The world I’ve lived in for 68 years has been changed by Covid and not for the better. Fear and anxiety have become prevalent among a large segment of our population, leading to poor sleep, agitation, and, in some cases, poor decision making. While fear and anxiety often are negative emotions, they do confer a certain benefit on the person suffering from them. The individual that reacts to the growling dog by becoming anxious and slowly backing away from it is more likely to survive than the individual who ignores the threat and further invades the animal’s space.
On a daily basis, I get bombarded with opinions about the Covid vaccines and treatments whether I’m interested in the conversation or not. The avalanche of opinions come from doctors, scientists, journalists, Google (internet), neighbors, friends, and former patients, as well as from those that have become overnight experts by reading a few articles on Covid found in today’s email or CNN newsflashes.
My purpose in writing this article is not to validate any opinions on Covid and the treatment of Covid, but instead to point out one simple truth. Covid, and the subsequent fear and anxiety induced by Covid, has become the number one excuse for everything that goes wrong.
I used to tell my patients that when their doctors think they know more than the medical authorities, it’s time to find a new doc! Well, the authorities are telling us to get immunized against Covid ASAP, to wear masks and wash your hands frequently. While I read everything I can find on Covid, I am not an expert in infectious diseases. After 40 years of practice, I am qualified to interpret the data and I chose to believe the authorities and follow their recommendations.
Those who fear Covid, the medical authorities and the government steadfastly refuse the vaccine, fearing its possible long-term effects. While I believe the vaccines are safe and fairly effective, I can understand their fears. I can’t understand their stubborn insistence on not wearing a mask.
Last week I was listening to a 50-year-old lawyer list his reasons for not getting immunized. He stated that vaccines were often not effective and carried substantial risk. Rather than getting into a debate I couldn’t win as he was so sure of his beliefs, I simply pointed out to him that he looked awfully good for someone that had polio; he was quick to deny ever having polio. I asked him if he remembered having mumps or measles and he emphatically denied having had both. I quickly added that he was lucky not to have been scarred for life from having smallpox and again he stated that he was healthy with a strong immune system and never had any of the childhood illnesses that were so common in years past.
I set the trap and he fell right in! He had avoided all the childhood illnesses that once upon a time killed and scarred children because he was immunized at a very early age. Yes, vaccines carry some minimal risks, but those risk are overshadowed by the risk of the disease and the risk of Covid is death.
Life is dangerous whether you live it to its fullest or hide from it, waiting until the storm passes. I suggest that you live life to its fullest while heeding the warnings and Covid protocols put forth by the world’s medical authorities. Isolating yourself and family at home carries its own risks, both short and long-term.
I have had two primary shots of PZIZER’S vaccine as well as a booster. I wear a mask in public even though I hate wearing it. I avoid anyone who has not been immunized. I avoid crowds!
I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year, free from Covid.
Here’s today’s joke.
Two octogenarians are sitting at a table having lunch. They have lunched together fo50 years:
Mrs. A – I’ve known you forever, so I hope you won’t be upset but I’m dying to ask you a question. I’m so very embarrassed.
Mrs. B- Don’t be silly. You can ask me anything!
Mrs. A- What’s your name
Mrs. B- Oh, honey, don’t be embarrassed. Can you give me a few days to think about it
Logic and common sense are lost on the unvaxxed. Our brief history with Covid has proven that. There’s a line in the movie A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge, referring to the poor and hungry, vents to two gentlemen who are collecting to the unfortunate. “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Of course it’s a despicable attitude but we’re seeing the end result happening when people are on their death bed with Covid and expressing their sorrow for not getting vaccinated. Even that doesn’t reach the unvaxxed. The sad reality is the more unvaxxed that die from Covid the sooner we get to herd immunity. And the sooner we will get more hospital beds for the vaccinated who need care. My comments are assuming that the unvaxxed are also against masking.