What does your doctor at the Holistic Health Clinic think about these vaccines?
The Holistic Health Clinic values and practices preventative medicine. Vaccines are powerful tools of medicine that can protect the community and support the overall health and safety of our patients. The COVID vaccine is no exception. All the providers at HHC have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and strongly recommend all patients that meet eligibility get vaccinated as well.
Should you get the vaccine?
If you meet current eligibility requirements, you should get the vaccine. According to the CDC, all three available vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen) are safe and effective. There are only two reasons you may not be eligible for the vaccine. The first is age; if you are under the age of 12, you will not be able to be vaccinated. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for ages 12 and older, Moderna for 18 and older and Janssen for 16 and older. Secondly, you should not get your second shot if you had an anaphylactic reaction to the first dose of the COVID vaccine or any of its ingredients. There is no medical condition that would make you ineligible for receiving the vaccine. Vaccines are currently available to anyone eligible.
Are the vaccines safe?
The Food and Drug Administration has completed clinical trials with over tens of thousands of patients before the vaccines were approved for the general public. All three vaccines have been carefully reviewed against the FDA’s quality standards and have been approved for use in the general public. Since the vaccines have been approved, over 261 million doses have been administered in the United States.
Pfizer and Moderna, the two-dose series options, are at least 94% effective against COVID-19. The side effects are minor, but the second dose has been known to provoke more symptoms than the first dose, particularly with the Pfizer vaccine. Keep in mind that there are great naturopathic treatments for the ill effect of vaccines, so call your HHC doctor if you need assistance.
Janssen/J&J, the one-dose series option, is 66% effective against COVID-19. The side effect of blood clots has caused some concern. According to the CDC, nearly 7 million doses have been administered, with only 6 cases of blood clots, and only in women aged 18-48. Due to this extremely rare association, the CDC and FDA have approved its use in all eligible individuals.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control are still researching how effective the vaccines are against developing strains and for how long you can have optimum protection. It is important to note that all 3 options confer a near certain protection against the worst COVID-19 infection outcomes, including death.
Will I get a COVID-19 infection from the vaccine?
The vaccines do not contain active forms of the virus, but rather parts of it that stimulate your body’s natural immune system to recognize COVID as an infection that needs to be cleared. Your body naturally stimulates fever to fight off infection, and the most common side effects of the vaccines are also side effects of infection: fatigue, headache, body aches, and chills. You may also experience soreness or redness at the site of the injection. Typically, these symptoms develop hours after getting the vaccine and disappear within 24 hours. Long-term side effects are rare. You cannot become sick with COVID-19 from the vaccine, but you may have been exposed to the virus before you received the vaccine or before you were fully immunized.
What if I already had COVID, do I still have to get the vaccine?
Scientists and physicians are not yet clear on whether people develop an immunity to COVID-19 after exposure. To prevent the spread and potential development of deadlier mutations of COVID-19, it is important to get the vaccine even if you’ve already had the infection.
Is this just a government conspiracy?
As in, are nearly all the governments and health care agencies of the world conspiring together against humanity? We don’t think so. That kind of collaboration has never happened in human history, and likely never will. Unfortunately, it is true that some governments, particularly the United States’ government, have put out mixed messages that undermined public confidence and opened the door to conspiracy theories. It’s best to get your advice on health from healthcare providers and the experts who do the research.
If you want to see what Sweden and Canada have to say about COVID-19 and the vaccines, check out these links:
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19
Can’t I just get COVID-19 and deal with the symptoms?
You can, but it’s risky. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is not like your typical flu. Symptoms, even if they are mild, can persist for months (Long COVID/Long Haulers) and organ damage is possible. Follow up studies have revealed that 70% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 infections are still symptomatic after two weeks. Even those who were not hospitalized are reportedly experiencing lingering fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, loss of taste or smell, and body aches up to 6 months after the initial infection. There is now evidence of long-term tissue damage to the heart, lungs, and brain that can lead to serious conditions, such as congestive heart failure, respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and chronic fatigue syndrome. And unlike the flu, there is still so much we do not know about COVID-19. Don’t risk your future health by taking a chance. Get the vaccine!
Why did we have such lousy outcomes compared to other countries?
There are two big reasons our country was so impacted by COVID-19. The first reason is we failed to have a nationally unified medically driven response. New Zealand, for example, prepared their hospitals for an influx of patients as early as February 2020, and immediately instituted border-control policies to slow the pandemic’s arrival. The second factor in the wide-spread effect of COVID on the United States is our overall health as a nation. Data shows that we have more chronic disease than any other country in the world, with higher medical costs. These chronic diseases are associated with the worst COVID outcomes. It’s not that our healthcare system is broken. The well-educated and highly intelligent people working within the conventional health care system are doing the work of reducing disease-related care, reduce mortality rates, and improve comfort and function for their patients. Conventional medicine is missing the prevention piece of health care, and this is where naturopaths excel. Research shows that in addition to treating disease, lifestyle modification is the number one means of medical prevention and intervention.
If you are feeling the urge to reset your lifestyle on a health improvement trajectory, make an appointment with Holistic Health Clinic. We are ready to help you manage your health concerns and stay as safe as possible through this pandemic.
For more information on finding your vaccine, visit:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/vaccine
To be tested for COVID-19, visit:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/TestingforCOVID19/TestingLocations