Knowledge Behind COVID Measures Sound | News, Sports, Jobs

Yes, that’s enough.

It is time to stand up and affirm healthy public health measures. It’s time to examine the solid scientific knowledge regarding the severity and rate of transmission of COVID-19.

Yes, there were and will be puzzling messages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But we are dealing with a constantly evolving virus and an evolution of new vaccines. Yet the advice of doctors, scientists and epidemiologists has been perfect in protecting people – if not totally free from COVID, at least disease modifying. What are these recommendations? Vaccination, masking, social distancing and hand washing. Public health is for the “common good,” one that will protect the most people, the most vulnerable, and it is everyone’s responsibility to participate. These are public health – sanitation monitoring, safe food preparation in restaurants, childhood immunizations and a number of other programs. Reliable and respected programs.

If I had kept my medical license, I would be in the office seeing patients. Being retired, I don’t want to add to the problem – getting sick – and have chosen to limit travel, limit in-person and indoor social contact, and shop during low traffic hours. I hide inside business enterprises. And I am vaccinated.

There is adequate and verifiable evidence that vaccinations are safe and effective in preventing COVID or modifying the infection. No vaccine is 100% safe and effective. The statistics that 90% of people currently hospitalized are not vaccinated speak for themselves. The “New” The mRNA vaccine has really been in the lab for over 30 years. Moderna and BioNTech have been in business for 10 and 15 years. (Nature 597, 318-324, (2021) and UAB News May 25, 2021.)

The mask problem is a little harder to have “perfect” statistical evidence of effectiveness. Since children and adults do not wear masks properly or use N95 or KN95 masks, good statistics will be difficult to come by. Multiple studies and knowledge on air droplet transmission of other viruses convince me of the benefits of masks. Many children wear masks without complaint – my grandchildren. It is the adults who are interfering with the Department of Health and CDC recommendations for children to wear masks. My feeling on this issue is to let the health department along with the CDC make these decisions in coordination with the schools. Although the number of cases is high, we, as citizens concerned about our neighbors, should wear masks inside businesses.

COVID can progress to an endemic problem, like the flu, but it will not relieve the pressure on our healthcare system until the vast majority of children (when the vaccine becomes available) and adults are vaccinated. or anyone who has chosen not to be vaccinated suffers the most serious consequences of COVID.

I also recognize that there will be people with medical conditions who are at risk of serious illness but cannot receive the vaccine, but are very vulnerable, and it is our collective responsibility as a caring society to protect this. group.