General Wellness

I know I just posted something earlier today but I had to put this out there as well.

Last week, there were more than 70,00 new Covid-19 infections in kids in the US, the highest weekly total since the start of the pandemic.

In some states, pediatric hospitalizations as well as ICU admissions are up by over 250% each.

And guess what, the vast majority of those kids are unvaccinated. Some because their parents chose not to vaccinate them but some because they are under 12 and are simply not eligible yet. 

That makes them victims of their parents’ and adults’ irresponsibility.

I know it sounds harsh, but that’s the fact.

Those around them made a choice not to vaccinate themselves or to behave in irresponsible ways that led to their infection and subsequent transmission of this virus to those kids.

Despite just having started the school year in some places, outbreaks are already being reported and schools are already closing.

Parents are up in arms about mask mandates. “Don’t muzzle our kids!” WTF. How about trying on an oxygen face mask or even a ventilating tube in your windpipe as an alternative if your kid gets sick.

The moron FL governor went so far as to make it illegal for schools to make their own decisions about the schoolchildren’s safety by banning any mask mandates.

The Delta variant is a new, more aggressive and much more transmissible virus. Kids are much more affected but in terms of their ability to get sick, the degree of illness as well as potential to spread it. 

The rules have changed. Fortunately, the vaccines we have are very effective against it, especially when it comes to serious infection and death, but you have to get vaccinated for it to work.

Masks help, but cloth and even surgical masks are much less effective. KN95 or N95 are much more effective. But even the cloth masks are better than nothing and they at least tell people to stay away. Distance is still effective.

It’s a sad state of affairs out there and only changing behaviors will fix it.

Stay safe and be well.

AC

This argument against getting vaccinated is completely ridiculous. Of course we don’t have long term studies. The disease is only 18 months old! We’ve only been giving the vaccines to the general population for 8 months. If you add the trials, it’s only a year. 

However, over 4 billion doses have been given worldwide and there is unequivocal safety and efficacy data.

In addition, the mRNA vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer, started being developed 15 years ago and the adenovirus vector vaccines (J&J, Sinovac, Sputnik…) have been around since 1963.

I don’t have to reiterate what is going on in the US with hospitals, which are once again running out of beds, and 99.9% of those admitted to hospitals and ICUs, as well as those dying from Covid, are unvaccinated.

Despite their vigorous prevention strategies, China is having a massive resurgence in Covid because of the Delta variant. It probably started when a flight from Russia landed in China and it spread from there. The epidemiology and tracing is very interesting.

We may not have long-term data about vaccine side effects but we DO have short term data about what happens if you get Covid. Although most people survive just fine, many, many do not.

As of yesterday, there are over 200 million confirmed worldwide cases, a significant underestimation given the poor demographic and tracking abilities of many poorer countries. In the US, we’ve had 36 million cases, 11% of the population and 18% of the world’s cases despite only representing 4% of the world’s population. Of those, who’ve contracted Covid, 4.2 million have died worldwide and 630,000 have died in the US (15% of the world’s deaths).

The rise in new cases is stepper than at any point in the pandemic this far and hospitalizations are the highest they’ve been in many months. Our summer respite is over.

You’d think in the US, with all of our advanced medical treatments and technologies, we should be better off, but you’d be wrong. Too many vaccine-hostile people and too many chronically ill people. The average American has 2.5 chronic conditions and obesity is still the #1 risk factor for infection and poor outcomes and 42% of Americans are already obese, the highest rate in the world. 

Many people who have had Covid have suffered long term complications. Lung scarring, diabetes, heart arrhythmias, headaches, ringing in the ears and head… You do NOT want to catch this disease.

All we can do is to look at the balance of data we have now, both with respect to vaccine safety and efficacy and how this disease impacts on people.

• People get sick and die from this disease. Many of those who don’t die have permanent disabilities.
• The vaccines are safe and effective. Side effects have been minimal and certainly not more than the incidence of side effects from any other vaccine or even the baseline incidence in the general population.

The simple calculus is this: the number of people who have suffered significant issues from the vaccines are miniscule and are dwarfed by the number of people who have suffered significantly from this disease. Those who are vaccinated are not immune to getting it, but 99.99% of those who do have problems from Covid are unvaccinated. 

Even those who have not contracted Covid have suffered because of the way our lives have changed because of the pandemic. Loss of contact with friends and families, depression, anxiety, suicide, homelessness, loss of work… The only way these social woes will change is by getting this disease under control and the only way to do that is by everyone getting vaccinated.

All other concerns are simply excuses. And they are selfish excuses.

If you really care about your health, if you really care about your family and friends, you’ll get vaccinated.

All those other PPE strategies are STILL important. Remember that it’s not “vaccinate OR mask”. It’s “vaccinate AND mask”.

Stay safe and be well.

AC