COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, March 1st

transmission from deer, vax for kids, total numbers,

1. I wanted to share this important bit of information - there is now evidence suggesting deer to human transmission of a COVID variant. It's a little bit complicated so I wanted to walk you through some of it. First, as of January, we know that there are 29 non-human species that can at least carry (if not catch) Sars-Cov2. Each of those poses a possible risk of animal to human transmission. If that happens, the virus typically is quite mutated when it returns to humans. (Antigenic shift). So we monitor this to see which animals seem to be able to pass it back to us. You may recall at one point we realized many whitetail deer (WTD) seemed to have it. In some places, the assumption was that the vast majority of them carried it, but there had been no evidence of it being transmissible from deer to human. Scientists in Ontario began testing the deer in a particular area and doing sequencing for the virus if they found it. During that process, they found evidence that the variant deer were carrying was significantly mutated and there was evidence of deer to human transmission in that variant. Now.....this is preliminary, but it is worth noting.

2. The Pfizer vaccine in kids isn't really that effective. Efficacy is in the 60% range, so not great. It does still protect against severe illness and hospitalization but that age doesn't tend to get severely ill so vaccinating that age group isn't a huge benefit currently.

3. According to the CDC, 140 million Americans have had COVID. That represents about 43% of us and that is considerably more than is currently being reported. They also found most children have been infected. The CDC used blood testing analysis to determine this. They looked only for natural immunity (not vaccinated) and counted each person only once. You can read more about that here. The Washington Post has a great image that captures it state by state. (see image below)

4. This isn't COVID but it is pretty cool - Alexa can now call the doctor for you. She isn't calling your doctor, but for non-emergencies, she can call a telehealth doctor for you. So that is cool.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I didn't tell you things today that I am sure you already know. Like how the mask rules are changing and mandates are revising or being dropped etc. People have asked me what I think about it, and the truth is, it doesn't matter what I think. First, no one asked me (I assume this is an oversight on their part - lol) Second, I don't rule the world (another obvious oversight on someone's part) but in reality, what "they" do or don't do doesn't change what I do. I am going to keep doing what I believe to be right for me and my family, and I encourage you to do the same. Stay safe my friends and by all means, have dessert.