Statement Urging Public Health Officials to Include Integrative Medicine Recommendations Related to COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation

Paul Anderson ND & Paul Herscu ND, MPH

 

December 30, 2021

 

Whereas:

1.     The Omicron variant transmission rate is very high, most likely due to increased airborne transmission, and

2.     The Omicron variant is a generally milder variant, and

3.     Given the fact that public health leadership, while not highlighting these points, is de facto allowing this form of transmission to occur, to allow natural immunity to arise with illness, in addition to vaccination, and

4.     Given that a large proportion of the population is going to be exposed to the virus in the next two months, whether vaccinated or not,

 

In addition to all current recommendations, it makes good sense for public health officials and government agencies to augment strategies shared with the public in order to potentially modify risk, should a person be exposed or fall ill with COVID-19. Though many cases are mild, many people will still fall gravely ill. Offering additional proactive steps to take to potentially help mitigate symptoms may help reduce the illness burden on both individuals and the health care system.

 

We urge the government to add additional strategies, including several therapies for which there is a great deal of evidence of efficacy for other viral infections, and some evidence of efficacy for the current COVID-19 infection. These include: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Quercetin, and Probiotics.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXX
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

December 26, 2021 update Part 30
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the last phase of the COVID-2019 Pandemic:

The End of Numbers

 

AS MENTIONED AT OTHER BLOG POSTS DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME BY YOURSELF

 

Hello and welcome. This short piece answers many of the emails and phone calls from colleagues and patients. I want to focus strictly on what we need to know related to Omicron and the evolution of the pandemic. In my previous post, you can read about the changes related to homeopathic care.

 

Before I start, while I receive some comments that are full of vitriol, I receive many more comments that are extremely heartfelt and full of thanks. Many of them also ask where they might donate money to help us in our work. Wherever you live, there is a soup kitchen, or a homeless shelter, or a place for people escaping violence/sex work/human slavery, or a community mental health clinic. All our communities have these places. Donate there. And count yourself, as I do, as lucky. Thank you for your generosity in this area.

 

Omicron Variant

By way of introduction, on Christmas day, Amy and I are sitting at a church during Mass. We are Jewish, but we like to attend other religious ceremonies, and invite others to ours. The idea is the more we interact with each other, the more we understand each other, the less strife there might be in the world. On this particular day, on the drive there, we are in a heated discussion. I want to write something in this post but Amy thinks I should not. I want to argue for a shortening of isolation/quarantine in some individuals in some professions who have tested positive for COVID-19. There are two reasons. The primary one is that, as mentioned before, we are expecting a huge deluge of people contracting the virus, and testing positive. This will cause huge disruptions in society. My point is that if properly dressed and protected, for health care workers/airline staff/food handlers, the restrictions should be shortened, perhaps to 6 days. This is because the deluge of people testing positive will stifle the entire economy and social fabric. The second reason has to do with the fact that Omicron seems to have an earlier transmission than prior variants but that is another issue for another time. Amy says, do you have any data to support the need to change this public health recommendation. I say no, but nevertheless this is what has to happen. So, we debate the topic for a while, now we’re in the middle of mass. When we get home, we find that the CDC came to this conclusion, shortening isolation to 7 days for essential health care workers. Things are moving fast here. Public health recommendations are shifting as fast as we can keep track. With that in mind, I wanted to describe further thoughts related to Omicron which I also shared back on December 5^th, 2021 with our current NESH 2 Year Course students.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXIX
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

December 22, 2021 update Part 29
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the last phase of the COVID-2019 Pandemic:

It Has Begun

 

Hello and welcome. Here’s another short piece to answer all the emails and phone calls from colleagues and patients. This one is primarily from the perspective of classical homeopathy and summarizes the in-depth presentation I made on December 5^th 2021 to our current NESH 2 Year Course students. I discussed the most likely pathway for this pandemic to take and the changes in homeopathic presentations that are occurring. You may have already seen some of the videos of this over the past three weeks.

