Instead, as we rapidly approach the three year mark of the Covid pandemic, healthcare finds itself in many ways, far the worse for wear, not having benefited financially in any way from the pandemic. Staffing issues persist, doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals having abandoned their posts for greener and, let’s be honest, safer, working environments.

Nothing kills job satisfaction faster than the continued thought of catching a potentially fatal disease each time you go to work. Add to that, frustrated, aggressive and often abusive patients and you can see why many professionals opted for a career change.

Do We Now Face the Pandemic of Poverty?

For all the good our lockdowns did, and although debate still rages, it is safe to assume that the general consensus now is that they were a terrible, costly mistake, a collective lapse in judgement that the global economy is still staggering to recover from and never may. In lieu of pumping the American stimulus package into the expansion and development of healthcare for the afflicted, the U.S. opted to shut down its economy and pay the public trillions through its now infamous “stimulus” packages.

America was not alone and countries across the globe followed suit. Healthcare, our primary prerogative in times of pandemic, stood by and watched helplessly as trillions upon trillions of dollars flowed, not to healthcare, but into the hands of an imprisoned public.

The Pandemic Has Come, But the Ripple Effect of “Long-Covid” Remains

The pandemic has come, left its mark and although its impact is still felt as new variants sweep through populations, our fear has passed. We now view the disease as would influenza. It evokes a similar nonchalant response in the public, one of “just another disease we have to cope with” and life moves on. We have moved on. Healthcare hasn’t. Many areas are still beset by Covid outbreaks and now a gloomy shadow of another kind looms on the horizon. The long term impacts of Covid, so called “long Covid”, affecting millions and placing further burden on an already creaking healthcare infrastructure.

The Real Legacy of Covid

Perhaps the real legacy of Covid will not be that of the first truly global pandemic in living memory. Perhaps its true place in history will be as the trumpet call that heralded the beginning of the end of healthcare in modern American society. An opportunity missed to reinvigorate an industry with chronic shortcomings, to prepare it to meet the challenges of a new century. An industry desperately starved of investment and facing massive challenges in delivering care to those most in need.

Now, as the WHO braces itself for a possible new global threat from the Monkeypox virus, cases having doubled in the last two weeks, American healthcare finds itself poorly placed to respond. They are still struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of dealing with Covid, their resources, both human and mechanical, drained and supply chain issues still prevail.

In short, a perfect storm awaits. One we have engineered and enabled with poor choices and little foresight. Mark my words, should we be headed for another pandemic on the back of Covid, few will pay heed to the plight of their one true ally. Healthcare.

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Enter a new study into the mix, published in the journal Nature. Scientists studied sixty-three individuals who recovered from COVID-19 12 months later. Most of them had mild infections, and only 10% were hospitalized. 41% of them received a mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna) vaccine prior to being studied.

Powerful immunity

The researchers found that – at 12 months – there was still a significant amount of immunity against SARS CoV-2 in those patients with natural infection. Yet, in those individuals who recovered from COVID and also got vaccinated, the immunity was much greater – orders of magnitude greater. What’s more, this immunity crossed over to many of the variants of concern, and as can be seen in the graphic below, having natural infection and vaccination increased the levels of antibodies dramatically:

In addition, they found that those individuals who were vaccinated had 8.6 times the number of circulating SARS CoV-2 specific B-cells.

This is good news. The lead researcher, Michel Nussenzweig, MD PhD, told JAMA that he is not sure how long immunity lasts in those individuals who were vaccinated alone, without also having been infected by SARS CoV-2. He speculated that these people may need a booster shot at some point, but it is not clear when that booster will be needed.

But, he also told JAMA that – based on the findings of this research – he thinks the variants will not cause serious illness in most people who have recovered from COVID-19. That’s also great news. In addition, he recommends people get vaccinated after recovering from COVID because, according to Dr. Nussenzweig, “they become bulletproof when they do so.”

So what are the implications of this research?

