Posts Tagged: COVID 19

How to Encourage Hesitant Friends and Family to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine

• A new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor might shed light on what will encourage people to get vaccinated.

• The survey found that 21 percent of adults who said in January that they planned on waiting to get the vaccine have since been inoculated.

• People said seeing their friends and family having positive outcomes after getting vaccinated helped push them toward getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccinations have slowed in the U.S with about 68 percent of the adult population partially vaccinated.

Experts are now looking for new ways to encourage people to get vaccinated.

A new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor might shed light on what will encourage people to get vaccinated.

The survey found that 21 percent of adults who said in January that they planned on waiting to get the vaccine have since been inoculated.

These people said conversations with their friends, family members, and doctors as well as seeing those close to them get vaccinated without experiencing any serious side effects were the reasons they changed their minds.

“Vaccine hesitancy can unfortunately spread just as fast as COVID-19,” said Dr. Eric Ascher, a family medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. “One story with misinformation can circulate in the media very quickly, and we have seen that. What we do know is centuries’ worth of information on how vaccines work, and their safety profile.”

He added, “The best way to combat hesitancy is sharing the information that scientists and doctors gathered about vaccines to help debunk common myths.”

Having helpful conversations with vaccine-hesitant friends and family

Medical experts say it’s important to talk with compassion when having conversations with others who may be hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I always come back to the notion that you catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar,” said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Disrespecting a person who has declined vaccination so far won’t get you very far in persuading them. You must never disparage them,” he said. “You must always respect their concern and understand that their hesitancy is valid, and then try to help them overcome that hesitancy by making them comfortable enough to decide to receive the vaccine.”

There are several reasons people are still hesitant to get vaccinated.

Understanding what the common fears are, and acknowledging each person’s individual reasoning, is the first way to broach the subject.

Common myths about the COVID-19 vaccine

Myth: “The vaccine will alter my DNA.”

This is a common concern among vaccine-hesitant people. Here’s how you may try speaking with friends and family who have this concern, according to Ascher.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is an mRNA vaccine. This does not alter your DNA. It sends a picture of what COVID-19 looks like and instructions on how to fight it if infected,” Ascher told Healthline.

“Your body then destroys the picture and instructions but remembers them if needed. If the body comes in contact with the virus, it recalls what it looks like and pulls out the instructions on how to fight it,” he said.

Myth: “The vaccine was made too quickly.”

Schaffner recommends addressing this concern by acknowledging the fact that the vaccine is new, and that it is understandable that people may find that concerning.

However, billions of vaccines have been given globally. As a result, experts have a clear idea of the benefits and risks of vaccination.

And the number of people closely monitored during the COVID-19 vaccine trials is in line with other Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine trials.

Additionally, while these specific vaccines may be new, the research used to create them isn’t new, and was actually developed over decades.

“It’s been given to more than 186 million people in the U.S. alone,” Schaffner said. “Now we have a pretty good track record that it is really very, very safe.”

Ascher added it’s important to remember that much of the scientific community worked together for the vaccines’ development, which is one reason the vaccines were released so quickly.

The U.S. government also gave money to pharmaceutical companies so that they didn’t have to wait to fundraise to start a new phase of a clinical trial.

“Vaccine development requires a large amount of money,” Ascher said. “It could take more than 10 years to fundraise for vaccine development. Because of the desire and the need, we were able to bypass this. The entire scientific community around the world worked together in sharing research from over 30 years on this type of vaccine.”

Myth: “We don’t know about long-term effects.”

Severe side effects of most vaccines are extremely rare. If they do occur, it will be within weeks of getting the vaccine.

“Vaccine monitoring has historically shown that side effects generally happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine dose,” according to the CDCTrusted Source.

CDC officials clarified that they required 2 months of follow-up data after vaccination due to this understanding that side effects will appear shortly after injection.

