Get Excited with Me
Today I’m gonna kick off my sneakers, peel off my leggings, and unclip my fanny pack.
It’s party time.
My fingers are twitching to write to you about the durability of your immunity to COVID-19 after vaccination (short story: at least six months per today’s data but probably a lot longer); whether to quarantine yourself after vaccination (short story: NO! CDC finally said so TODAY!); whether or not to PCR test yourself after vaccination (short story: NO!); and how it is possible that hope is ALIVE even as cases increase and not everyone has been vaccinated (short story: there is no mystery as to why cases go up or how to control further viral spread, e.g., the usual precautions in unvaccinated people plus widespread vaccination; we just need to DO it — STAT).
If you’re desperate to hear my takes on ALL of these hot issues — plus fun debates my medical colleagues — find me on Twitter where I’m fully engaged, learning a lot, and having the time of my life. (Twitter makes wearing my favorite fanny pack actually seem boring.)
But for today, dear readers, please join me in celebrating TWO fabulous things:
Pfizer revealed its data on adolescents ages 12 to 15 showing stunningly robust vaccine efficacy and safety.
Let’s hear it for teens!! This is their ticket to normalcy!
The next steps? The FDA now needs to hear from its expert panel and approve the shot for emergency use, after which distribution can begin. I wish I knew the timeline — particularly because I have a 15-year-old chomping at the bit — but alas, my crystal ball is still on backorder. If I had to wildly guess when teens will have access? Maybe in May. But please don’t hold me to it!
AND
The GUSH of amazing real-world data HERE and HERE on the efficacy of the vaccines.
Let’s break this down because there are three main takeaways from this data:
The vaccines work marvelously against symptomatic COVID-19 (aka getting sick). Recall that infection with coronavirus can be asymptomatic (without symptoms) or symptomatic (aka the disease called COVID-19). The vaccines put your risk of getting symptomatic COVID-19 down to 0.05% according to last week’s data published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In other words, two weeks after you have been fully vaccinated, it’s difficult to get COVID-19.To anticipate your questions:
Can you still get COVID after vaccination? Yes. But it’s very rare. To put your 0.05% risk of COVID-19 in a different light: out of 1,000 vaccinated people, there is a 50/50 chance of having zero or one COVID case in the bunch.
Would it be severe? No.
Would you most likely have a cold? Yes.
Could it be a mild flu? Yes.
Should we be surprised when we read about vaccinated people getting COVID? Please don’t! With millions of people getting vaccinated, no doubt some people will get COVID-19. But if it’s a mild illness (like the kind we used to get all the time), it’s not worth a FUSS.
After vaccination you are extremely unlikely to transmit the virus. In other words, you aren’t likely to sicken other people. The vaccine protects you AND people around you from getting sick. To anticipate your questions:
Is it possible after vaccination to carry coronavirus in your nose and not know it? YES!
Does vaccination dramatically reduce the amount of virus that could possibly live in your nose? YES!
Do we CARE if you have small amounts of virus in your nose if you aren’t sick and you can’t sicken other people? NO!
Is this the rationale for NOT getting a PCR test after vaccination? YES!
So what test should you get after vaccination if you DO end up getting a cold and want to know if it’s COVID? The antigen (or “contagiousness”) test does an excellent job of diagnosing COVID-19 in symptomatic (aka sick) people.
The vaccines are powerful against the variants. Even today, new data on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine revealed 100% efficacy at preventing severe disease in the real world even with B.1.351 South Africa variant widely circulating. The same data also showed 91.3% vaccine efficacy against all disease — even mild — out to six months. WOW. To anticipate your questions:
Is it possible to get infected by a variant after vaccination? YES!
Is it unlikely? VERY!
Would you get very sick? NO!
Could it also be a cold or mild flu? YES!
Are we SPLITTING HAIRS at this point? ABSOLUTELY.
The upshot? These vaccines — including J & J, yes! — are a triumph of modern medicine. It’s indisputable. Even skeptics who don’t trust the federal government, “big pharma,” the entire medical profession, or the robust clinical trial data demonstrating the amazingness of the vaccines CANNOT ignore what’s happening in front of our eyes. And, if you are STILL skeptical (hello, Twitter trolls!), just look at Israel and the UK. We’re right behind them.
The upshot of the upshot? GET VACCINATED. If you are hesitant, I’m really not sure how else to help you. And if you are just waiting your turn, I’m excited for you. Help is on the way. Hope is alive and well.
I will see you next week. Until then, be well.