Newsletter #3: COVID News, Flu Vaccine, Glucosamine, CBD

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  This data has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it would suggest that in patients who had severe coronavirus, the rate of potential long-term complications are quite high.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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