Category: Health and Wellness Issues
January 3, 2020 -- Hundreds of millions of Americans can't wait to have a coronavirus vaccine pumped into their arms. The problem is the wait could be long, and the process to get one could turn into the wild west - every person for themself. Evidence of that is already happening in places like Fort Myers, FL, where seniors are camping out over night in a chaotic effort to get a shot because Lee county has no online system for appointments. Officials say that was necessary because eager vaccine seekers are crashing online vaccination systems. We earnestly hope the process of vaccinating America doesn't turn into a disaster as the unprepared authorities botch the rollout.
The ball is in your court
Consider this: it is highly unlikely that you will get a phone call or person knocking on your door, telling you where and when to go to get your shot. How soon will you get one? Sadly, that probably depends on you. To help, here are some steps you can take and a few resources.
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Published on January 2, 2021
Comments 49
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
December 19, 2020 -- A very popular retirement-age calculator now is Livingto100. Developed by Dr. Thomas Perls, it asks a raft of fairly predictable questions and then provides an estimate of how long you will live, along with tailored advice. The questions makes a lot of sense - if you are healthy and avoid most of the bad things (drinking, smoking, stress, obesity), and do the good things (exercise, have friends, brain activities, floss, wear sunscreen, etc.), and your parents lived to ripe old ages - you have a good shot at living to 100. Which leads us to the connection to Winston Churchill, who, despite legendary bad habits, lived to 90 years old. How did he do it, and what can we learn from his experience?
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Published on December 18, 2020
Comments 7
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
December 4, 2020 — Been wondering exactly where you stand when it comes to getting a Covid vaccine? We know we have been. Out this morning is a very cool tool to help you get a better idea, depending on where you live, your age, occupation, and any health care…
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Published on December 4, 2020
Comments 8
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 26, 2020 -- You see the person coming down the aisle toward you and... panic! A minute ago their name was on the tip of your tongue, but now it is gone! Or, you are describing something to a friend, and the name of the book or the noun you are looking for has completely escaped you. It happens to all of us, but new research indicates that it is more likely to occur in people who are retired than people of the same age who are working.
Ross Andel, director of the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida, tested the memories of people in their early 60s living in Canberra, Australia over almost a 20 year period. In the Australian test, starting at age 60 subjects were were asked to remember as many random and unrelated words in a list as they could. The tests were repeated every 4 years.
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Published on November 26, 2020
Comments 4
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 22, 2020 — It seems like there are only two kinds of ads in the last week or so – ones from politicians or Medicare plans. We have heard from several Members who they feel buried, and confused, by the latter. The reason for all those ads – we…
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Published on October 23, 2020
Comments 2
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 17, 2020 - The Open Enrollment Period for Medicare started this week and runs through Dec. 7. It is an important event for eligible people not currently enrolled in the plan, or who want to change some component of their current plan.
During Open Enrollment, eligible people can sign up for Medicare. Medicare beneficiaries can compare coverage options like Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and choose health and prescription drug plans for 2021.
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Published on October 17, 2020
Comments 19
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 13, 2020 — Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period starts on Oct. 15. That is when you can sign up for Medicare if you didn’t during your original eligibility period, or have not qualified for a special enrollment period (if you are already on Social Security you should have been automatically…
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Published on October 12, 2020
Comments 0
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 4, 2020 -- Thanks to the more than 500 generous people who cared enough to spend a few minutes filling our Coronavirus Activity Survey. As we hoped, the results were extremely interesting. Most were predictable, but it is reassuring to see most Topretirements Members are taking the pandemic seriously. The hundreds of personal comments written in to several of the questions make one thing very clear - the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the most momentous events in all of our lifelines, changing daily life now, and in some ways for the rest of our lives.
Some main points:
Topretirements Members are more likely to take a vaccine than the general population (71% vs. 50%).
The CDC has taken a big reputational hit, with far more trusting Dr. Fauci.
Mask compliance is high.
About half of respondents will go to a barbershop or salon.
Car travel is viewed as far safer than flying
People are split about eating in restaurants and visiting friends.
Almost all of the survey responses were given before the President and some in his inner circle tested positive. Our hope is that people will take precautions even more seriously after seeing how communicable the virus is. Note that Topretirements Members and visitors are almost all aged 55+.
Here are the results of the survey:
Q1 Would you take a coronavirus vaccine if the CDC said it was safe and effective?
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
More than two thirds (71%) of those taking the survey said they would take the vaccine. This contrasts with a recent CNN poll, which showed that 51% of Americans would try to get the vaccine. In the CNN poll 60% of those over 65 said they would take it.
[jcolumns]YesNo
[jcol/]71%29%[jcol/][/jcolumns]
197 Comments: More than two thirds of respondents said they will take a vaccine, but cautiously. There is a great deal of distrust of CDC as being politicized. Many would like to give a vaccine time to prove itself. Below are links to all 197 Comments on this question (Mac and Xcl versions).
covid-q-10-2020-csv-1Mac Download
q1-covid-survey-take-vaccineXcl Download
Typical comment: "Maybe. I wanna vaccine but I want to be sure that it is safe. It depends when the vaccine comes out. If it comes out before election day I will not take it because I think it would be a political vaccine. "
Q2. Who do you believe more about vaccine effectiveness and safety?
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Published on October 3, 2020
Comments 12
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 27, 2020 — We are curious about what you think is safe, and are willing to do in this coronavirus pandemic. Would you take a vaccine (and who do you trust more?). How about eating in a restaurant, visiting a hairdresser, taking a trip, having friends over? Please take…
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Published on September 26, 2020
Comments 1
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 25, 2020 — Every month The Wall Street Journal asks its readers to describe a random act of kindness that affected them. What a great idea in this time of division, economic troubles, and a corona pandemic that doesn’t want to quit. So, please use the Comments section to…
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Published on September 25, 2020
Comments 4
