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.
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐๐ซ.
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.
๐๐จ, ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐๐-๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฌ – ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐’๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ญ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค, ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐จ. ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ง. ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐๐จ-๐ฌ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ, ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง. ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ.
๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐๐ซ.
-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