Vaccination
Comments have been turned off because I don't want to start an online argument . These are my thoughts and they are worth just what you paid for them.
I have been asked by several people to “give my take” on COVID vaccine. Your first question should be, why me. Well, if you have read my profile you know that I have spent 42 years in the practice of Public Health. 32 years with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and another 10 as a Deputy Director of the Health Department in the largest and most urbanized county in Georgia. My background is as a statistical epidemiologist. You may not remember that there was a time we didn’t have computers. We were the computers for epidemiology. While with CDC I participated in the war on smallpox, polio, measles, rubella, etc. All of which are basically gone from America. Smallpox is gone from the world. My last 10 years I spent directing the epidemiology and immunization branches of that health department.
Disclaimer. I am not a doctor. I may not know how to treat a disease but I know how to stop an epidemic. That’s what I did. Regardless of what you hear, heard immunity is the only way you stop an epidemic, a pandemic, or a simple outbreak. How do you achieve heard immunity? Two ways. Vaccine and disease.
That’s out of the way so let’s get to the heart of the matter. First and foremost is the fact that only you should decide whether you want to take a vaccine. It’s your body, not the government’s. Vaccines are wonderful. They were instrumental in winning the war on smallpox, polio, measles, etc. But it was heard immunity that won those wars. Heard immunity is not simply achieved by vaccine. In fact, natural infection is more effective than vaccine. So, what does that mean for me.
Well, these are new vaccines. Developed very differently than vaccines of the past. Consequently we have no idea about the long term effects, not much about the short term effects and the real efficacy of these vaccines.
If you are over 65 or have underlying conditions (such as diabetes, etc.) you definitely should take the vaccine. I have and my wife has. On the other hand, I would not advise anyone under the age of 18 to take this vaccine. Take your chances and if you get the disease it will more than likely be very mild and then you will be immune. Natural immunity is always better than a vaccine. If you are between 18 and 65 with no underlying conditions, it’s a crap shoot. If I were a woman of child bearing age, I wouldn’t take it on a bet. We have no idea about the long term consequences of taking this vaccine. At my age the risk of dying from the disease outweighs the risk of the vaccine. If I were younger, I would have a very different perspective. Whatever you do, do not give in to the mandate. So very anti-American. Do what you think is right for you. In summary, if you are over 65 or have complications, take it; if you are under 18, don’t take it; If you are a woman of child bearing age that want’s to have children, don’t take it; for the others, just weigh the risk. There is no perfect answer.
One last thought. In all of those 42 years, I never saw a study that said cloth mask would do anything to prevent the spread of a virus. N95 mask might help. But the cloth mask everyone is wearing, forget it. Just makes you smell your own bad breath. That’s meant in humor but it’s also true.
By the way, that's me in 1965 vaccinating a young Brazilian girl against smallpox.
Vaccination
Comments have been turned off because I don't want to start an online argument . These are my thoughts and they are worth just what you paid for them.
I have been asked by several people to “give my take” on COVID vaccine. Your first question should be, why me. Well, if you have read my profile you know that I have spent 42 years in the practice of Public Health. 32 years with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and another 10 as a Deputy Director of the Health Department in the largest and most urbanized county in Georgia. My background is as a statistical epidemiologist. You may not remember that there was a time we didn’t have computers. We were the computers for epidemiology. While with CDC I participated in the war on smallpox, polio, measles, rubella, etc. All of which are basically gone from America. Smallpox is gone from the world. My last 10 years I spent directing the epidemiology and immunization branches of that health department.
Disclaimer. I am not a doctor. I may not know how to treat a disease but I know how to stop an epidemic. That’s what I did. Regardless of what you hear, heard immunity is the only way you stop an epidemic, a pandemic, or a simple outbreak. How do you achieve heard immunity? Two ways. Vaccine and disease.
That’s out of the way so let’s get to the heart of the matter. First and foremost is the fact that only you should decide whether you want to take a vaccine. It’s your body, not the government’s. Vaccines are wonderful. They were instrumental in winning the war on smallpox, polio, measles, etc. But it was heard immunity that won those wars. Heard immunity is not simply achieved by vaccine. In fact, natural infection is more effective than vaccine. So, what does that mean for me.
Well, these are new vaccines. Developed very differently than vaccines of the past. Consequently we have no idea about the long term effects, not much about the short term effects and the real efficacy of these vaccines.
If you are over 65 or have underlying conditions (such as diabetes, etc.) you definitely should take the vaccine. I have and my wife has. On the other hand, I would not advise anyone under the age of 18 to take this vaccine. Take your chances and if you get the disease it will more than likely be very mild and then you will be immune. Natural immunity is always better than a vaccine. If you are between 18 and 65 with no underlying conditions, it’s a crap shoot. If I were a woman of child bearing age, I wouldn’t take it on a bet. We have no idea about the long term consequences of taking this vaccine. At my age the risk of dying from the disease outweighs the risk of the vaccine. If I were younger, I would have a very different perspective. Whatever you do, do not give in to the mandate. So very anti-American. Do what you think is right for you. In summary, if you are over 65 or have complications, take it; if you are under 18, don’t take it; If you are a woman of child bearing age that want’s to have children, don’t take it; for the others, just weigh the risk. There is no perfect answer.
One last thought. In all of those 42 years, I never saw a study that said cloth mask would do anything to prevent the spread of a virus. N95 mask might help. But the cloth mask everyone is wearing, forget it. Just makes you smell your own bad breath. That’s meant in humor but it’s also true.
By the way, that's me in 1965 vaccinating a young Brazilian girl against smallpox.