Hacking COVID-19 Risk Through Genetic Testing

Written by brianwallace | Published 2021/06/15
Tech Story Tags: covid19 | covid-vaccine | genetics | genetic-testing | infographic | health-tech | covid | health

TLDR As of May 2021, nearly 50% of American adults have been at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, but the pandemic risks continue. 2 in 3 epidemiologists agree viral mutations will render first-generation vaccines ineffective by 2022. By the time most of the world is vaccinated, first-generational vaccines will most likely be ineffective and another round of mass vaccination will be required. Knowing your risk can help you return to normal life and help everyone return to some normalcy.via the TL;DR App

In the fight against COVID-19, it is important to know your risk.  As of May 2021, nearly 50% of American adults have been at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, but the pandemic risks continue. 
Vaccines have been available for every American adult since May, but it will still take several more months to reach herd immunity. 
Many people admit they could be persuaded to get the vaccine if it meant they could stop wearing masks and travel freely.
Yet, states across the country are seeing a surge of infections due to prematurely lifted safety restrictions, waning public compliance with social distancing, and the spread of highly contagious and vaccine-resistant variants. 
Worldwide, 2 in 3 epidemiologists agree viral mutations will render first-generation vaccines ineffective by 2022 and 88% agreed that low vaccination rates in some countries would lead to more vaccine-resistant strains. 
In that time, new variants will continue to evolve and spread. 
By the time most of the world is vaccinated, first-generation vaccines will most likely be ineffective and another round of mass vaccination will be required. 
This may seem daunting, but there is a better way to end the pandemic: understanding your COVID-19 risk. 
Vaccines offer good protection, but not complete protection. 
Because of this, vaccinated people should continue some precautions until the pandemic ends. 
A wide variety of health conditions have been associated with increased risk of infection and severe disease, including cancer, chronic lung and kidney disease, heart conditions, immunocompromised individuals, diabetes, pregnancy, and more. 
Not every individual with one of these conditions will develop severe COVID-19, but they increase the likelihood of complications. 
Knowing your risk can help you return to normal life. 
By understanding individual risk, precautions can be targeted to those in need and individuals can decide how much risk they are willing to face.  Genetic risk test kits can determine the individual risk of developing severe COVID-19. 
They consider 16 comorbidities and genetic markers and improves risk prediction by 25% over standard clinical models. 
You can receive your risk score and a detailed report within 5-7 days.  Understand your risk of developing severe COVID-19, helping everyone return to some normalcy. 

Written by brianwallace | Founder @ NowSourcing | Contributor at Hackernoon | Advisor: Google Small Biz, SXSW
Published by HackerNoon on 2021/06/15