meanwhile, the Nevada Health Response tweeted Monday: "The State received word some vaccine deliveries may be delayed in arriving this week due to severe storms across the country. Our team is monitoring closely and working with health districts and pharmacies that may be affected."

Reuters reports that Clalit, Israel's biggest healthcare provider, has recorded a 94 percent drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of Pfizer's vaccine in that nation's largest study so far. The same group was also 92 percent less likely to develop severe illness from the virus. Ran Balicer, Clalit's chief innovation officer, observes, "It shows unequivocally that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study." The Weizmann Institute of Science further announced on Sunday that a sharp decline in hospitalization and serious illness identified earlier among the first age group to be vaccinated — those 60 and older — was seen for the first time in those aged 55 and older. Israel has been conducting a rapid vaccine rollout, and its database offers valuable insights into vaccine effectiveness and at what point countries might exhibit herd immunity.

News-Medical is reporting that a mobile "strike team" is bringing vaccines to some of Northern California's most vulnerable residents. Formed a few weeks back, the team of county nurses and nonprofit workers is targeting Contra Costa County residents who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines but have been left out: residents of small assisted-living communities that have yet to be visited by CVS or Walgreens and people who live in low-income senior housing. As California's vaccination plan moves past long-term care communities and on to the next group, deploying mobile units will help prevent eligible people in smaller facilities from being left behind, contends Dr. Mike Wasserman, past president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine. He adds, "The assisted living side has been our greatest tragedy. It's February. We're vaccinating others already and we haven't finished vaccinating those who need it most."

New research in Science Signaling has identified a potential method for addressing the loss of cognitive function from Alzheimer's disease by targeting protein synthesis in mice using synthetic pharmaceuticals, reports Futurity . "We and others have previously shown that impairments in brain protein synthesis contribute memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease model mice, and that the brains of Alzheimer's patients exhibit clear signs of impaired protein synthesis," explained Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Professor Sergio Ferreira. "We thus asked ourselves whether rescuing brain protein synthesis might be an approach to improve memory function in Alzheimer's disease." The investigators focused on ISRIB, a synthetic molecule that boosts protein synthesis by targeting translation initiation — the translation of genetic codes — and stimulating protein production. They confirmed that key components of the protein synthesis machinery are depleted in the hippocampus of persons with Alzheimer's disease, concluding that protein synthesis may also be impaired. The scientists administered ISRIB to mice with Alzheimer's-like conditions, and memory tests determined that the molecule could revive both memory function and protein synthesis in the hippocampus. ISRIB could restore synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus as well.