First, it is becoming more and more apparent that immunity after natural infection probably lasts a long time. Only time – and further research – will tell whether immunity will ever wane completely. And only time – and further research – will tell whether booster shots for SARS CoV-2 will be needed, if ever.

Second, vaccination is crucial, even in those who have recovered from natural infection by SARS CoV-2. Vaccination, even by itself, induces a very powerful immune response in most people, and this response does a great job in protecting against variants of concern. Furthermore, this research shows that, in those who already got COVID and recovered, the vaccine greatly boosts the immune response to the point where – in the words of the lead researcher – it makes one “bulletproof” from reinfection.

This research further solidifies the fact that vaccination is the only way to safely get us out of this pandemic. Simply “letting the virus rip” through communities is not an effective strategy. First of all, even mild infections can cause long-term symptoms, which can be devastating (ask anyone who still can’t smell after recovering from Covid).

More importantly, more infections will inevitably increase the number of hospitalizations and deaths. And each death is an absolute tragedy – not only for the one who has died, but also for the extended circle of family and friends who have been affected by this death. And, given how really safe and effective these vaccines are, the rare side effects notwithstanding, each illness and death in the unvaccinated is such a senseless tragedy. And as the data show, the vast majority of those who are dying from COVID now are unvaccinated.

Bottom line is this: get. the. vaccine. It is safe. It is effective. The vaccine protects you from the emerging variants. And vaccination is the only way we can most safely return to our normal lives.

The post New Study Suggests Long-Lasting Immunity After COVID appeared first on Medika Life.

With only a few children having received their covid vaccines, there are enough numbers among the under 16’s to push us over the finish line, so to speak. The obvious question now is how do parents feel about the Covid vaccine and their children? Will they encourage them to be vaccinated?

A new nationwide survey released today from the COVID Collaborative, Ad Council, and the Council of the Great City Schools shows that 61% of parents plan to vaccinate all of their children, but 27% are against vaccination and 12% remain mixed or undecided.

How is this view affected by racial and ethnic groups across the country? Asian American and Pacific Islander parents are the most likely to vaccinate their children (77%) and Black parents are the least likely (55%). The age of the children also impacts vaccination adoption. While at least 65% of parents of children ages six to 17 plan to vaccinate their children, only 56% of parents of children under the age of six will vaccinate their children.

The study was commissioned by COVID Collaborative, a project of UNITE, a national assembly of experts, leaders, and institutions in health, education, and the economy and associations representing the diversity of the country to turn the tide on the pandemic by supporting federal, state and local COVID-19 response efforts.

Other key takeaways from the new study revealed the following attitudes among US parents towards child vaccinations.

• Most parents have heard something about new variants and severe illness from COVID-19 in children, but there is room to increase understanding.
• Vaccines will play an important role in making parents feel safer sending their children to school. More than seven in 10 parents with children in school would feel safer sending their children to school if their children were vaccinated or if they knew that most other students were vaccinated.
• There is widespread support for making vaccines and information about them available at public schools, and nearly three in five parents of children in school support requiring students to get vaccinated to attend school in person.

The survey also revealed very interesting data on who parents trust to inform them about vaccines and vaccine safety.

Parents least likely to say they will get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 include those who live in small towns and rural areas (42% will get all children vaccinated), those aged 18 to 29 (46%), women 18 to 39 (51%), White mothers (51%), Black mothers (45%), women without a college education (47%), Independents (48%), and Republicans (53%); and most of these groups are among those least likely to say they have been or will get vaccinated themselves.

“Parents want to keep their children safe and in school,” said John Bridgeland, CEO of COVID Collaborative. “This survey provides important insights to increase parent confidence in vaccination, which will enable children to be safe for in-person learning, on playgrounds, and for other activities that help them grow and thrive.”

Just exactly who was polled in the survey? COVID Collaborative also provides a detailed breadown.

The research for this study was conducted by Hart Research for theCOVID Collaborative, a national assembly of experts across health, education, and the economy working to support local, state, tribal, and federal leaders in turning the tide against the pandemic. The study contains many more fascinating facts and figures and you can access the whole report here.

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