YOUR HEALTH
Myths, Masks, and Mutations By Elizabeth Morse Read
Just when we all think that the coronavirus crisis has turned the proverbial corner, some new monkey wrench gets thrown into the works. First, we started the new year anxiously waiting for the “grand plan” for vaccine distribution to kick in nationwide – only to find out after the Biden inauguration that there’d been no vaccine distribution plan left behind, grand nor small. Then the states all scrambled to create seat-of-the-pants plans to vaccinate the elderly and front-line workers, only to discover that the federal supplies of the vaccines were going missing (or mislaid) between points A and B. Sign-up websites crashed, appointments were cancelled, elderly people waited hours in long lines for a limited supply of vaccinations. Hospitals and local medical centers initially had the largest supplies of vaccines, but then mass vaccination sites were created. And then came the mutations… How do we beat the mutations?
It is critical to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible – even with only a first dose – if we are to avoid the threat of viral mutations. We also need to continue practicing the public health hygiene measures of wearing a mask,
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keeping social distance, washing hands frequently and avoiding crowds, especially indoors. Remember – a virus cannot mutate if it cannot find a host (an unprotected person) to infect, so get any vaccine you can as soon as possible. It is especially important that people who have
March 2021 | The South Coast Insider
recovered from a Covid-19 infection get vaccinated, too, as they may be particularly vulnerable to re-infection by a variant strain of the original virus. As new mutations keep cropping up, it might seem as if we’re fighting a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. But vaccine manufacturers are already tweaking current vaccines and developing “booster” shots that will specifically address emerging mutations. Perhaps, like the flu vaccine that changes every year, Covid-19 vaccines will need to be administered on an annual basis to everyone around the globe.
Which vaccine is the “best”?
There will soon be five approved vaccines available in the US: Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Oxford/ AstraZeneca, and Novavax. Not only will having such an arsenal of vaccines save more lives, but it will also relieve the crippling burden on our nation’s healthcare system and frontline medical workers. New information floods in every day about different vaccines as studies are ongoing, even after a vaccine has been approved by the FDA. For instance, all vaccines will prevent severe illness, but some may also prevent transmission of the virus itself. One vaccine might be very good at evading the UK mutation, but another may
