The antibody test developed by the UArizonaHealth Sciences research team can be used to confirm a positive antibody response after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

The ongoing pandemic has given rise to a significant and alarming trend of increased alcohol use and abuse – especially among younger adults, males and those who have lost their jobs – according to a new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers.

Vaccination efforts are racing against community spread of COVID-19. As more people become eligible for vaccination, Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunobiologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, answers common questions about what to expect after the shot.

A study led by researchers in the Department of Psychiatry found hazardous alcohol use increased monthly for those under stay-at-home orders.

Health advocates welcomed Monday's reopening of enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage, saying the opportunity for more people to get or renew their health insurance could be "really good for Arizona." The normal period for Americans to sign up for coverage ended Dec. 15, but President Joe Biden called for this special 90-day open enrollment period in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The change could open the door to subsidized health insurance for thousands in Arizona, where as many as 900,000 people may not have health insurance, according to Dr. Dan Derksen, director of the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health.

Cases of COVID-19 across the country and in Arizona are trending downward. Doctors are attributing that not only to the vaccine, but also because of increased mask-wearing. Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is quoted.

Nearly half of people in Arizona who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are white, according to data posted on the Arizona Department of Health Services website. Dr. David Beyda, chair of the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is interviewed.

In the US and much of the world, private well water supplies are unregulated, untested and untreated. Kelly A. Reynolds, professor and chair of the Community, Environment and Policy Department at the University of Arizona College of Public Health, writes about new support for education and training in private well construction and water treatment, along with new technologies for quality monitoring, to improve the safety of well water supplies.

Three new University of Arizona-led studies are trying to determine if “forever chemicals” known as PFAS compounds increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 or weaken vaccines’ ability to protect against the disease. One new study specifically targets the effects of PFAS on firefighters’ antibody response to COVID-19, said UArizona public health professor Jeff Burgess, lead researcher on all three studies.

Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, at the University of Arizona Center for Innovation in Brain Science, is researching Type 2 diabetes therapies and associated risks of Alzheimer’s in women. The funding for her study is a $500,000 grant from the Women's Alzheimer's Movement.