Happy Saturday, TVD Friends,
It is starting to feel a little bit lighter, do you feel it? Yes, the days are a bit longer, and the flowers are blooming, but also vaccine is both easier to obtain and now nearly 20% of Californians are vaccinated. The numbers are even better in San Mateo County, with more than HALF of us having had at least one dose, and roughly a third are fully vaccinated. Quite an achievement. The ABC Channel 7 team has built a terrific online tool where you can see California COVID-19 vaccine distribution over time, on a county by county basis. Have a look at it here.
To that end, read more about how to take care of your Vaccine Card (do), advice on mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines (best not), and learn more about the status of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been used around the world, but not yet here at home.
Until next week, be well, and enjoy.
Eric Weiss, MD, April 10, 2021
NOTE: CV🦠News is a labor of love. If you enjoy reading this, please share widely! Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Please subscribe here.
It still remains to be seen what sorts of activities will require proof of vaccination. It’s safe to assume that many countries will require vaccine cards to enter their borders, and that some employers will make vaccination mandatory. Same goes for cruise ships and potentially even concerts and sporting events.
Suffice it to say, your vaccine card will likely be an important document if you want to do all the things you were doing before the pandemic. While systems are starting to emerge to digitize immunization records so that all you’ll need for proof is your phone, at this point it seems likely that you’ll need to show the physical card… Read more
Prerana Sangani, MD, April 6, 2021
The answer is: Not yet, but hopefully soon, at least with some. We don’t have enough information at this time, but there are ongoing studies to answer this question.
Recent shortages of vaccine and the urgency of increasing vaccination rates have brought this question even more into the limelight. If mixed vaccine combinations work, they may provide needed flexibility when production of one vaccine falters. And there’s the chance that mixing doses of two different vaccines may boost protection. For example, AstraZeneca’s vaccine uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vector for both its prime and booster doses. In theory, the use of the same vector for both shots could mean the immune response triggered by the first vaccine could cripple the booster vaccine if the body recognizes and destroys the chimpanzee adenovirus vector in the booster dose prior to it getting where it needs to go… Read more
Jennifer Abrams, MD, April 5, 2021
In December 2020 the AstraZeneca vaccine was authorized for use in the UK; by March 2021, it was being administered in more than 70 countries across the world. Yet the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine has also experienced several major setbacks.
In March 2021 the scientific board supervising one of their U.S. clinical trials wrote a letter criticizing the company for releasing “outdated and potentially misleading” data in a press release. The vaccine’s distribution in Europe was also briefly put on hold that month after reports of an estimated 30 vaccine recipients – out of 5 million people across Europe – who experienced rare blood-clots. The World Health Organization, UK health authorities and the European Medicines Agency have since all expressed their support for the vaccine, saying its benefits outweigh any risks… Read more
Jackie Phillips, MD, April 5, 2021
HOPE AND GRACE
If you have made it this far, time for a reward, something to lighten your day, and acknowledge the human spirit. Find some escape, or perhaps even inspiration, in this ever-growing collection of works and perspectives gathered from around the world. Please contact me directly if you have come across something that has lifted your heart today. Dr. Eric Weiss
Inverted Lunar Photos Show Where Magma Once Flowed
California-based photographer Andrew McCarthy has altered photos of the Moon’s surface to highlight the things the human eye cannot see. In the inverted photographs, one can now see where magma once flowed on the lunar surface. He says, “Our eyes are quite incredible, but sometimes it’s cool seeing what things could look like with superhuman vision.”
Check out more of his photos here!
Elon Musk’s brother starts “Million Garden Movement” to combat food insecurity
The Million Gardens Movement is a charitable initiative that hopes to put a garden in every household and fresh fruit and vegetables on every plate. You can sign up on their website to get a garden for yourself and receive personalized guidance throughout the year. Or, if you donate $10, you can give a garden to a family who can’t afford it or lives in a food desert. Over 5,000 ready-to-use garden beds have been distributed!
Get gardening here!
Stanford Researchers use 2,000 Mics to Reveal why Hummingbirds Hum
Researchers from Eindhoven University of technology, Stanford, and Sorama have meticulously observed hummingbirds using 12 cameras and 2,176 microphones. The engineers succeeded in their task of measuring the specific origin of the sound created by wings in a flying animal for the first time! The new insights may be able to help make devices like fans and drones quieter.
Read more about their research here
Again, CV🦠News is a labor of love. If you enjoy reading this, please share widely! Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Please subscribe here.
*****
Yours, in health and resilience,
Eric and the TVD MD team…