 

Change is Expected

Aside from the unfortunate, odd social media misinformation which purports that the Delta variant is not dangerous, that there are no emergencies, that there are no increased hospitalizations or deaths, and that the pandemic is blown out of proportion, my personal experience of treating more pneumonia and more ICU patients this past 18 months than in all my years put together, speaks to the opposite reality. There is other extensive evidence that proves this point. The main point I want to highlight is that the Delta variant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus still carries with it a high level of mortality and morbidity. As an example, when I gave this talk on December 5^th 2021, the German medical system was crumbling, and our medical colleagues were so overwhelmed, that one of the German medical doctors taking the NESH class was seeing COVID patients every 3 minutes for days on end. A really horrific situation. Another colleague just survived COVID double pneumonia, and still trying to recover. That was with the Delta variant.

 

With that in mind...

 

If the Omicron variant is truly more transmissible than Delta, then this could be a very good thing for us. VERY GOOD THING FOR US!!! Let me explain.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXVIII
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

December 17, 2021 update Part 28
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the last phase of the COVID-2019 Pandemic:

Here Comes the Wave

 

Hello and welcome. Here's another short piece to answer all the emails and phone calls from colleagues and patients. The news is scary right now. We are seeing a huge wave of ill patients, as we enter the last super pathological morphological stage of this pandemic, which will allow us to leave the pandemic behind. As mentioned before, I think we are over the pandemic by April, though originally, I thought May. I thought I should contextualize our current situation as things are becoming confusing! I want to highlight that the below is mostly about the Omicron variant, but that is not the case all over the world yet. I will discuss this more in the next post.

 

Transmission Change

One of the points I make in epidemics, here and about the Ebolavirus, is an understanding of transmission modes. Is the virus airborne or non airborne? Is it spread by contact or non contact? And from the start, what we see with this virus is that it is mostly not airborne, though there are some situations that can make it airborne. You can read about this topic here. 

 

What I have noticed is that with every mutation that stabilizes, here focusing on Omicron, the rate of ease of airborne transmission has increased. In other words, the 2 meters distance is going to matter less, as the virus will pass in non-contact form. I think this will be acknowledged within a month, as the rates of infection could only be explained by airborne transmission (as well as an easing of public health restrictions.) A prediction I think that will also come to be. 

 

In other words, as we have spoken about in our classes, it becomes highly likely that you or your loved ones are going to be exposed to the virus, during this entry to the last phase of the pandemic. By January this will mostly be the case. There are things you can do to mitigate this, mentioned below. Thus far, we are only talking about transmission and likelihood of infection.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXVII
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

November 28, 2021 update Part 27
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the last phase of the COVID-2019 Pandemic:

A short piece

 

Hello and welcome. Here’s a short piece to answer all the emails and phone calls from colleagues and patients. The news is scary right now. As you are aware, a new more prominent variant, named Omicron was found, and has dozens of mutations. It seems to outcompete the Delta virus which has been the current dominant mutated variant. The news is daunting since countries are beginning to shut down from the news. WHO issued dire warnings and travels bans are in place. And added to this is the sad coincidence that there are numerous regions in the world with increased incidence of Delta COVID. In some places these are the worst outbreaks of the virus since the pandemic began. 

