Sex
Refers to biological characteristics that determine risk and response to disease, for instance driving hormonal responses, immunological characteristics, and response to vaccines.
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Gender
The UN defines gender as what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman or a man in a given context. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are context/time-specific and changeable.
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The ‘gender binary’ however is increasingly being rejected in many places to recognise, respect and embrace diverse gender identities.
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Gender influences exposure to risk (air pollution, smoking, alcohol), likelihood of risk reduction (e.g. seeking health care), as well as who benefits from the resources available (e.g. who can access health services, or who is likely to be providing care). Health outcomes and health systems reflect and reinforce gender biases and restrictive gender norms, compromising the safety and wellbeing of providers and the health of communities. Gender and social inequalities (based on class, race or ethnicity, etc) intersect and multiply these negative effects on both the health system and the communities they serve.
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Globally, there’s no clear trend in terms of who is most likely to become infected by COVID-19. However, across the vast majority of countries, a clear pattern in mortality has emerged; men appear more likely than women to die from COVID-19 once infected. This pattern varies by country and may be changing over time.
