It's Not Dead Yet!

 

I don't really talk much about Covid-19 because conversations usually become arguments where little information is exchanged and no minds are changed. But I recently read an article in the Bottom Line Health newsletter about what is likely ahead for us regarding Covid. Bottom Line publications are not always rigorous but they do provide timely information free of political bias and backed up by verifiable references, so I thought I would share the key points. Take them or leave them, I'm not looking for an argument.

The article was written by Dr. Joseph Feuerstein, a professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University and the director of integrative medicine at Stamford Hospital. Here is his take on what we can expect over the coming weeks and months.

Expect more variants. There are now more than a dozen variants of the original virus and we should expect more, possibly many more. Viruses always mutate and new strains continually develop when they are not held on check. Most variants are harmless but some will be more contagious or cause more severe symptoms.

Vaccines are safe. There is no question that vaccines were approved conditionally and rushed into production. Concerns about their safety were overblown but not unreasonable. But now there is a peer reviewed study of nearly 2 million people published in the New England Journal of Medicine that has concluded that the mRNA vaccines are both effective and extremely safe. 

Herd immunity is out of reach. At least any time soon. It was hoped that when enough people had been vaccinated that Covid would effectively run out of opportunities to spread. For better or worse, not enough people are getting vaccinated and it does not look like enough ever will. So the virus will continue to mutate and spread.

Get used to booster shots. The effectiveness of the existing vaccines appears to lessen after 9 to 12 months. So expect to be taking regular booster shots that will maintain your immunity as well as address the threats posed by new variants.

Keep your vaccination card safe and handy. The time is coming when you will need it to gain entry to many public places and events. This will vary State by State unless the Federal government establishes a national standard. You will certainly need it for any foreign travel so keep it with your passport.

Schools will continue to struggle with infections. The politicization of mask mandates and vaccinations mean that we will continue to see increasing infection rates among school-age children. There is no appetite for a return to virtual learning so the arguing will continue until mounting transmissions and outbreaks force localities to change, probably after the worst damage has already been done.

Effective treatments for the virus are on the way. Two new drugs for treating Covid are in clinical trials and may start to be available as soon as the end of 2021. More are sure to follow.