January 2021
COVID-19 NEWS
Shot #2 Update. I received my second Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on January11. I had a bit of a sore arm at the beginning, but nothing special. Approximately 10 hours later, I started to develop a fever. It ultimately went to 101°. I also had muscle aches and pains and a mild headache. This lasted for approximately 12 hours, and then seemed to disappear completely. I have not had any symptoms since. While not pleasant, the side-effects were tolerable. I think my experience is rather typical. You can expect more significant symptoms with your second shot, compared to the first. Take a look at the chart below which lists the typical symptoms and their frequency:
If the above table is giving you second thoughts about the vaccine, you might want to consider the following study:

Yet to be published research by Leicester University, England, found a potentially devastating long-term toll on survivors of severe coronavirus. Out of 47,780 people who were discharged from the hospital, 29.4% were readmitted to the hospital within 140 days and 12.3% of the total died. This data has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it would suggest that in patients who had severe coronavirus, the rate of potential long-term complications are quite high. So, maybe the side effects listed above are a small price to pay to avoid long-term complications.
Do we really need to close restaurants, stores and schools? I am not convinced that we are "following the science" when it comes to closing businesses. A recent study seems to support my belief. A study published in the Wily Online Library on January 5 compared Covid cases in England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United States, all of which instituted mandatory stay at home orders and business closures- to South Korea and Sweden which only implemented voluntary personal precautions such as social distancing, good handwashing and wearing a mask. After comparing countries with the most restrictive measures to those with least restrictive measures, the researchers felt that there was "no clear, significant beneficial effect of [more restrictive measures] on case growth in any country". This would suggest that mandatory lockdowns do not significantly stop the spread more than personal measures like social distancing, handwashing and mask wearing.
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