Margazine

These are things I have learned and observed  about the issues surrounding the 2021  iteration of the COVID pandemic

Assume nothing and be adaptable

During the initial COVID outbreak, businesses that quickly adapted survived. Now we must o any new variant that could come. People probably think I am crazy when I harp on Lambda, but Delta caught us by surprise. I hope that none of these other variants predominate the US, but we cannot take that for granted anymore. I was also confident that COVID was over by mid-2021. The shock of Delta’s arrival was the emotional equivalent of being in frigid waters, So I was not surprised to read about the anger. However, this possibility existed long before the vaccines were available. I learned to be diligent but not panic during the first phase of the pandemic. This is no different to me now.

New Variant More Problems?

Speaking of Lambda Lambda, There were 750 cases reported in Texas after patients to the place of origin. . The fact that these cases were contained so quickly is a good sign. However, I will keep my vigilant stance until I know for sure this is not a threat. Keep in mind the original COVID-19 causing virus entered the US from an imported case. I foresee a logistical nightmare if Lambda mixes with Delta, even if it is not as deadly. Too many widely varying variants will confuse everyone involved, including the public. W

Heading in the pro COVID vaccine direction, but still concerned.

In light of the abnormal and unpredictable nature of the virus, I may be expecting non-existent perfection from the vaccines themselves. . It still angers me that I have to get it to find out if it will happen. But if I get to a pharmacy, the pharmacist can probably immediately give me epinephrine to stop the reaction on the spot.

The CDC’s deliberate inaction on possible side effects bothered me after they said we have to give it to people to know. The CDC justified this by saying the possible effects were rare. Under normal circumstances, they would have investigated all possible side effects. However, they were so anxious to get more shots in people’s arms that they scrapped due diligence. . Hopefully, full approval will depend on more testing, And as a result, that will shed more light on the possible side effects.

The heated rhetoric is worse than COVID itself.

The government is too lazy to make an honest effort to understand all of the reasons for hesitancy. Some of us have legitimate concerns about side effects. Instead, they give us conflicting information. This drives reluctance and anger even more. When outlets like Vanity Fair criticizes this with a provocative headline, you know something is up. In addition, the inconsistency even confused my dad, who is way more analytical than I am. When they don’t get their way, they gaslight the hesitant with divisive and heated rhetoric. Division and discord make people more defensive. . I mistrust the government officials who fed us erroneous information as if it was true.

My suspicions were confirmed about the Johnson and Johnson’s COVID vaccine .

Initially, the low efficacy of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine turned me off. Then, ironically, health experts recommended mRNA boosters for those who received the Johnson and Johnson shot. Apparently, a second Johnson and Johnson shot is ineffective or dangerous. In addition, reports linked it to Guillain Barre syndrome, an infectious version of MS. So now I believe even more than vaccine is low quality, and the FDA should have never approved it.

Since Guillan Barre can be viral, its possible connection to the Johnson and Johnson shot does not surprise me. The shot uses a viral vector as the mechanism of action. A viral vector is a non-infectious version of a virus that transports material into a cell. Perhaps the FDA and others should have anticipated this after something similar went awry. For example, Bluebirdtemporarily shut down its viral vector sickle cell anemia gene therapy study after 2 test subjects got cancer. One of the instances had the same genome as the viral carrier. Now, they found cancer that subject got was unrelated. However, this should be a significant warning sign about the potential risks of viral vectors in general.

As a result, I am glad this is not the dominant vaccine in the US. However, I question the wisdom of giving it to other countries in light of this.

Update 8/20/21:

Since I wrote this, I got vaccinated. However, my concerns remain. I wish people would mention the vaccine limitations. However, they won’t because it might increase hesitancy. In fact, one person said that it was not true that vaccines only prevented symptoms. That may be true of some, but not the major ones, especially the FDA-authorized ones in the US. If it is universally true, I wish they would emphasize that and just the symptom prevention effects. This also made me hesitant in the first place besides the possibility of significant side effects. I thought I might as well take my chances with COVID than get a vaccine that doesn’t eliminate it entirely While rare and generally mild, Breakthrough infections can happen as it did three US Senators. In addition, there is always a chance for spread and further mutation if the vaccine cannot neutralize the threat.

As I said in my follow-up post, I began to think realistically about it. But, again, there was no pressure involved; I just had a good discussion about the pros and cons with my parents.

Whether pro- or anti, I will not put up with any politicking or heated rhetoric over the vaccine. If you want to see an example of this, follow my hashtag #wacksine ( a combo of wack and vaccine, hehe) on Twitter and Facebook.

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