 

Let me start by saying, again, and perhaps sounding oddly, and pretty much opposite to what we are hearing today, that the pandemic will be over by sometime in April. Again, as written elsewhere, this does not mean that the virus is gone, it is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. Simply, the pandemic will be called off, and switched to more confined outbreaks, depending on local conditions. I know this flies in the face of everything you are hearing right now. We discussed most of this from the start. And I will describe it more fully when describing the fifth and final phase of the pandemic which we are almost entering (and I know how odd that sentence must sound, in the face of the news). A brief recap:

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXVI
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

September 27, 2021 update Part 26
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the third phase of this pandemic (Part 5 of 5)
A Recap

 

Hello and welcome. It has been a while since I have written. We have just now arrived at the third phase, of my understanding of the 5 phase stages of this pandemic. I imagine many of you are feeling frightened, angry and frustrated, as well as simply confused. Things have not gone as well as they should have, as we are experiencing the next increase of incidence in the USA. The question is how to proceed from where we are. I am bombarded by questions from family, friends, patients and students. I would like to discuss several major aspects to help the general discourse. This is a difficult task as at this time as there are two paths, one for those who have been vaccinated and one for those who have not been vaccinated. As a result, I would like to break down the writing into 5 separate posts. They are: 

1. A piece for those who have been vaccinated
2. A piece for those who have not been vaccinated
3. A piece on effective natural therapies
4. A piece on other pharmaceuticals
5. A short recap

 

Herein, I begin with the last piece, a short recap.

As I write this, I think about last night, when Amy and I and some friends were making homemade pizza, outside on the deck, when one of them said that she felt so sad that her friend’s brother, in his early 60’s, suddenly, unexpectedly, was in the ICU, on a machine, unconscious, fighting for his life with this infection. At the same time, I thought about all the anxiety that exists, still, and the weariness, confusion, anger, and pretty much any difficult emotion you can think of. So, perhaps to cheer you up, or rather to shed some light on what the future holds, I wanted to start with a statement that I have been telling my patients. And even though it sometimes raises eyebrows, please hear me out here. I would like to describe a sort of framework for your consideration, that I think will help explain the news as it unfolds over the next months. 

 

The pandemic will be over sometime between middle December to early May! I say this with some confidence, so let me explain why. As we recognized from the start, this germ is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. This concept has not changed. But how do we go from where we are now to a more normal life when the pandemic designation will come to an end. I would like to describe how this is going to occur and what to expect. During this time frame, at some point we as a species will decide that the pandemic is over. Yes, there will be different justifications, here or there, but basically we are going to call it over. This means the mandates, rules, restrictions, as a species, will stop. This has to do with the numbers vaccinated, and the numbers who survived the infection and developed natural immunity. The more vaccinated, the closer we are to the December date. If we stop vaccinations completely, the date gets pushed to May. But basically, enough people will have enough immunity to the bug, in whatever mutation arrived at, we are going to stop calling this a pandemic. 

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXV
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

September 10-20, 2021 update Part 25
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the third phase of this pandemic (Part 4 of 5)
A piece on drug therapies

 

Hello and welcome. It has been a while since I have written. We have just now arrived at the third phase, of my understanding of the 5 phase stages of this pandemic. I imagine many of you are feeling frightened, angry and frustrated, as well as simply confused. Things have not gone as well as they should have, as we are experiencing the next increase of incidence in the USA. The question is how to proceed from where we are. I am bombarded by questions from family, friends, patients and students. I would like to discuss several major aspects to help the general discourse. This is a difficult task as at this time as there are two paths, one for those who have been vaccinated and one for those who have not been vaccinated. As a result, I would like to break down the writing into 5 separate posts. They are:

 

1. A piece for those who have been vaccinated
2. A piece for those who have not been vaccinated
3. A piece on effective natural therapies
4. A piece on other pharmaceuticals
5. A short recap

 

Herein, I begin with the fourth piece, a piece on pharmaceutical therapies:

As I start discussing this topic, I reflect that I am about to attend a funeral in a few hours, which will have many people in attendance. And tomorrow, a wedding with 8 people present. How completely opposite these two events are in my mind. As I think about it, if one is lucky they get to have a very long, productive, useful, joyous life. And by the time they pass, most of the people they know may have already passed. And so, the funerals are lightly attended. We know this, and expect this. But when a younger person passes, the funeral tends to be more heavily attended, as family, friends and colleagues are still around. 

