COVID-19 Update, Wednesday, July 29th

Vaccines, Hunger, vitamins, hand sanitizer and the NFL.

1. Moderna, and Pfizer are now in phase 3 clinical trials of their vaccines. 195k Americans have volunteered to participate in the trials but most of them are in their 20’s and 30’s. The trials should involve volunteers who are diverse in age, ethnicity, sex and health conditions. Moderna, who worked with the NIH to develop their vaccine, has 30k people enrolled in their trial and is currently the furthest along. As the vaccines make progress through clinical trials discussions have started regarding distribution and how that will happen. The National Academies of Science, the CDC, and the NIH are currently discussing the best way to distribute limited supplies. Standard protocol is that medical personnel and emergency responders receive the vaccine first, to prevent illness and keep them on the front-lines providing care. Current discussions are also suggesting high risk individuals, and essential workers should be prioritized but no official recommendation has been made yet. Officially the recommendation will come from the CDC to the federal government.

2. According to the Lancet, hunger associated with the pandemic is killing an additional 10K children each month globally due to food market closures and loss of income. Today’s 1918 photo is of a child in a food line in the U.S. during the 1918 pandemic. Food shortages and scarcity were issues then too. Interestingly, the item everyone stockpiled during that outbreak was Vicks VapoRub.

3. Over 100 supplements on Amazon are making unsubstantiated and potentially illegal claims that they can fight or prevent COVID. While research has proven that having adequate amounts of Zinc, Vit.D and Vit. C in your system is important and could reduce severity of disease – no supplements have proven effective as treatments or prevention. Generally speaking, most meat eaters get enough zinc in their diet and Vit. C and D can be found in a good multivitamin. Overdosing on vitamins is possible and can be lethal.

4. The FDA expanded the list of hand-sanitizers containing methanol which can cause blindness, cardiac effects, central nervous system effects, hospitalizations, and deaths. Most of the suspect hand-sanitzers are manufactured from Eskbiochem S.A. de C.V. in Mexico. A full list can be found on the FDA website here: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-methanol

5. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif a MD and NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs announced he will not play in this years NFL season due to COVID.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This has been a long, arduous week and it is only Wednesday morning. Part of the stress right now is so much unknown and trying to make informed decisions with few answers surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who seem eager to criticize. Partner that with a ridiculous amount of seemingly unending conspiracy theories and you may just want to pull your hair out. First, know that it isn’t just you, lots of people are feeling it this week. Second, know that you don’t have to counter every crazy theory out there. Trying to will utterly exhaust you. The truth does not change just because people refuse to believe it. Finally, I want you to know that you have to make the decisions that are right for you and you should not feel guilty about that. Laurent decided to forego the NFL season – it was a very difficult decision, but he made no apologies for it. You see, it was his decision to make. Your decision is yours and you need not apologize for it. It’s hard enough to make it, you shouldn’t have to defend it to the naysayers. Each one of us lives in different circumstances with different levels of risk, differing tolerance for risk taking and different consequences of those risk. So each of us must make the decisions that are best for us and our families, the ones we can live with, the ones we decide. We don’t have to agree with other people’s decisions, and they don’t have to agree with yours. Be kind to yourself today. Know that you are strong. Falling does not make you weak. Needing a moment does not make you weak. Crying in the shower does not make you weak. Reaching out for help does not make you weak. The strongest warriors grow weary. They go into battle with a tribe, find yours. Have your moment, then stand up, dust off, fix your hair, and keep moving.