General Wellness

24 hours after my second Pfizer shot, I feel fine.

My arm is a little sore although a little less than after the first dose.

No generalized aches or pains, headache or fever, all which are normal reactions anyway.

I hate prescribing and taking medications so I did not take any Tylenol as was recommended, however, I take so much turmeric, a great natural anti-inflammatory, that I look like an Umpa Lumpa from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. 

By the way, there is a recommendation to avoid anything which can affect your immune system around the time of vaccination. Such things include steroids and even non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like Motrin, Aleve, Relafen…  However Tylenol (acetaminophen) is fine. You should avoid them within a few days of the vaccine on either side. I would personally avoid them for at least a couple of weeks afterwards since it takes 2-3 weeks to get maximal protection as your immune system pumps out the antibodies and generates immune cells. If you NEED to take something, that’s the way it is but try to minimize it. In the meantime, do everything you can to bolster up your immune system like exercise, get good sleep, minimize stress and, of course, minimize animal products and eat as many varied fruits and vegetables as you can.

I was asked about whether or not I will continue to wear a mask as much since I have been fully vaccinated and the answer is YES, YES, YES.  The vaccine allows my body to recognize the virus faster and beat it down, but it does not stop the virus from entering my body nor does it eliminate my ability to transmit the virus. I may be infectious for a much shorter period of time, but I can still make others sick!

As far as Covid numbers go, yesterday (Tuesday 1/12) saw another set of records. More people died from Covid in the US (4300) than have died in TOTAL in Japan (3900) or S. Korea (1100) since the pandemic began. Yes they have smaller populations but the numbers are still unbelievable. Despite only representing 4% of the world’s population, we still account for about 20% of the cases and deaths.

Yet, we believe the numbers (some conspiracy theorists still do not), but we have become numb to them and we just accept it. The numbers just continue to scroll along the bottom of the screen like stock prices.

PLEASE think, not only about yourself, but more importantly about others.

Kindness, love and compassion are the only things which will get us past, not only the pandemic, but the social and political upheaval going on around us.

I heard an interesting podcast this morning about health care-provider burnout. It was a problem before covid but the pandemic has dramatically worsened it. An interesting comment was made about perspective, particular about wearing masks. Everyday, doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, police… save lives. If you think about wearing a mask as also a means of you saving someone else’s life, that may help ease the difficulty of wearing one, as well as doing the other important things. We are ALL heroes if we do all the things which protect everyone. 

You are literally saving a life when you wear a mask.

WEAR A MASK – BE A HERO!

Do all the other things as well.

DISTANCE.

WASH YOUR HANDS.

DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE.

PROTECT YOUR EYES WHEN APPROPRIATE.

VENTILATE.

VACCINATE.

GET HEALTHIER.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC

We are far off the pace of vaccination we were hoping for. At this point, less than 1/3rd of planned vaccinations have been administered. The problem with how slowly vaccination has been occurring thus far has not been a supply issue. There is plenty of vaccine available. In fact, we have heard that many vials have more doses than planned and many doses are being wasted. 

The issue is the roll-out and infrastructure. Each state and location seems to have different issues and lack of a coordinated, central leadership is mostly to blame. Each state decides who gets it and when. How they give it is also very disjointed.

There is a perfectly rational argument to just open things up and let anyone who wants a vaccine to go ahead and get it, regardless of age, health status or living/care situation. Give it to the pharmacies for the general public (assuming they have the storage capabilities). Give it to family doctors…Just like the flu vaccine. 

Although on the one hand, we should protect the most vulnerable, like healthcare workers, first responders, the elderly, nursing home patients and those with chronic diseases, maybe we should also target those who are spreading the virus the most. And that would be all the younger, healthier, and yes, less responsible, people. The studies show that younger, asymptomatic people are responsible for the majority of the spread. In fact, 40% of the spread is being attributed to asymptomatic people. 

Covid outbreaks don’t just “pop up” spontaneously in a nursing home, prison or school. Someone brings it in. And it is clearly someone asymptomatic, unless their screening protocols are not being enforced. 

I don’t have a perfect answer. There isn’t one. However, the more people we can immunize as fast as possible, the better the faster we will get past this. What that future will look like is unclear. Unless enough people are protected at the same time, the virus will keep floating around and we will likely need boosters or new vaccines forever, just like the flu.

It is important to ensure that there are enough doses in the pipeline to give those who got their first shot, their second shot 3-4 weeks later, depending on the version. A few weeks delay is not likely to have any negative impact on efficacy but beyond that, we just don’t know.

Until we figure it out, do all the basics to keep everyone safe and get a vaccine as soon as you can.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC