COVID-19 Update: Friday, May 14th

New masking rules, vaccinating our children, breakthrough infections, and death by vaccine - let's clear up some things.

*Disclaimer - I typed and retyped this today deleting, adding, and shuffling because this has me frustrated and it kept pouring onto the page. I try very hard to remain impartial and unbiased as much as I can - so I just want to acknowledge that today I haven't really been successful at that. My frustration over item 1, in particular, is abundantly clear so I apologize in advance but, as you know, I write these as if they are for my family - because that is where this all started. So as family, I trust you will forgive the frustration that has bled through here.

1. Let's start with deaths because this one is making its way around social media thanks to some statements made by a "celebrity." No, thousands of people haven't died from getting vaccinated. The information that is being spread around with these numbers is very very misleading and is the direct result of people with no training or expertise weighing in on things they have no business weighing in on, and instead of asking questions so they understand, they are making assumptions, drawing inaccurate conclusions and spreading misinformation. The information being cited is from a valid website (VAERS) where vaccine-related information is collected for analysis. The information on the site has NOT been verified, validated, or analyzed - it is just a collection depot that anyone on the planet can enter information into. Then, it is collated, reviewed, verified, validated, and analyzed by scientists, epidemiologists, researchers, etc. But that process and those results are not posted on the site - they are shared out via academic journals, medical reports, news briefings, and statements by the CDC, etc. because the purpose of VAERS is to collect data and provide that data in a transparent manner for people to use for research and analysis. The best information and data can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands - which is what you are seeing here.

Right now the CDC is collecting every death that occurs within months of vaccination - no matter the cause. This is done so those can be monitored and watched for any trends. Yes, some trends have emerged - such as the blood clots with J&J - and those were indeed vaccine related deaths. We have seen severe analyphaxis in some people, some of which have resulted in death. I covered this more fully a few days ago so feel free to review that post for greater insight to the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding the vaccines. Some people may die after getting vaccinated, just as some people may have adverse reactions to any medication, pollen, nuts, animals etc.. Some people break out in hives from band-aids (me for one) - it doesn't mean band-aids are bad, dangerous, and should be avoided. It means for a few people they are not a good option. Vaccines are the same. Yes, for some people there are going to be issues. Statistically speaking those numbers are very small. Even if thousands had died from the vaccine (which they have not), it would be a fatality rate of 0.0015% (rounded up). The fatality rate of COVID in the US is 1.78% - so your risk from dying if you get COVID is still much much greater than any risk of dying from the vaccine. By the way, fatality rates in some countries are as high as 9% - so kudos to all the amazing medical professionals in America who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to figure out how to keep us alive and to those all over the world who are sacrificing so much to help save lives in their country.

2. Break-through infections. I did a post about this already this week so I apologize for repeating myself - but I just wanted to offer a quick reminder. Yes, breakthrough infections are happening. That is to be expected. Not everyone will develop immunity after having COVID or after being vaccinated. Even if they do, a variant may breakthrough. The media is reporting this as if massive numbers are having breakthrough infections, but that is not the case. It is less than 10k out of 267 million people or 0.0037%. Don't let the media hype confuse this. According to the Cleveland Clinic (link to a story associated with this), 99% of those being hospitalized with COVID are people who are not fully vaccinated. I have heard of at least one case in which a person had natural COVID, recovered, got vaccinated some months later, and then got COVID again. I have also heard of someone who has had COVID three times, the last time being fatal. Clearly, these are not the norm, but everyone's body responds to stimuli differently, and neither having COVID nor being vaccinated guarantees 100% that you won't get COVID. Oh....and getting COVID can cause ED in men - so there's that, (and another good reason to get vaccinated if you are a man). Link to more on that below as well.

Mayo Clinic link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/92575?xid=nl_covidupdate_2021-05-14&eun=g1689689d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyUpdate_051421&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_Daily_News_Update_active

ED link: https://wjmh.org/DOIx.php?id=10.5534/wjmh.210055

3. I am now getting asked the very fair question of if I am going to get my children vaccinated and the answer is yes. I have 4 children (although 1 is no longer a minor) and I plan to have everyone vaccinated this summer. Personally, I am going to wait until after July 4th - just to be super cautious - because if something is going to go wrong it will go wrong within 6 weeks - so I plan to wait that out. I am working on some in-depth data regarding what we saw in the clinical trials related to the vaccine in minors. I hope to have that all

4. The CDC has changed their recommendations regarding masking for those who are fully vaccinated. The updated recommendation is that fully vaccinated (meaning those who have receive the entire series and waited 2 weeks after their last dose) don't need to mask in public, even inside. This is solid science but there are a few things to keep in mind: a) all who are maskless are not necessarily vaccinated, b) just because the CDC changed their recommendation, it does not mean businesses will remove their mask mandates. So keep a mask handy for places that will continue to require them, c) you are not invincible - breakthrough infections happen (although the risk is small) so still be cautious and make good use of that hand sanitizer. Be mindful of touching your face when out somewhere and wash your hands often.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This week has been a basket of frustration for me. I found myself breathing shallow from my chest - you know the sort of breathing you do when you are stressed out. So I took a mental inventory of the things stressing me out and spent a minute determining what, if anything, I could do about each. I put together a mental action plan for things I could affect and then had to relinquish the things I have no control over. Many of the items on the list I had to let go of involved other people and their behavior. We can't control other people and honestly, for me, it is enough to control myself, I don't have the energy or desire to control others. So I had to think about what I could and should do and then not take ownership of how others responded. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to lay down other people's burdens and behavior. You are not responsible for them. You are responsible for you. Just you.

Are you doing what is right? Are you treating people with dignity and respect? Are you willing to listen to others and hear their perspective? Do what you know is right and let go of the burden of how other people behave and what other people think. That is not on you. Sometimes people have ideas that are simply not right. They believe these things fiercely. That doesn't make them right and it doesn't make you responsible for changing their opinion. Share information and let them do what they will with it, you have done your part. Sometimes people think things about you that are completely wrong. Their view of you doesn't change who you are. Often times I find it actually reveals more about who they are than who I am. Find time this weekend to walk away from the madness, do something relaxing, surround yourself with people who love you, and like you, (sometimes these are not the same people) fill your proverbial bucket and help others fill theirs, because once words have been spoken they cannot be unspoken.