Everyone is getting covid including our double-boosted president; Some thoughts of wisdom from Dr. C.

Covid, you can run, mask, boost but apparently cannot hide from this ever-changing virus.   The good news is that most of us get a bad cold and then get over it. Unlike many other viruses, this one is more carefully studied and tracked by the scientific community due to the original pandemic version of the virus.

It seems that those who never got covid are getting it in mass including those who were boosted, masked, and did everything the experts recommended. Boris Johnson and even President Biden just joined the covid positive club  Has something gone wrong or is mother nature wiser than we were told to believe? Maybe we need to stop the insanity and understand the practical side of the science of immunity.

All animals have adapted over thousands of years to deal with viruses, bacteria, and other potentially scary things our bodies fight off in the background.  Under normal circumstances, we would breathe each other’s air and share all these elements with each other.   The immune system would act in the background to attack anything that had the potential to harm us.   The system would learn how to recognize and eliminate different viruses and bacteria in the background in ways scientists still don’t fully understand.   Natural immunity is different from vaccine immunity in that when your body responds to something, it is specific to that invasive element.  Vaccines mimic the invasive elements causing an immune reaction however, it seems natural immunity is far more important when it comes to viruses that are changing quickly. Is it possible that the masking is preventing your immune system from protecting you since it eliminates many of the elements your body learns about?

We never think of natural immunity and the belief that medically we have all the answers is being overturned by mother nature as even the most careful and diligent are getting covid.   Recently, my brother, his wife, and friends including one who returned with us from our trip to Africa got it.  My friend’s husband who got covid in June was fine as well as me and my wife who already had covid. On the other hand, it seems few who already had covid are getting it again.  Most of you likely had similar experiences.

While we now have a new covid shot, Novavax which may be easier to deal with than the mRNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, unless the formulation changes, these original vaccines were for a virus that has learned to evade the vaccine in most of us allowing us to get ill anyway.   The silver lining is that scientists believe that community immunity plus the vaccine is reducing hospitalization.   These are beliefs only based on past data which may no longer hold up.   Welcome to covid, the endemic virus.    We are likely to be living with this for years to come as it will be a nuisance and inconvenience but life goes on as it does with other viruses.

If you haven’t been vaccinated but wish to do so, covid shots are safe for a vaccine, yet some people will have reactions and feel ill from them. In my experience, I had three vaccines for my trip to Africa which left me feeling a little tired with sore arms but felt fine the following day.  The covid19 Pfizer shots left me feeling listless and sore the following day and the Moderna booster did the same but less so. Perhaps, we need more traditional vaccines such as Novavax which is now available.   Considering the virus is moving faster than manufacturers can change formulations, nobody really knows if the vaccination at this time is doing much of anything to prevent us from experiencing a version of covid.   Perhaps, pandemics end with a messy road to natural immunity.

Looking at the big picture and understanding what we have learned about covid, Dr. C recommends the following.

•  Take off the masks unless required in certain environments such as medical offices as required by the governor.
• Get around people and stop being afraid of others.
• Make sure you have a good vitamin D supplement, natural sunlight, or both.
• Get proper exercise.
• Embrace the new normal.
• Be ok with having covid, as it will lead to long-lasting natural immunity.