The only thing we know for sure about CV-19 is that we don’t know ANYTHING for sure.
There are lots of conflicting stories about the ”Pandemic” floating around and no way to tell for sure which of them are accurate.
MSNBC is saying one thing and FOX is saying another.
Americans and others in the wealthiest countries may only have temporary protection against COVID unless there is more of a worldwide effort to vaccinate people in poorer countries. The science tells us that the longer the virus thrives and is able to mutate in countries with low vaccination rates the more the character of the pandemic changes.
The U.S. and other wealthy countries have hoarded millions of doses of vaccine and that has proven to be a very short-sighted way to deal with a pandemic. There are few places on the globe not affected by COVID and that means that we have to accept the fact that control of the virus depends on global cooperation. The needed level of cooperation has been slow to evolve.
TOWNSHEND — Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital is now a Covid-19 vaccination site. Vermonters age 75+ can sign up to get their first dose at Grace Cottage by going to the Vermont Department of Health Covid-19 online Event Portal or by calling 855-722-7878.
So far, the following dates have been announced for vaccines at Grace Cottage: Wednesday, Feb. 10; Thursday, Feb. 11; Wednesday, Feb. 17; and Wednesday, Feb. 21. All appointments must be made through the Vermont Department of Health’s registration system.
World governments are trying to deal with the complexity of vaccinating enough of their populations to provide an adequate level of herd immunity to be able to declare that the COVID 19 pandemic is under control. Having a Darwinian health care system and a lack of federal leadership means the U.S. will most likely lag behind the rest of the world in vaccine rollout. Experts are guessing that anywhere from 70-90 percent of people need to be vaccinated to meet herd immunity efficacy .
One of the major problems that all countries face is the fact that no one really knows how the pandemic will play out, even under the best of vaccine rollout scenarios. In addition, there are many unknowns about how vaccines work and how the virus behaves.
It is difficult for the average person to understand what they need to know about a COVID vaccine before they decide to be inoculated. The vaccine will be available within weeks or months and public health officials are urging people to get vaccinated.
Government health officials are saying that the vaccines developed have proven to be safe and effective and that the best chance we all have for moving on and living in a world not controlled by the behavior of a virus is to continue to use masks, social distance and to take the vaccine when it becomes available.
According to Francis Collins MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it will take 80% coverage (vaccine administration) to get to herd immunity, and that is not likely to happen until the summer of 2021if all goes well.
Listening to news reports one might think that the only way that we can move from pandemic mode to some degree of post-pandemic normalcy is to have a vaccine to rid us of COVID 19. Any vaccine that is developed will not magically make COVID 19 go away. It might help a little, but a magic bullet cure is unlikely.
The sound bite, short-attention span world is not suited to explaining complex issues such as how vaccines are developed and how they work. Instead, the world sees hope when a lab developing a vaccine sends out premature press releases of success so their stock value can increase.
There are well established scientific protocols in place for vaccine development and they all require years of trials and research. Sometimes vaccine development efforts are successful and sometimes they are not. When a vaccine is developed and made available to the public it takes years for us to see the big picture of how the vaccine works.
