COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, February 10th, 2021

WHO findings, pharmacies, variants, vaccines, pregnancy, and masks.

1. The investigative team the WHO sent to China to determine the source of the outbreak said it could take years - but their early findings are that the virus began in China (China was implying it was imported in frozen food) and that it originated in an animal and crossed over to humans (called a zoonotic disease - most emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature). They have not made a determination as to the exact animal or route it took to cross from animal to human - but they ruled out imported in frozen food.

2. One million doses of the vaccines have been sent to 21 national pharmacy chains and independent networks, including CVS and Walgreens, which will begin administering shots according to states’ eligibility guidelines this Thursday. You can find more specifics in USA today.

3. A 45-year-old man with an autoimmune disorder was actively infected with COVID for 154 days. During this time he was tested periodically and the virus was sequenced as researchers looked at mutations. They found clusters of mutations as the virus adjusted to his immune response. Some of those mutations have now been found in the new VOC's (variants of concern). Researchers are now proposing that the virus is using long-term infections to "test out" a variety of mutations in order to find the most effective ones for evading the immune system. Remember that viruses mutate and RNA viruses mutate at a more frequent rate than DNA viruses - making vaccines more difficult (but not impossible). This is the normal behavior of a virus. Viruses cannot survive for long outside their host and they cannot replicate outside the host's cells. Meaning if you sneeze a Sars-Cov2 virus particle on your keyboard it will never become 2 particles - because it can't replicate outside the host's body. So it will sit there until it dies, or until it is picked up (for example someone uses the keyboard and gets it on their hand) or until it is killed by someone cleaning the keyboard. Because of this, viruses work to find as many hosts as possible in order to replicate as much as possible. I know we have discussed this before but I just want to remind you that the virus will not grow weary and give up. It won't just "go away" we have to break the chain of infection.

4. Early research (primarily lab research) suggests that the Pfizer vaccine will work on the UK and SA variants. Keep these findings in perspective as they have not yet been proven in a real-life setting, only in the lab. But it is a solid and encouraging start. How much projection remains to be determined.

5. Pregnant women and COVID - a recent study looking at pregnant women in a variety of countries (a meta-analysis for those of you who are research inclined) concluded that "pregnant COVID-19 positive patients are less likely to show classic symptoms (cough, sore throat, headache, or diarrhea), and have a propensity towards different imaging diagnostics, different laboratory results, and higher rate of gestational complications when compared to control groups. So if you are pregnant it is wise to talk to your doctor about your risk. You can read the study here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33387448/

6. We discussed once before but it is worth mentioning again that you do not need to double mask - you need to wear a well-fitting mask. Large gaps between the cloth and your face reduce the effectiveness of the mask so while it will provide some protection (depending of course on just how loose it is) it is not as effective as a snuggly fitting mask. As the new variants increase it is time that we too step up our mask-wearing to ensure we are wearing properly fitted masks. If your mask has multiple layers (3 layers is ideal) and fits well there is no need to wear two. If you are wearing a gaiter made of a single layer (as most are) you need to switch to something better. Adjustable ear loops are a good option to help with mask fit.

FINAL THOUGHTS: People are burning out at an astronomical rate. Doctors, nurses, teachers, public health people, epidemiologists, restauranteurs - people in a wide array of professions are simply burning out. So if you are feeling the sizzle of burn out, know that you are not alone. I know that doesn't take it away but perhaps just knowing you aren't the only one helps. It's easy to say step away and take a break, but the truth is, breaks are hard to find, and stepping away isn't always possible. So I will share a simple bit of advice that a dear friend offered me yesterday - take a look at what you are doing and see if there is anything at all you can remove from your proverbial plate. Then give yourself permission to do so. Take breaks where you can, no matter how small, and don't feel guilty for it. Remove all self-inflicted deadlines. And in tandem with my own advice, I won't be posting anymore this week in order to give myself a small break. Have a great rest of the week and try to find a bit of rest amid the chaos.