“Of all the vaccines we use for our infants, children, and our fellow adults, and there must be 20 vaccines we use, none of them have long-term effects. That is one argument you can really put to rest,” Schaffner said.

Explaining vaccine side effects

It’s true: the vaccines do have some common side effects.

But it’s important to convey that the symptoms and risk of COVID-19 are much more serious.

“A sore arm and a mild fever, body aches, headache, and chills for 24 to 48 hours is much more welcomed than a potential ICU hospital stay or even worse, death. A vaccine that is 90 to 100 percent effective against hospitalization and dying is remarkable,” Ascher said.

This isn’t to say there’s no chance for serious side effects. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused temporarily earlier in the year due to the rare development of blood clots in certain people.

However, according to the CDCTrusted Source, the reports represent a rate of 7 events per 1 million vaccinations among women ages 18 through 49, and a rate of 0.9 per 1 million among women 50 and older.

As for the rare blood clotting associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, “that side effect was dominantly in women younger than age 50 and only with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We have plenty of Pfizer and Moderna to go around,” Schaffner said.

Additionally, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is linked to a slightly increased risk of the nerve disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome. According to dataTrusted Source from Johnson & Johnson and Janssen, the current known risk of this syndrome is about 8.1 per 1 million doses administered.

On July 23, an independent panel that advises the CDC found that the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine still far outweigh the risks.

Personal liberty vs. personal responsibility

One of the most common arguments among people who are vaccine hesitant or staunchly against vaccines is the disruption of their own personal liberty.

This is the argument that can be one of the more difficult to tackle.

Again, compassion, understanding, and validation of someone else’s feelings is always an easier way to have a conversation than with blame or shame.

Schaffner scripts out that conversation as follows:

“You are half right. Of course it is your decision what to do. But you know, this is a contagious infection, so your decision, I have to tell you, is not just about you. It affects people around you. This is my opinion, but the single most responsible thing you can do is to be vaccinated so you can’t pass it on to anyone else who might get really sick.”

How we communicate with people matters, and it can make a difference.

If you can help one person get vaccinated, we’re one step closer to ending the pandemic and making the world a much safer space again.

“Disrespecting the person who has declined vaccination so far won’t get you very far in persuading them,” Schaffner said. “Validate it for them and what specifically concerns them, and then they will be listening. They’ll tell you their specific issue, and you can deal with it in a very gentle, positive, supporting way.”

Let The 2nd Wave Of COVID-19 Find You Prepared

Advice From Hospitals, To Do From Home During Pandemic and since the second wave is deadlier heres more on what to do at home with your family 

Diet Is A Lifestyle

  • Try getting Cal-C-Vita and other vitamin C supplements and pills, during the cold season a lot of people start their with some vitamin C or you could go the organic route which is filling up on oranges.
  • Make sure to also eat vitamin e foods like vegetables oils, nuts seeds and green leafy vegetables, one i really like is herb tree rosemary on a well done steak seasoned with a little onions but you can also find vitamin e on cereals, juice and margarine
  • Some call it vitamin D some call it “tanning” whichever word you want to use we vouch for it, for 30 minutes sit in the sun  and absorb the vitamin d or you can get it from egg yorks, fish and liver, milk and saltwater (not that anyone drinks that)
  • Above all make sure you get in a egg meal, either way you like them.
  • We’re under lockdown so we would advise you to do alot of sleeping at least in 24hours sleep 7-8hours full
  • Make sure to keep hydrated with a bottle of water, Each day you should drink at least 1,5 liters
  • Eat only warm meals, This is no time for ice cream, We understand juice and fruits but other than that keep it warm.