 

And then there are the weddings. Where in the best of all worlds, it is the community that comes to celebrate that union. It does not really matter to me what the actual celebration is, but that there is  community, and it comes together to celebrate the future. Here, we expect many. So, you can see my reflection, of how completely opposite these events are, where people die all too young. And others celebrate great joys, but with only a few in attendance. It should not be this way. More on this period of time in the next post. For now, let’s begin.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXIV
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

September 1, 2021 update Part 24
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the third phase of this pandemic (Part 3 of 5)
A piece on effective natural therapies

 

Hello and welcome. It has been a while since I have written. We have just now arrived at the third phase, of my understanding of the 5 phase stages of this pandemic. I imagine many of you are feeling frightened, angry and frustrated, as well as simply confused. Things have not gone as well as they should have, as we are experiencing the next increase of incidence in the USA. The question is how to proceed from where we are. I am bombarded by questions from family, friends, patients and students. I would like to discuss several major aspects to help the general discourse. This is a difficult task as at this time as there are two paths, one for those who have been vaccinated and one for those who have not been vaccinated. As a result, I would like to break down the writing into 5 separate posts. They are:

 

1. A piece for those who have been vaccinated
2. A piece for those who have not been vaccinated
3. A piece on effective natural therapies
4. A piece on other pharmaceuticals
5. A short recap

 

Herein, I begin with the third piece, a piece on effective natural therapies:

 

Before I start discussing natural therapies, I would like to comment on an email I received. It was a kind, short, email, that said why am I equivocating on having people get the vaccine. I was a bit taken aback by this email, given the fact that I have been so clear about this, since even before vaccines were available. And also, from the hate mail, death threats, and insults I received (as well as the many, many, many, kind words and thoughts). I would say that I was pretty clear about getting the first shots last winter. I think the writer of that letter felt like I was not clear enough in the last post. She lost family members to this virus, and I think she believed I should perhaps not give any thoughts or word to those that were not vaccinated.

 

I feel deeply for her loss, and the losses in so many families, and it brings to light the difficulty in this epidemic where it is challenging to pay attention to all the different facets and easy to make errors in perception. My goal in the last post was less about people that are caught up in some political, or uneducated or misinformed moment, but rather to bring up important topics that may give people pause. And if we can actually have a reasonable conversation, I think we would all be better for it. I would like to give you one example of what I mean, to show some of the complexity.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXIII
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

August 30, 2021 update Part 23
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the third phase of this pandemic (Part 2 of 5)
A piece for those who have not been vaccinated

 

Hello and welcome. It has been a while since I have written. We have just now arrived at the third phase, of my understanding of the 5 phase stage of this pandemic. I imagine many of you are feeling frightened, angry and frustrated, as well as simply confused. Things have not gone as well as they should have, as we are experiencing the next increase of incidence in the USA. The question is how to proceed from where we are. I am bombarded by questions from family, friends, patients and students. I would like to discuss several major aspects to help the general discourse. This is a difficult task as at this time as there are two paths, one for those who have been vaccinated and one for those who have not been vaccinated. As a result, I would like to break down the writing into 5 separate posts. They are:

 

1. A piece for those who have been vaccinated
2. A piece for those who have not been vaccinated
3. A piece on effective natural therapies
4. A piece on other pharmaceuticals
5. A short recap

 

Herein, I begin with the second piece, for those that have not been vaccinated:

While this seems like a simple category, it is far from simple. There are many reasons why someone has not gotten vaccinated. Here are some: Individuals who have a religious prohibition to all vaccinations, those who have had severe adverse events from prior vaccines, people younger than 12 years for whom the vaccine is not yet tested, those undergoing medical treatment where vaccination is not recommended at this time, people who cannot afford the vaccine, people living in regions of the world where the vaccine is not widely available, people who are too old or too infirm to mount a proper response, those who have a philosophical opposition to all vaccinations, people who do not want to be forced by the government to get vaccinated, people confused by a variety of misinformation and are therefore afraid of getting vaccinated, people who already caught the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and people who are averse to anything new.

