Patient greetings, TVD Friends,
It is all the more frustrating when it seems we see the light at the end of the tunnel. We continue to be in active communication with our public health liaisons but have yet to receive our COVID-19 vaccine allocation or a sense of timing thereof. As promised, we will keep you up to date in these pages. In the meantime, a thank you to Dr. Sangani for updating her piece below on How Do I Get My Covid Vaccine as well as Dr. Abrams updated How Can I Get Tested For COVID-19. Please see also Dr. Pittson’s piece on tips for keeping your kids healthy and active during these especially challenging times.
And let me draw your attention to another bright light: VaccinateCA! As you know, your team at TVD, has worked hard at answering your questions both in this newsletter and in our FAQ’s, as well as keeping both up to date, so we are delighted to find other excellent resources. VaccinateCA is just this. From their website, “VaccinateCA is a community-driven effort to help Californians learn accurate, up-to-date, verified information about the coronavirus vaccine, so they they can learn when they will be eligible and how to take their place in line.
Our professionals call medical professionals at hundreds of potential vaccination sites daily, asking them if they have the vaccine and if so to whom they will administer it to and how to get an appointment. We write down what they tell us, and publish it to this site.” Check it out!
Eric Weiss, MD, January 25, 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.
This has been updated as of January 26, 2021. Vaccine distribution in the bay area remains slow but there is availability. Please see below for guidance on how to receive the vaccine for COVID-19 if you are interested and eligible.
Please note The Village Doctor has NOT received our allotment of vaccines from San Mateo County, so we encourage our patients to not delay and receive their dose from one of the following sources.
California announced residents over the age of 65 on January 13, 2021, are now eligible to receive a Coronavirus vaccine. Since then large hospital organizations have started vaccinating individuals in those tiers but supply is limited. There can be a wait of several weeks to schedule an appointment, but we encourage you to keep trying. Stanford is opening more locations and San Francisco opened its first mass vaccination location this week and plans to open two additional sites in the coming weeks. Please see below for more information… Read more
Prerana Sangani, MD, January 26, 2021
A quick note on PCR vs antigen tests: We recommend PCR testing for our patients whenever possible. At a public health level, screening with rapid antigen tests are a good option for quickly and cheaply identifying patients who are shedding large amounts of virus and likely to be the most contagious. At an individual level, however, antigen tests have a fairly high false negative rate compared to the more sophisticated PCR method. We are not offering any “quick” or “rapid” antigen tests through our office as we do not feel the sensitivity (ability to detect disease) is high enough.
**We recommend the options starred below for their combination of relative convenience and reliability. We are actively monitoring testing options and are continuously adding to this list. If you are using the test as a screening test before travel, please make sure that you will have results back within the acceptable time frame and that the airline or location you’ll be traveling to accepts the form of testing you choose.
**Evera Home Testing – PCR nasal swab obtained from you at your home by an Evera representative. On demand appointments, flexible weekend hours and 24-48 hour turnaround. $150.
How: Visit the website and call 415-964-2676.
Where: In the comfort of your own home
Who: Adults and children age 5+. Asymptomatic or symptomatic.
Jennifer Abrams, MD, January 27, 2021
The pandemic has cut kids off from friends, nutritious school meals, sports and routines. With virtual learning and few activities outside the home, it’s no surprise kids are moving less and snacking more.
If your family has been eating more processed, high-calorie food and spends a lot of time on screens, you are not alone.
Increased health risks
The pandemic has put more children at risk of obesity. Children with obesity are more likely to have problems if they are infected with COVID-19.
The virus can affect children’s breathing, immune system, metabolism and cause inflammation. Those with obesity also can develop high blood pressure, liver problems or diabetes. Having these health issues puts them at high risk if they get COVID-19.
Sky Pittson, MD, January 26, 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
Heartwarming story time with Papa Jake
World War 2 veteran, Jake Larson, has a TikTok account @storytimewithpapajake (run by his granddaughter) which now has 192,000 followers.
Two of his followers offered to arrange for him to receive a certificate and a U.S. flag that had flown over the Capitol on Pearl Harbor Day in recognition of his military service.
Watch the moment he finds out here!
Principal works two jobs to support low-income students
Henry Darby, North Charleston High School Principal, has a second job stocking shelves at his local Walmart from 10pm to 7am three nights a week – just enough time to make it back to the school’s campus before the morning bell.
His earnings help him achieve his goal of giving back to his community and helping low-income students and their families.
“I can say that people really helped me to get to where I am today,” he said.
“I wish that those of us who are born of poverty and we had to struggle and we made it to at least the lower middle class, that we will look back to help others.”
The Hill We Climb
Words from the inspiring young poet, Amanda Gorman, from her “The Hill We Climb” poem at Joe Biden’s Inauguration.
And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man. And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried that will forever be tied together victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.
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…
