Even if you don’t know me, you should have guessed this is where I was going.
Speaking of mRNA vaccines, Covid is still a thing despite our best cognitive dissonance.
Yes, I know, Covid is annoying. We’d all love for it to just disappear, and according to most of the government, it has! But according to the World Health Organization, just in the four complete epidemiological weeks preceding September 22nd, there have been 294,800 reported cases and 5,157 Covid deaths globally, most of the latter here in the US. It really goes to show how warped our cultural attitudes are when the data for reported cases in that same timeframe are almost nonexistent, yet our death toll is 4.2k, but I digress.
New Mexico, along with one other state, does not have wastewater surveillance data, so we honestly have no way of knowing if Covid is even prevalent in our community right now. Personally, I do know 2 people who have caught it recently, so maybe not *raging*, but it is here. We have the slight advantage of having a quite small population, so the numbers never would look harrowing.
Another very serious consideration to be mindful of is the absolute hell that long Covid has wreaked on our country.
Again; mRNA vaccines work by replicating an in this case coronavirus synthetically. They deliver genetic information outside of the nucleus, the part of the cell that hosts DNA. According to John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, mRNA vaccines disintegrate shortly after delivering RNA to trigger a viral spike protein-immune response. This year, the 2 mRNA vaccines are again Moderna and Pfizer, targeting the KP.2 strain, one of the variants spreading since the spring.
One bit of discourse I almost kind of agreed with early-on is that Covid is like the flu. Yes, symptoms change, and this coronavirus is still fairly new especially compared to the decades of research we have on influenza vaccine, but there are similarities. One, both KEEP MUTATING. You can ignore recommendations all you want, but keeping updated on both vaccines is really, really important. Second, people do in fact die from Covid and the flu, every single year. Sure, a lot of people are down for a week or 2, then they’re fine. But the data says that’s not the case for plenty of people.
As we all know, Joe Biden declared the end of the national emergency of Covid then promptly got infected 2 years ago. Since then, most government protocols for when you contract the virus have gone out the window. Hell, New York just successfully passed its first mask ban into law, and several other places are trying their damnedest to do the same.
I must admit, I´m not the greatest at practicing Covid precautions besides occasional masking and staying up-to-date on vaccines. However, when the government lets us down, we need to pull through for each other. It’s especially pertinent this time of year because almost every illness tends to have a spike in the fall and winter.
As a reminder to you and me, on top of masking in crowded places and the vaccine, the CDC recommends practicing good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, frequent hand washing, disinfecting high traffic surfaces, and getting as much fresh air as possible.
This year, the most common symptoms of Covid to watch for are congestion or runny nose, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, fever or chills, headache, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste or smell, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, and sore throat. Less common symptoms identified by WHO are a rash on skin, discoloration of fingers or toes, and red/irritated eyes.
The government isn’t exactly paying the appropriate lip service to the pandemic anymore, but it isn’t completely leaving us in the dark. I wouldn’t have been able to get stats for this post, for one thing. They also reopened the program late last month to send free Covid tests by mail.
I personally got mine at the same time I got my flu shot last month, and there is talk of trying to develop a flu/Covid combo shot possibly for fall 2025. Your best bet to get the updated vaccine are through either of the Walmarts, Walgreens, Albertsons, or the health department on 8th street (always low cost or free; it’s a great health resource). As of this morning, Lowe’s Signature is out and the Alamogordo Community Pharmacy should be restocked by the end of next week. Most insurances and Medicare cover the Covid shot.
Here are the pharmacies in town.
I planned to do my first few blog posts on things that weren’t quite so heavy, but as you’ll soon learn, I barely have any chill to begin with. Plus, this was cathartic. So next week, I’m just going to continue to rant about Covid.
Until Tuesday,
Salud
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