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXII
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

 

August 23, 2021 update Part 22
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Entering the third phase of this pandemic (Part 1 of 5)
A piece for those who have been vaccinated

 

Hello and welcome. It has been a while since I have written. We have just now arrived at the third phase, of my 5 phase stage of this pandemic. I imagine many of you are feeling frightened, angry and frustrated, as well as simply confused. Things have not gone as well as they should have. The question is how to proceed from where we are. I am bombarded by questions from family, friends, patients, and students. I would like to discuss several major aspects to help the general discourse. This is a difficult task as at this time as there are two paths, one for those who have been vaccinated and one for those who have not been vaccinated. As a result, I would like to break down the writing into 5 separate posts. They are:

1. A piece for those who have been vaccinated
2. A piece for those who have not been vaccinated
3. A piece on effective natural therapies
4. A piece on other pharmaceuticals
5. A short recap

 

Herein, I begin with a piece for those that have been vaccinated:

I include here all people who have been vaccinated with one of the four vaccines, produced by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnnson & Johnson, or AstraZeneca. I have some experience with several other vaccines, but my experience is too limited to discuss here. I am not avoiding those other vaccines, or being western-centric. I just do not have enough personal, clinical experience to discuss them in a practice-based fashion. For those who have taken one of those other vaccines, I hope that this discussion may still be of use to you. Also, I am leaving out adverse effects here, as that is a different topic that I have covered exhaustively for the past 30 years, and specifically again in April, May, and June of 2020, almost a year before the vaccines became widely available. Please refer to that previous writing to read about how both viruses and vaccines impact people based on underlying susceptibility. 

A Broader Conversation About Vaccines - Part #5

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XXI
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

February 1, 2021 update Part 21 (Vaccines - Part #5)
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

This COVID-19 Update #20 is the companion piece to COVID-19 updates #17, #18, #19 and #20 all of which focus on vaccines.

What Can I Do in Preparation for the Vaccine? And Some Questions and Answers 

What follows are some very basic principles and procedures. None of this is tested with COVID-19 in any formal fashion, and it would be great if it were. Nevertheless, instead of doing nothing, it may be possible to diminish harm from following these basic principles. You do not have to take up any of these recommendations in order to receive the vaccine, but these are my recommendations for my patients. Please consult your own physician on any decisions you make.

1.     Every single person should get tested for the virus before they get vaccinated to make sure they are not actively ill with COVID-19, in order to lessen the burden on the immune system.

2.     Advocate for quantitative COVID-19 testing instead of the dichotomous yes/no testing we are receiving today. If your titres are high, consider allowing others to receive the vaccine ahead of you for now, people who have no protection at all.

3.     After a few weeks, ask for antibody titres to be drawn post-vaccination, to see if the vaccine took.

4.     The WHO continues to oscillate regarding the vaccination of pregnant women, at least with the mRNA vaccines. But the natural question that follows is, who is pregnant? In other words, female bodied individuals who are of childbearing age and sexually active with male bodied individuals should probably take a pregnancy test before getting these vaccines.

5.     The below are reasonable steps to take, and based on basic naturopathic concepts, and mirror what we do on the other side of the equation to support an optimally functioning immune system. We want a response to the vaccine, while limiting harm, and here is what we suggest:

A Broader Conversation About Vaccines - Part #4

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XX
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

January 29, 2021 update Part 20 (Vaccines - Part #4)
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Hello and good day to you and yours. 

This COVID-19 Update #20 is the companion piece to COVID-19 updates #17, #18, #19 and forthcoming update #21 all of which focus on vaccines. I focus here on vaccine reactions, leaving other pieces aside for now.

Lastly, I will soon write about what you, your loved ones and patients/clients can do to help prevent side effects from the vaccine if taken and to mitigate side effects that may arise. 

