Category Archives: medical news

medical news

Annual COVID vaccine? Sure thing!

If the nation’s medical pros are right that we’re going to be consigned to getting annual vaccines to fend off the COVID virus, well, I’m all for it.

I keep hearing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the president’s team of medical advisers are telling us that the virus won’t be exterminated, that we might have to get the vaccines each year. We do it with the flu, correct?

If that’s the case, then I am totally OK with that.

My wife and I this week obtained our second booster vaccine. We went to our CVS pharmacy in Princeton, Texas. We were in and out in just a few minutes. The nurse who stuck the needles into our arms was pleasant. Why, she even told us we didn’t have to wait 15 minutes in case of ill effect from the vaccine; “I just have to advise you,” she said.

This appears to be in our future. Whether it’s a long-term routine remains to be determined. Whether it’s long term, medium term or short term doesn’t bother me in the least.

We are both prepared to do what our government says it will take to protect us against the virus.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Abortion won’t end

Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s declaration that the state seeks to end abortion is ridiculous on its face.

The state has made obtaining an abortion a violation of the law. Those who seek one and those who provide it face criminal prosecution.

What does that mean for abortion in Oklahoma or any state that bans the termination of a pregnancy? It means, from what I can gather, that women are going to obtain them anyway, no matter what.

You see, desperate measures have no rationale. They are the result of an individual seeking a solution to a problem they cannot solve through normal or legal means.

So very tragically, those desperate measures can result in tragedy to the individual seeking that solution.

Women have been terminating pregnancies since the beginning of human existence on this good Earth. That is a fact that cannot be ignored, no matter how many laws we enact to make such a deed illegal. They make that decision after searching deeply within their souls, after seeking guidance from their faith leaders, their families, their partners, or even to Almighty God himself.

And yet we hear politicians make these pious declarations about how they intend to “eliminate” an activity that has been occurring since the beginning of time. Are they serious? I guess they believe they are.

They also have delusions on what they believe they can accomplish.

Which is ... not a damn thing!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Obama reminds us of positive era

Barack Obama today darkened the door of the White House, stood in front of a microphone and declared that the government can be a force for good and is not the bogeyman that Americans should fear or hate.

The former president came back to where he lived for eight years to hail the Affordable Care Act along with one of his successors, Joseph Biden, who served as vice president alongside President Obama.

The two men reminded us today of how the government can be put to good use for those who pay for it.

It’s good to remember that the man who served between these two individuals tried multiple times to repeal the ACA. He and his Republican colleagues in Congress failed. They filed lawsuits. They also failed.

Donald Trump kept telling us that he had a plan to replace the ACA. We never saw it. Americans never saw a hint of a replacement to a government program that — despite some hiccups at its inception — has become popular with a solid majority of Americans. Who knew?

I must remind you, too, of the moment that then-Vice President Biden turned to President Obama after the ACA cleared Congress and whispered to him: “This is a big f***ing deal.” The utterance was caught on a hot mic. I, for one, laughed it off … but it was a big deal.

It was gratifying today to hear from a former president that government can be — and has been — a force for good. The Affordable Care Act provides a demonstrable example of what President Obama meant.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

No ‘right’ to endanger others

Ted Cruz, bless his stone-cold heart, is once again on the wrong side of a compelling national public policy, which happens to be the idea of the government forcing Americans to get vaccinated against a killer disease.

The Republican junior U.S. senator from Texas has joined the “People’s Convoy” of truckers seeking an end to government COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

According to the Texas Tribune:

“If you make the choice to take the COVID vaccine, God bless you. That’s your right, and you have every right to do that,” said Cruz, who is vaccinated. “But if you make the choice not to take the vaccine, that is also your right.”

Health officials and medical experts have consistently said that masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19 and that getting the vaccine and subsequent boosters can reduce the chances of being hospitalized or dying from the virus. They also cite vaccines as key to slowing the pandemic.

Sigh …

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/10/ted-cruz-peoples-convoy-truckers-covid/

It’s no one’s “right” to put others in potentially mortal danger by not wearing a mask, maintaining social distance and getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

I am delighted as the dickens to see hospitalizations from the pandemic declining. So are deaths. Infections, too. I am one American, though, who is willing to do whatever the government requires me to do to avoid getting sick, or getting my loved ones sick, or sickening total strangers.

