Top Three Takeaways – December 10th
- We don’t know what we don’t know. I’ll long said smart people know what they know, know what they don’t and speak to what they know (while continuing to learn more generally). The reason I bring this up is given the significance of making informed decisions regarding vaccinations as today is the day we likely begin the rollout process for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, like far too many issues in our society which should never be politicized – vaccinations have been in recent years. Partisans in conjunction with news media dismissingly demean those skeptical of taking all vaccines pushed on them by medical establishments as anti-vaxxers. In reality, the issues are often far more complex and require additional thought and consideration. I’ll use myself as an example. I won’t get a flu shot. Now, without additional information I’d be labeled an antivaxxer. In reality, here’s the reason. I’ve had the flu twice in my life. It just so happened those two times occurred after I’d had a flu shot. Coincidence? Maybe. But here’s the rest of the story. The average flu shot efficacy is 45%, I’m otherwise a healthy person who is diligent regarding hygiene (some might say excessive), I’ve never contracted the flu in years where I haven’t taken a flu vaccine. My decision to not accept the vaccine is based on facts, logic and personal experience. Conversely, when I was young, I developed severe allergies which led to debilitating migraines. The solution? I was on allergy shots for nearly four years. Those were highly effective. I’m not anti-vaccines. I’m pro-proven vaccines that are useful. What’s always bothered me about the medical establishment specifically and news media generally, is that they treat us like we’re stupid. We’re told to get a flu shot, period. We’re not provided with the full picture first and thus allowed to...
- Make informed decisions. When it comes to medical decisions, I believe in making informed decisions. It’s not too much to ask for during a pandemic either. Here’s the reality on the ground. Over 95% of Floridians haven’t been diagnosed with COVID-19 ten months into a pandemic. Conversely, 100% of those who take a vaccine will be exposed to it. Like everyone else I’m rooting for all COVID vaccines to be highly effective. At the same time, we clearly don’t know enough for everyone to make fully informed decisions. Take for example those on the frontlines prioritized for the Pfizer vaccine in England. Now remember, those who were day 1 recipients were top priorities, in other words – based on the best available data if anyone in the country should have the vaccine – these were the people. And what did we learn? It’s way too early to know if the vaccine will prove to be effective, but already we’ve learned the Pfizer vaccine isn’t appropriate for those with food allergies, or potentially those with asthma. Ironically the very reason some people were prioritized in the first place. Clearly, even the best current data available has the potential for significant gaps in understanding.
- What comes next? None of us know until we get there. Being a student of history and driven by facts and logic I pointed out early on in the pandemic that the most common form of the flu today, the H1N1 virus, is the very virus responsible for the worst pandemic in American history – the 1918 pandemic. It’s been 102 years and it’s still a moving target. Will COVID-19 be the same? Up to this point it appears to be less likely to mutate compared to its pandemic peer, but could that change? We don’t know until we get there. What’s possible, though unknown, is that COVID-19 perhaps hasn’t mutated significantly because it hasn’t had to in order to survive. Will that change with the advent of effective vaccines? I hope not but it’s possible. In the meantime, a year ago today the spread of the traditional flu was rated high by the CDC in every state in the southeast – including Florida. One year later it’s minimal. It’s clear COVID-19 has taken the place of the seasonal flu. Which was also something I logically suggested heading into flu season in September, but all we were told was that it was even more important to get the seasonal flu shot because of the pandemic...The more you know comes to mind.
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