Roundup: Study shows masks work; county map shows senior vax rate; Covid worse for unvaxed pregnant women

Screenshot of New York Times map shows full-vaccination rates by county; click image to enlarge.

Here's a roundup of recent news about the pandemic and immunization efforts:

Many senior citizens still aren't vaccinated, making the Delta variant surge deadlier. Though access is a problem for some seniors, many in rural areas are more likely to refuse the shots. The story has a county-level map showing the percentage of unvaccinated seniors in your county. Read more here.

A massive, randomized study confirmed that widespread use of surgical masks in a community limits the spread of the coronavirus. The study, which tracked more than 340,000 adults in rural Bangladesh, is by far the largest randomized study on the subject. Read more here.

Increasing vaccine mandates have spurred a cottage industry in fake vaccination cards. But selling or buying fake cards is a federal crime, this article warns, and some have already been charged. But local judges have a lot of latitude. Read more here.

Correctional officers are spreading the virus in prisons, especially those located near communities with high infection rates. Read more here.

Medical experts stress the importance of vaccination for pregnant women. Unvaccinated pregnant women who are infected with the coronavirus are 15 times more likely to die from Covid-19, 14 times more likely to get intubated, and 22 times more likely to have a preterm birth than vaccinated individuals. Read more here.

More than 220 children's hospitals nationwide are begging the Biden administration for help, saying that a surge of young Covid-19 patients has them at or near capacity, and they expect to see even more patients. Read more here.

The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is associated with an increased risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. But the side effect is rare and usually mild, and people are more likely to suffer from it if they get infected with the coronavirus, a new study found. Read more here.

Oklahoma nurses and doctors beg people to get vaccinated to help ease hospital overcrowding. "I have zipped up too many body bags," said one. Read more here.

A regenerative tissue engineer and a biomedical engineer give a short TED Talk explaining how the mRNA coronavirus vaccines were created so quickly. Watch the video here.

In a recent column, agricultural economists Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray give their perspective on rural vaccine resistance. The decision whether to vaccinate is not strictly a personal one, they write, since unvaccinated people are more likely to spread it to others. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, they write, "The right to swing my arms in any direction ends where your nose begins." Read more here.