Three big things happened today – preliminary vaccine results, the new administration’s COVID-19 task force members, and the new administration’s COVID-19 plan were announced. And, a collective sigh of relief was heard. I’ve been wanting to share any type of good news – especially for those of you who are weary, tired, and frustrated at this pandemic. There.is.finally.relief.coming.

This morning, I felt like I could finally see the horizon and hope. I knew it was there – but it’s like climbing up a huge mountain when you know what you will see from the top and it takes for.e.ver to get there. =)

We have been writing about it and asking people to hold on for a long time, haven’t we? We’ve talked about the need for a coordinated national plan (again, not a lockdown – a systematic, data-driven, scientific, economy-friendly plan) and that vaccines and treatments are coming. Holding on has been hard, web-friends. I hear you. Lots of you. So, if you feel like you need some hope and encouragement that you are not alone – Today Is Your Day. If you feel alone, I wish I could collect everyone up into one big zoom meeting and let you see the thousands of others that have believed the science from the beginning. You may have felt alone but I promise you are not. It’s just that the loudest voices have been naysayers – but, I don’t think that’s the majority. Just the loudest.

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫.

1. You’ve probably heard by now about the Pfizer announcement with the vaccine. We are still waiting to hear about the details of the study. But, the prelims look promising. We can get into the weeds in another post about why I trust the vaccine approval process. But, the vaccine approval process (the non-partisan one that has been in place for years) is solid. I will be first in line to get one (along with my family) when the vaccines are approved by the rigorous scientific and non-partisan process of the vaccine pipeline. I’ll do a detailed post on why I trust this process.

2. The new administration’s COVID-19 taskforce are some of the avengers from the infectious disease/medical/science world. =) You’ve probably heard me mention several of their names on who to believe from the beginning – Dr. Michael Osterholm and Dr. Atul Gawande. Some others include Dr. David Kessler (worked with Bush (HW) and Clinton) and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith (expert in healthcare equity). We know this pandemic has disproportionately hit minority communities and Dr. Nunez-Smith has been a leading voice highlighted these inequities. Collectively, this team has decades of experience who have earned the right to lead us out of the pandemic. It wouldn’t surprise me if Dr. Tom Friedan and Dr. Fauci will take part in some capacity too.

3. The COVID-19 plan by the new administration is solid science, systematic, and doable. The plan is not hard (we’ve said that from the start) and will to protect lives, our healthcare systems, and economy. I’m sure we will hear more on the details of the plan in the next few months. But, the foundation is solid and similar to other country responses that have done a great job at curbing the pandemic plus keeping the economy afloat.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞𝐛-𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 – 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 – 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐨-𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬.

𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫.

-Friendly neighbor epidemiologist

SOURCES:

Pfizer vaccine: https://www.pfizer.com/news/hot-topics/albert_bourla_discusses_covid_19_vaccine_efficacy_results

COVID-19 task force and plan: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/08/930887069/hold-president-elect-biden-has-a-plan-to-combat-covid-19-heres-what-s-in-it

Photo: Final Switchback – Katie Jeanne Reim