Dr. Carlye Jensen BSc MD CCFP(EM) Dr. Jennifer Wilson BSC MD CCFP(EM) FCFP
UXBRIDGE: If the pandemic was a movie, we would now find ourselves at the climax. The audience realizes the tide is about to turn, holds their breath, moves to the edge of their seat, and hopes there are no further curve balls!
Just over half of Ontario residents over the age of sixteen have now received at least one vaccination against COVID-19. This is absolutely amazing! As the number of persons vaccinated continues to climb, we expect the cases of COVID-19 to continue to fall and life will gradually return to normal. This has been played out in the UK, in Israel, and in other countries who are ahead of us in the vaccine roll-out. The end is in sight!
Do vaccines work? Oh yes, they do. CDC tracking shows 95 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with only 9,245 of those individuals catching the disease post vaccination—that’s 1 in 10,000. Of these breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated people, only 835 were hospitalized (8 per million) and 112 died (1 per million). These impressive statistics show a very high level of protection.
Even better, just marvel at life in the UK right now. This past weekend, a club in Liverpool hosted a 3,000 person indoor rave! While neither one of us are particularly interested in a rave, we would very much like to have indoor visits or watch a movie at the Roxy once again! That is what lockdown plus vaccines get us.
What about AstraZeneca (AZ)? For those of you who got AZ and are feeling some degree of buyer’s remorse, we assure you that you did the right thing. Here is our advice on managing your emotions around AZ:
Breathe and take a minute to remind yourself that the clotting side effect (called VITT) is rare (1/24,000 to 1/125,000). Continued on page 19.