That diet is the same diet that doctors and nurses use to strengthen the immune system of the patients that were admitted for the COVID – 19

The pH of the corona virus varies from 5.5 to 8.5 therefore all we have to do to eliminate the virus is to consume more alkaline foods above the acidity level of the virus

For example:

  • Bananas 4.5 pH known for their high potassium helps build proteins, builds muscle and regulates the hearts electrical activity.
  • Lemon 9.9 pH known for their sour bitter taste, This fruit is good cause it kills bacteria in your mouth and really just gives the body that pump of vitamin C
  • Avocado 15.6 pH known for their delicious taste the avocado provides blood sugar regulation and nerve function
  • Garlic 8.7 pH known for their bad smell, you’ll be glad to add garlic in your food because it is an antibiotic for infectious diseases and chronic coughs
  • Mango 8.7 pH known for its sweetness the mango has natural sugars that give enegry and vitality with vitamins like iron and and zinc
  • Tangerine 8.5 pH known for looking like an orange, The tangerine is citrus fruit containing hybrids of mandarin orange packed with Vitamin E, B6 & Choline fights against cold sweats and ease the throat during a cold.
  • Pineapple 12,7 pH known for its sweet taste maximizing the bodies sugar levels and making sure the immune system fights for itself
  • Watercress 22,7pH grows in running water and it’s leaves can be used as salads leaves it ensures a healthy metabolism to keep you regulated and fresh
  • Oranges 9,2 pH known for its calcium level that regulates influenza for years but we would like to also focus on the orange peal that minimizes the effects of any immune disease

How Do You Know You’re Infected By COVID-19

  • Itching Throat
  • Dry Throat
  • Dry Cough
  • Short Breathe
  • High Temperature
  • Loss Of Smell

Lemon with warm water eliminates the virus at the beginning before reaching the lungs

SEX & COVID 19

SEX AND CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) Something from the city of New York: All New Yorkers should stay home and minimize contact with others to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

But can you have sex? Here are some tips for how to enjoy sex and to avoid spreading COVID-19.

1. Know how COVID-19 spreads.

• You can get COVID-19 from a person who has it. o The virus can spread to people who are within about 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 when that person coughs or sneezes. o The virus can spread through direct contact with their saliva or mucus.

• We still have a lot to learn about COVID-19 and sex. o COVID-19 has been found in feces of people who are infected with the virus. o COVID-19 has not yet been found in semen or vaginal fluid. o We know that other coronaviruses do not efficiently transmit through sex.

2. Have sex with people close to you.

• You are your safest sex partner. Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after sex.

• The next safest partner is someone you live with. Having close contact — including sex — with only a small circle of people helps prevent spreading COVID-19. Have sex only with consenting partners.

• You should avoid close contact — including sex — with anyone outside your household. If you do have sex with others, have as few partners as possible.

• If you usually meet your sex partners online or make a living by having sex, consider taking a break from in-person dates. Video dates, sexting or chat rooms may be options for you.

3. Take care during sex.

• Kissing can easily pass COVID-19. Avoid kissing anyone who is not part of your small circle of close contacts.

• Rimming (mouth on anus) might spread COVID-19. Virus in feces may enter your mouth. • Condoms and dental dams can reduce contact with saliva or feces, especially during oral or anal sex. •

Washing up before and after sex is more important than ever.

o Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

o Wash sex toys with soap and warm water.

o Disinfect keyboards and touch screens that you share with others (for video chat, for watching pornography or for anything else).

4. Skip sex if you or your partner is not feeling well.

• If you or a partner may have COVID-19, avoid sex and especially kissing.

• If you start to feel unwell, you may be about to develop symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath.

• If you or your partner has a medical condition that can lead to more severe COVID-19, you may also want to skip sex. o Medical conditions include lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or a weakened immune system (for example, having unsuppressed HIV and a low CD4 count).

5. Prevent HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy.

• HIV: Condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and having an undetectable viral load all help prevent HIV. For more information, visit nyc.gov/health and search HIV.

• Other STIs: Condoms help prevent other STIs. Visit nyc.gov/health and search STIs.

• Pregnancy: Make sure you have an effective form of birth control for the coming weeks. Visit nyc.gov/health and search birth control.