Let me begin with the following statement:

“On the one hand, we have the current medical establishment showing statistics that demonstrate that by vaccinating children, we are able to either immunize the population or at the very least diminish the severity of the infections. On the other side is the (alternative) community that counters with pointing to the countless children who are sicker since being vaccinated. These two sides are so far apart that there is no room for compromise or even civil discussion. The facts are so obvious, so glaring, to both sides, that conflict is inevitable. This conflict does not help the concerned parent or thoughtful physician one bit. Conscientious parents are stuck in turmoil, trying to do the right thing, but not being clear on what the right thing is. Passions rule instead of reason.

What I would like to do is avoid the conflict part. I would like to begin with observations, and then see if this model of mine can explain the observations in a clearer way. Can the model help us understand not just what happens in vaccinations, but tell us what happens in epidemics, why some people get sick while others do not. It is time for a dispassionate delving into as many facts as possible to see the reality before us. With a clearer understanding of the real issues, we are more able to make decisions appropriate for ourselves, our families and our patients.”

In written form, I wrote the above in 1995 and then again in 1999. Not much has changed, except that these two poles have gotten further apart, and the current discourse caricatures reality more and more. The added layers of social media and less civility do not help.

What follows is a very short discussion on virus, vaccines and general reactions. I italicize very short because it is a part of a much larger description that I published 20 years ago which is itself part of a much larger topic that I have taught for the past 30 years. That said, I write this so that everyone could understand complex science easily. 

Generally speaking people tend to think of vaccines as good or bad things, in a very dichotomous way. But really, vaccines present a much more complex topic. Everyone has a sort of belief and an agenda. What I would like to describe here, though, is less about that and more about what actually happens, and why, from a conceptual model that I have held since I was still in school. While it fits within the world of classical homeopathy, it also fits within the larger world of observational science. First on bugs, then on vaccines. What I write below is not in dispute by scientists or vaccine manufacturers or legal settings. The debate is the percent in question. 

Please hang in there, as I have a very important request at the end. 

Here goes. 

A Broader Conversation About Vaccines - Part #3

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XIX
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

January 7, 2021 update Part 19 (Vaccines - Part #3)
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory 

 

Hello and good day to you and yours. 

 

This COVID-19 Update #19 is the companion piece to COVID-19 updates #17 & #18, and forthcoming updates #20 and #21 all of which focus on vaccines. I focus here on the role organizational and educational institutions have to change the course of this pandemic as related to vaccines.

 

The next update will focus on vaccine reactions. Lastly, I will write about what you, your loved ones and patients/clients can do to help prevent side effects from the vaccine if taken and to mitigate side effects that may arise. 

 

POTENTIAL FAILURE and CONTINUED NEED FOR A PLAN B

We know that the conventional medicine community has more money than integrative or naturopathic doctor communities do, and therefore more influence. Which means, if looking at only that medical model, there will be more and more vaccines for both prevention and treatment. The vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 are only the most current ones we are hearing, reading and thinking about. And because of all the controversy, anxiety, depression, and just bad time we have all had, this vaccine has garnered more controversy than others. 

 

I have spent the last year describing workable simple options, numerous options really, and also the direction we were going, and that, if unchanged, we would end up with this this vaccine option as Plan A and only Plan A. I will not repeat myself here. The last two updates, this one, and the next two focus on the vaccine issue itself. We are stuck in the pro/con vaccine false dichotomy which has become even more entrenched. A very complex discussion is minimized to soundbites which does a great disservice to all. In these treacherous waters, many individuals and organizations decide to sit out the debate, put their heads down and remain ambiguous. I think this, too, misses the opportunity to help science move forward to help more people. This update is aimed at organizations, trying to give more support to positions they might be able to take today, as a way to build a solid middle, a way to break through the rhetoric, to get to a closer approximation of what really happens. 

