There are no temporal guarantees to health and well-being.
The election is over (or is it?). Covid cases are on the rise, spiking in recent days. Winter is coming. Like a leaf floating down a stream, it is easy to be carried to a point of worry, anxiety, and fear.
I had the pleasure of taking my dad to the senior rec center to use the fitness equipment. We are very grateful that this resource is now available again. It used to be a first-come, first-served operation. Now they have specific time slots during the day and accept only a small number of sign-ups for that slot. So, last Friday, it’s me, my dad, and another elderly women. The place has over forty pieces of exercise equipment.
Exercise machines can be boring. Some people listen to music or bible teachings or podcasts. Most watch television.
The TVs were on and blaring. Left on from the prior occupants, I encountered something I had not seen in years–local television news.
Not a new revelation
For thirty minutes, in a conversationally-concerned tone, the anchor shared two stories. The ads are a third story. In each case the response desired in the audience is fear. You should be concerned, very concerned. Nothing like this has every been seen before. Those involved (viral or otherwise) are not being reasonable and responsible. Be afraid (and tune in for updates).
One of the topics was the increase in cases of covid-19. The other topic was the transition of power in presidential politics. The ads were all targeted at the elderly and they didn’t paint a hopeful picture unless you ignored the pages and pages of side effect disclosures.
Do you have fear or a healthy concern?
Regarding the increase in covid cases, the fear mongering needs to be countered. Is everyone absolutely safe? No, that isn’t my asssertion. Let’s take the 15 to 24 year olds. This group is experiencing some truly challenging times.
Some or all classes are now virtual. First time jobs as a high schooler or a recent college graduate are scarce and getting scarcer. All in the name of protecting them. How often do they smile and see others smile?
Should we fear for them?
15 - 24 year old deaths with Covid-19
From the CDC tabulations by age and comorbidity in the U.S. Click through to see for yourself.
| Age | Deaths in 2020 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 15-24 | 410 | With, or presumed to have, not necessarily from Covid-19. |
| 0-24 | 485 | A large number of these deaths are tagged with one or more significant Comorbidities. |
What does this data indicate?
First, there have been, as of 12 November 2020, 410 deaths recorded where the deceased was 15 to 24 years old and their dealth certificates indicate they died with Covid-19 or were suspected to have Covid-19. Dying from Covid-19 is a more certain declaration.
Second, of the 485 deaths in 2020 for deceased aged 0 to 24 years, a large majority had one or more significant comorbities, e.g. respiratory diseases, circulatory diseases, obesity, diabetes, etc.
Any amount of death is tragic and very painful for the families impacted. I don’t question the suffering and pain these folks experienced leading to their demise.
Should we fear for 15 to 24 year olds? Should we isolate them with masks and away from friends? Certainly there are some specific cases where the risk is sufficient for severe action. How many healthy 15 - 24 years should have their lives upturned?
Does 410 sound like a large number to you? How many 15 to 24 year olds live in the U.S.? 42.7 Million.
410 / 42.7 Million = 0.00000960 or 0.00096%
Teen driving…
Are you keeping your teenaged driver off the roads? Why not? Is it, perhaps, to their benefit to go out into the world and live?
“In 2018, almost 2,500 teens in the United States aged 13–19 were killed, and about 285,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That means that every day, about seven teens aged 13–19 died due to motor vehicle crashes….”
Thankfully this number is improving year over year. But look at that number. An estimated 2500 13 to 19 year olds will die this year in teen driving incidents!
Covid-19 had better up its game. With only six weeks to go, the virus needs to kill (or be associated loosely with the death of) FIVE times more teenagers to catch up. That’s ignoring deaths to 20 to 24 year olds due to driving.
Putting this more positively, for the vast, vast majority of 15 to 24 years it is far, far safer for them to freely mingle unmasked with their peers than it is to drive the roads to go see said peers.
But, but… what about the non-deaths? Yes. I’m not saying there are no risks. The media and those who are enlivened by their use of control of other peoples lives would have you believing the world is ending. We may all be hospitalized by Christmas. No. It is simply not supported by the facts.
NB: You know yourself and your family and their health and environmental situation far better than any bureaucrat. I’m not asking you to take on more risk than is warranted. I’m simply sharing the facts regarding 15 to 24 year olds with regard to Covid-19.
But surely they should still wear masks…
Are you getting all of the data? How many reasonable, professional, scientific doctors have to post outside of the YouTube and Facebook environs for you to take a step back, put your fear in God’s hands, and digest what they are saying.
Would you trust this person enough to listen to what they had to say?
Dr. Merritt is a classically trained physician and obtained her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. After graduation, she did her internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda Maryland in Internal Medicine and completed a residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at San Diego Naval Medical Center. She has spent additional years providing care to active duty marines in Iwakuni, Japan and Quantico, Virginia. She was awarded the Louis A. Goldstein Fellowship in Spinal Surgery at Rochester String Memorial Hospital– the only female to have done so. Her life long interest has been in wellness and in 2006 she completed the American Academy of Anti-aging and Integrative Medicine fellowship.
https://www.enlightenomaha.com/about/
Note: This opens in a new tab.
Surely, the vaccine will save us…
If the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19 causing virus) is as efficacious as the flu vaccine regularly touted to any and all, then the risk is unnecessarily high for no real benefit. From the CDC, the flu vaccine…
…reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine.
This means that for nearly half of the population, the risk of the flu is not reduced by having the flu shot. Note, success in this case is a reduction of risk in 40% - 60% of those receiving the shot. The success measure is not total elimination or prevention of contracting the disease. A young person could go from being 15% likely to contract the flu to 10% likely to do so and it would be counted a success.
Given a 40% - 60% efficacy, how many children need to be put at serious risk when the death rate is so low? Would you advocate vaccination of all 15 to 24 year olds to save the 0.00096% at risk? Do you really believe that vaccines are risk free?
I’ll stop here. Another section or two could easily be dedicated to more deeply understanding the common Covid-19 tests. They are are not similar, at all, to a pregnancy test.
Conclusion
First, fear less. Choose to fear what could happen, less. At least for the 15 - 24 year olds in your life. “Can I have the keys Mom?”
Second, seek alternative info. It caused me no harm to hear the local news. I wouldn’t want to watch it regularly, but it gave me a picture into what others must wade through. Choose to get more information from more sources. Read. Think. Draw your own conclusions.