LET'S TALK ABOUT VACCINATIONS

I want to tell you my vaccination story and then I want to talk about the available vaccines. I’m doing this because I’ve been seeing an awful lot of ‘nopes’ to getting vaccinated and those ‘nopes’ are always attached to pseudo science articles that are misinformative and dangerous. I’m hoping that by the end of this entry some people will make a more informed choice. I received my second dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine on Wednesday. By this time I had heard from a number of people who had received the second dose and they had all of the predicted reactions to that dose. So I was mentally prepared to feel a little crappy the next day. Except it turned out to be more than a little crappy and it lasted for two days with the third day leaving me newborn-kitten-weak. I’m not going to lie. It was awful. But it was awful because I have a strong and healthy immune system. My immune cells were like a million angry Scotts in dirty kilts running across the highlands with swords raised as they yelled their way into battle. My reaction was a common reaction that is being seen in healthy people of a certain age and particularly in women who are generally producing more antibodies on a daily basis.

Last week the U.S. paused the use of the J&J vaccine because of a blood clotting side effect. Six women out of the seven million people who have received this vaccine in the US has experienced this symptom. One of these women died from it. The blood-clotting disorder has been seen in women between 18 and 48 years of age and even though it is severe, it is very rare. The FDA and the CDC reacted swiftly to the pause of this vaccine. It should be noted that the J&J vaccine is not using the same technology as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It is made by genetically modifying a virus vector, which is a method that has been used since the 70s to create vaccines. This thing with J&J vaccine should not keep you from getting vaccinated. For some perspective, your chances of dying in a car crash is 1 in 103. Your chances of dying from gun violence is 1 and 315. One out of seven people will die of cancer this year. All of the scientific data for the clinical trials and the review process for all of the vaccines are available on the CDC website. You can read the one for Moderna here: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm695152e1.htm?s_cid=mm695152e1_w . The one for Pfizer can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6950e2.htm?s_cid=mm6950e2_w . I left them here as ugly links so that you can’t miss them.

The US saw over 60,000 new cases of COVID last week. There are a number of factors at play here. First, is the new variant of COVID that is more virulent. Second is the lack of vaccinations. We are seeing the highest numbers of cases in areas of the country where people are refusing vaccinations. These are also areas where restrictions on social distancing and mandated mask wearing has been lifted. I am going to give you a scenario. You are at a party with ten friends/family. None of you are vaccinated. None of you have been social distancing. You just happen to be carrying the COVID virus, but don’t know it because you feel fine, maybe just a sniffle. None of you are wearing masks and the party is inside. Out of the ten people at the party, four people contract the virus. One person has a mild case. Another person has long term symptoms. Two of those people die from complications due to COVID. If you still think this party, the party where you are responsible for the death of two of your friends/family, is worth the risk then continue to not wear a mask or social distance and opt out of getting vaccinated. That possibility of being responsible for the death of another person made my choice to get vaccinated real easy.

Here’s the deal. We are never going back to ‘normal’. Masks and a little bit of distance is going to be the trend for a long time. When mask mandates lift, I suspect that I will still wear a mask, particularly if I have a cold or the sniffles. I will continue to stay patient and keep my distance in grocery stores and I don’t really see myself ever being comfortable in large crowds. I was never really comfortable in large crowds before the pandemic. The thing from my old normal that does get to happen now is that I can hug my friends. I can travel without quartining for ten days to go back to work. It is an adjusted life that is better than it what it was this time last year.

Discuss your health concerns and getting the vaccine with your Primary Care Physician. Your PCP will guide you in helping you make a choice that is right for you based off correct information.

HALF WAY THERE

When Steph and I were maybe sophomores in HS, we signed up for all these different science camps for the summer. Steph got into the one focused on the environment and I got into a biology camp (yes, I am fully aware of the picture I just painted of my HS self for you). Both of those camps required an up-to-date tetanus shot. Steph’s grandpa usually picked us up from school every day and then he would take us to Sonic, or we’d stop to see Steph’s mom at the tag office. This day, Steph’s dad, Mike, picked us up and we went to the tag office. When we got there, Steph’s mom Jenny said “Mike, do you still want to take Steph to Claremore?” It was raining and sometimes there’s an issue with the roads between Collinsville and Claremore when it rains. Me, being all pestery and curious started bugging Steph about why she had to go to Claremore. Steph replied “I have to go…” then she paused and I could see her face light up with an idea. Then she said “I’m going to get a tetanus shot and Cindy needs one too! Mom, you should call Pat and see if Cindy can go too!” I laughed and said “My mom is not going to let this happen.”

And then my mom totally let it happen.

Wednesday, I called a random number my friend Jeff sent me for a vaccination place thinking I would make an appointment for later in the week. The woman on the other end of the line said “Can you get here right now?” and before I knew it I was getting my first dose of the COVID vaccine. Just like all those years ago with Steph, I started my day with no idea that I would at some point be poked with a needle. Just like all those years ago, it all happened so fast that I still haven’t really mentally processed it all. It took ten minutes to drive to the clinic. I spent another ten minutes in line and another five minutes filling out paperwork. Then it took a second to get the shot, after which I was herded to a recovery room to wait for fifteen minutes. I was so flustered that when I left the recovery room, I crashed into a National Guardsman. He was very very apologetic and all I could say was “Oh my goodness, you’re so so tall!” Then I was home, blinking and thinking “WHAT JUST HAPPENED!” I had a bandaid on my right arm and vaccination card in my left hand with instructions for coming back to get the second dose.

The pain in my arm today is not as great as the hope I feel in my heart. While I don’t believe we will ever go back to the normal we had over a year ago, I do believe that this new normal is going to be a happier one.