 

Let me start with an illustration of a problem from the past, to illustrate why vaccine makers and government officials would do well to engage with naturopathic and integrative physicians soon and more closely.

In 1998, FDA approved a Lyme Disease vaccine LYMErix, with protein antigens from Borrelia burgdorferi. The vaccine rollout failed miserably. It was unclear if the vaccine protected you and how long protection would last. Additionally, you would have had to take multiple doses. Some patients felt they became chronically ill post-vaccine. No one wanted to take the vaccine and it was discontinued. A complete rollout failure.

I believe the COVID-19 vaccine rollout may also fail. It has to do with what was tested, as I mentioned in the previous update. Most of us think of vaccines as a one and done effort or a series and then done. For example, when many of us received the polio vaccine, we had one series and were done. What was measured was how likely are were to become sick and/or how likely are we were to pass the bug to someone else. That is NOT what tested in the initial COVID vaccine trials. The main endpoint tested was how many people became SEVERELY SICK with the virus in the vaccinated group versus the placebo group. But they only measured SICKNESS if you were symptomatic. In other words, they did not test everyone to see if they were getting sick, potentially transmitting the virus, but who may have developed only mild symptoms or those who remained asymptomatic entirely.

A Broader Conversation About Vaccines - Part #2

 

2019 Novel Coronavirus (CoVID-19): Part XVIII
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV (first named); COVID-2019 (later named disease); SARS-CoV-2 (final name of the virus causing COVID-2019), COVID-2019 Pandemic:

January 2, 2021 update Part 18 (Vaccines - Part #2)
Paul Herscu ND, MPH
Herscu Laboratory

 

A Broader Conversation About Vaccines

 

This Covid Update #18 is a companion piece to #17, and forthcoming updates #19, #20, and #21. The topic of vaccination is a difficult one, with a great deal of information and misinformation circulating. There is tremendous emotion, anxiety, fear and anger surrounding the topic of vaccines. The opinions here, are for your consideration. Make up your personal choice in consultation with your health care provider. But to help inform your choice, it is useful to have information. In this post, I briefly touch on some of the science for those interested in understanding vaccines in a broader context, and in learning about the different vaccine forms and how they relate to COVID-1 vaccines.

 

In the next update, I focus on the role organizational and educational institutions have in changing the course of this pandemic. What is the big ask we want from those in the position to effect change and how to shift the discussion and the focus of our efforts so they lead to better outcomes.

 

Update #20 will discuss the framework to understand vaccine reactions.

 

Lastly, I will take up the important topic of what you and your loved ones and your patients/clients might do to potentially prevent or mitigate side-effects from the vaccine if taken. I have broken this large topic up, as there is a lot to share from several angles!

 

This piece is about vaccines and how to think/talk about the topic in general, from the conceptual model, away from the operational specifics.

 

I am writing to those that actually believe we are in trouble here. (I had an interesting moment where Amy and I were presenting a talk for a professional organization last month and a physician there said something like, is this whole thing real? I have not seen anyone with this disease yet. I said, yes, very real. What I did not say was that right before our presentation, I had a patient who was waiting for a room in the hospital because the whole hospital was full, the ICU was full, the ED was full, and the hospital was setting up makeshift oxygen tents in peoples’ cars, just to keep them alive until someone either got better or died and there was room in the hospital.) So, I am writing for you. Dealing with the reality and tragedy upon us. 

 

At this point, for many, the discussion hovers at the for or against vaccinations point. Vaccinations are good or vaccinations are bad. My goal is to permanently change this discourse so that it fits a bit closer to reality and offers you, your family, and your patients a clearer way to think about vaccines. This discussion is the same one I have given in 1990, in 2000, in 2010, and now here, again in 2020. I hope, at some point this discussion can become more mainstream to move the actual conversation to where it belongs, mirroring reality, predicting outcomes, lessening harm. 

 

Let’s get started.