General Wellness

Said in other words, just about everyone should get it, and in the US, that now includes everyone over 12 years of age!

If you had Covid, get the vaccine since you’ll have more robust protection. You can really get the vaccine anytime after recovery or 14 days after symptoms start, but my sources recommend about 6 weeks after recovery.

If you are isolated or not, get the vaccine since you can still spread it if exposed. I’ve had plenty of patients who thought they were “safe” but somehow got Covid. Must be a government pot!!!!!

If everyone you know is vaccinated and you are not worried about yourself, get the vaccine. You can still get it and more importantly, give it.

Whether you have some chronic condition or not, get the vaccine. All chronic conditions predispose you to catching the virus or having a more severe course of Covid and that is most certainly worse than any flare up the vaccine might cause your condition (and that is even debatable).

If you are pregnant, get the vaccine. Not only will you protect yourself and those around you, but you will give your newborn a few months of passive immunity as well. What a gift to your baby!!!

There are VERY FEW situations in which you should not get the vaccine.

Even if you had a reaction to a vaccine in the past, depending on the kind of vaccine and the type of reaction, you probably should still get the Covid vaccine. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are completely new types of vaccines which would not cause the kinds of reactions someone may have had to a different vaccine. If you had a reaction to penicillin, would you then not take vitamin D for fear of a reaction? NO, they are completely different medications. The same goes for vaccines.

Even one of the most feared vaccine reactions, Guillain Barre Syndrome, where there is a slow progressive paralysis starting at the feet, and at times progressing to the point of full body paralysis requiring mechanical ventilation until it clears, is not a reason to avoid the Covid vaccine.

If you’re a young woman, and the only option is the J&J vaccine, GET IT. Your chances of getting a clot are so much higher if you get Covid than the chances of getting a clot from the vaccine. In fact, the chances of the exact same kind of clot is higher in the general, non vaccinated population, than in the vaccinated population. It’s insane. While you’re at it, stop your birth control pill if you’re concerned about clots. The chances of a clot from the pill is 500x higher than getting a clot from the vaccine.

What is clear is that vaccines work, and they are the ONLY reason that we, at least in the US, are experiencing some return to normal, pre-Covid life. Whether we should return to living the same selfish pre-Covid life is another issue, but at least things are getting easier.

What else is clear is that you do NOT want to catch this disease if you can avoid it. We continue to learn more and more about the chronic health problems experienced by people who even had a mild case of Covid. These people may suffer lifelong issues.

One last thing we have learned is that all these anti-Covid protection measures, along with continued flu vaccination, have resulted in an almost non-existent flu season. Being cautious works!

SO GET VACCINATED and don’t be selfish. It’s not about you. It’s about everyone else.

I have been a little bit concerned about to what degree even the CDC is saying we can walk around maskless. Covid, especially the variant versions of it, is still out there. It WILL come back, given what is going on in the rest of the world. We still need to be careful. We can relax a little and start enjoying life socializing with others but, when in situations where the health and vaccination status of those around you is not known, continue to practice all the health measures we have repeated numerous times:

WEAR A MASK

DISTANCE

WASH YOUR HANDS

VENTILATE

GET HEALTHY 

And

GET VACCINATED

Stay safe and be well.

AC ✌️🌱❤🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎 🐖

While we are hearing great, encouraging, positive news here in North America about loosening restrictions for businesses and relaxing masking for vaccinated people, there are places in the world where things are apocalyptic. In fact, things are worse just about everywhere but some places are like scenes from a zombie movie.

The situation in India is absolutely horrific. Many thousands of people are dying daily. Some out in the street, outside hospital emergency rooms, which are overtaxed and woefully lacking in basic supplies such as oxygen. Imagine bringing a loved one to the hospital, only to have them tell you that there is no room and you should go home to die? That IS what is going on right now. To many, many families. A black market industry has rapidly blossomed for oxygen. It’s mind blowing. 

Although it might seem like a world away, it’s not all that far and the way we travel, whichever variant they are dealing with, will soon reach our shores as well.

In addition, if we do not continue to vaccinate as many people as possible, things could still get very ugly over here. Especially as those vaccinated start to reach a point in time when they may even need a booster!

We do need to get out, be with people, breathe fresh air and enjoy sunshine, but we can’t lose sight of what is going on elsewhere in the world. Not only as a cautionary tale for us, but also from a humanitarian standpoint.

It seems that , just like with many other aspects of life, industrialized countries are privileged and have the vast majority of the vaccine. 80% of the world’s supply is in the hands of only 10 countries.

For us NOT to get vaccinated is an insult to those who are unfortunate enough not to have it. You would think that after the restrictions we have lived through the last 18 months, as well as all the struggles people initially had to get vaccinated, that there would be some more common sense and compassion out there. But people are nuts.

We are nearing 50% of Americans either being fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated but the rates are slowing rapidly. Recent surveys still reveal that 1/3rd of people plan not to get the vaccine or continue to wait to “see what happens”. Well, we see what is happening in India, Brazil and other less fortunate countries. Even well off countries like Sweden, previously praised for how they have handled the pandemic, numbers are on a dramatic rise once again.

Not only is vaccination imperative for personal health reasons, it protects everyone else and shows support for all those other countries where vaccines are not yet available. The recent concerns about the J&J vaccine have had an unfortunate added chilling effect on vaccination in general. Again, let’s keep things in perspective. In total, 15 women have had the serious complication of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis (CVT). 2 died. It certainly is tragic. But that is out of 6.8 million doses. That’s just over 2 cases per million. As a comparison, here are some other statistics:

• General population occurrence of CVT, without vaccination, is 5/million, more than twice as common.
• Taking a birth control pill, which is the same demographic as the J&J associated clots, is up to 1000/million (500x more)
• Cigarette smoking – 1700 blood clots per million
• And MOST significantly, If you get significant Covid disease, chances of dying are 165,000/million

Now, most people who get Covid will not get a serious case of it and won’t die, but we are finding many, even asymptomatic people, young people, developing long-term diseases. The stats still clearly favor vaccination. 

If you have the option of which vaccine to take (imagine the privilege) and are in the demographic of women affected by the J&J vaccine, pick Pfizer or Moderna, but if not, get whichever one you can. 

You DO NOT want to get Covid.

As the authorities continue to loosen restrictions, we must remain vigilant and careful. Get outside and be with family, but safely. Get your vaccine. Continue to wear a mask and distance in situations where there is higher risk of transmission. Continue to work on getting healthy. 

Going back to “business as usual” seems insane to me given what is going on in the rest of the world.

MASK UP.

DISTANCE.

WASH.

VENTILATE

VACCINATE

GET HEALTHY.

Stay safe and be well.

AC ✌️🌱❤🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎 🐖