COVID-19 Update
GRATITUDE!
Happy Thanksgiving! Hello from all of us at Orange County Plastic Surgery in
Newport Beach, CA and Salisbury Plastic Surgery in Worcester, MA – and from Dr.
Ekstrom and I personally on Kiawah Island, South Carolina! Yes, the COVID
numbers continue to rise. They will probably spike again after Thanksgiving
because so many people will be getting together with family and loved ones – but
I can certainly see the desire to get together with family. We are all ready to
move on, but do remain vigilant! This certainly is a year like no other, the
good and the bad. This is Thanksgiving week and a time like no other to look at
our lives introspectively. There is not a day that I wake up without reviewing
my situation, counting my blessings, thinking and planning my day to come,
exercising and having a healthy breakfast. In the last few weeks, what I have
been exceedingly grateful for has been all of the good news emerging about the
new COVID-19 vaccines.
Let us look at the latest regarding the pending vaccines. Some 200 COVID-19
vaccines are in development worldwide. Nearly 50 vaccines, based on different
technologies, are in development throughout the world. Russia and China are
vaccinating millions of their citizens with vaccines (which seem to be working)
about which we have no scientific information. Last week we discussed the
pending vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, whose success rates are approaching
95% effectiveness. This week we received news that the AstraZenica/Oxford
University virus will also be effective – early reports stated that the
effectiveness of this vaccine was from 62 to 90% but a further look at the
numbers showed that the lower effectiveness rates occurred with smaller doses of
the vaccine, so obviously, the final version will be at the higher dose and the
effectiveness will equal Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccine. The cost of the
AstraZenica vaccine will come in at $3 to $4 per dose, is easier to distribute
because it is not as temperature sensitive (the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have
to be shipped on dry ice), and AstraZenica announced that it will have 3 billion
doses available before the end of 2021! Does that sound like progress to you?
All the big players are involved. Merck, a giant US pharmaceutical, just
announced that it has acquired a biotech firm, OncoImmume, which has reported
positive results from a late-stage study of corona virus treatment for patients
infected with the virus. Every week we follow this, more and more positive
results will follow – and the pandemic WILL BECOME THE PAST during 2021! But
please do not let your guard down before you are vaccinated!
Yes, Dr. Ekstrom and I are in South Carolina this week. Yes, the CDC has issued
a travel advisory for this week, asking people not to travel. We do so
responsibly, wear N95 masks, social distance whenever possible, wash our hands
frequently and eat self-prepared meals in our condo on the beach. South Carolina
has been rather refreshing. Yes, numbers are rising here as well but no worse
than in California or Massachusetts. Everyone one we have seen in town has been
wearing masks covering their mouths and nose, unlike at California and
Massachusetts airports I have been to recently (shocks me to see so many people
walking around with masks covering their chins!). But everything in SC is open
and business is thriving! Restaurants, museums, etc, are all open. This reminds
me of the Scandinavian experience earlier this year. Sweden refused to shut down
businesses, people continued to go to restaurants, bars and shows, yet Sweden’s
COVID-19 numbers were no worse than its Scandinavian neighbors, which did follow
a US model of shutting down businesses and asking people to stay home! Why?
I have absolutely loved my time in the South. There is so much history in South
Carolina. Charleston is more than 350 years old (not very impressive for my
European patients and friends but impressive by USA standards)! There are
plaques around town designating buildings from pre Revolutionary War days, and
buildings where signers of the Constitution lived and worked! We visited a
graveyard with headstones dating to the 1700’s and went to a church this past
Sunday that George Washington had attended!
Graveyard behind St. Michael’s Church in Charlestown, from pre George Washington times
To your health and well-being. Happy Thanksgiving! Stay happy and persevere!
Keep wearing your masks in public, social distancing,
continue to wash your hands frequently, get vaccinated when you get the
opportunity,
be safe, be happy, be healthy and prosper!
Enjoy your families!
Be grateful for what you have now and for what is on the horizon.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
If you need us please call 949-888-9700 or visit our websites at:
www.orangecountyplasticsurgery.com
Or call 508-755-4911
www.salisburyps.com
Thanks for staying in touch and for your feedback!