If only other total strangers felt the same way in protecting my loved ones and me from their stupidity.

Ted Cruz has joined the ranks of the stupid cabal.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Happy pandemic ‘anniversary’

Gosh, it’s been two years since the global killer virus pandemic arrived in North Texas, which is what the TV news anchors are telling us today.

Do I wish everyone a “happy anniversary”? Nah. I’ll pass on that one.

I will take note of the date the media are marking by stating that it has taken us two full years since the virus struck its first victim in this part of the world to get it under control … at least that is everyone’s hope.

The World Health Organization (which we have since rejoined since Joe Biden became president), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations and a slew of other medical experts are saying the “pandemic” has given way to an “endemic.” I think that is their way of saying that the coronavirus — aka COVID 19 — is here to stay, possibly forever, but that we’re going to have deal with it the way we deal with the flu and other common infectious diseases.

It will be my sincere hope that in the future we can wish ourselves a “happy anniversary” to mark the date that the COVID 19 virus is deemed no longer crucial to the way we conduct our lives.

I’m all for celebrating that day.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Let’s end the ‘dementia’ crap!

I am going to take dead aim at those who continue to toss a horrible and offensive epithet at President Biden. It’s the word “dementia” or some derivative of that term.

The term sickens me. It should sicken anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one to any sort of neurological disorder that results in the loss of cognition. My family and I have suffered such a loss and when I hear dimwits hurl the “dementia” epithet at the president, my blood comes to a full boil.

I hear it from some of my Facebook acquaintances. Those who read this post, therefore, can consider themselves put on notice. If I hear it from them from this moment forward, then I believe I will sever that “relationship” effective immediately.

I also hear it from public officials. The most notable of them happens to be a member of Congress who represents a district where I once lived, in the Texas Panhandle. Republican Ronny Jackson, a one-time physician and naval officer, keeps hurling that term at the president. I don’t know Jackson, but he makes me sick. He sickens me because as a physician, he should know better than to offer some form of “diagnosis” from afar, without any insider knowledge of someone’s health record.

Yes, the president is the oldest man to hold the office. I have noted before on this blog that the president is on top of his game.

I am just fed up to here with an epithet that is cruel beyond measure.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, medical news

Masks give you fits? C’mon!

The world is watching a drama play out in real time, with human beings suffering untold fear and anxiety as foreign troops invade their country, seeking to take it over and subjugate them to lives that no one can anticipate.

Meanwhile, many thousands of miles away in the United States of America, other human beings are bitching about — and this is rich — having to wear masks to protect them and others against a virus that has killed more than 900,000 Americans and something north of 5 million people around the world.

Politicians here are making lots of hay about mask wearing and social distancing. They complain about “totalitarian” government mandates. They vow to end them. Crowds of Americans cheer them on and vilify doctors and assorted scientific experts for suggesting we mask up and keep our distance to protect ourselves.

Oh, back to the real crisis developing, the one in Ukraine.

It is good, therefore, to put certain matters in their proper perspective. This is my way of saying that Americans ought to stop bitching about wearing a mask and turn our attention to the real terror facing our fellow citizens of the world.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news, medical news

Bill Gates: medical expert?

Bill Gates made zillions of dollars marketing a computer company he co-founded in the Seattle area. He’s a genius at selling his product, as his standing among the world’s richest people will attest.

However, even Bill Gates might be a bit out of his league when he starts offering medical prognostications, such as predicting that the coronavirus pandemic is going to erupt again.

Dial it back, Bill.

CNBC reports: Speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at Germany’s annual Munich Security Conference, Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said that a potential new pandemic would likely stem from a different pathogen to that of the coronavirus family.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/bill-gates-says-covid-risks-have-dramatically-reduced-but-another-pandemic-is-coming/ar-AAU2wVm

How does “Dr.” Gates know this? I don’t know. I am sure he’s talked to some medical pros about this, so now he’s throwing himself in front of a bold prediction.

I am not going to react dramatically and directly to a medical diagnosis offered by a computer marketing genius. I believe Bill Gates ought to stick with what he knows. OK? Now, sit down, Bill, and count your money.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Mandates: political decision?

Now we hear at least one governor, from a so-called “blue state,” urging civility as fellow blue-state governors lift mask mandates as the COVID pandemic starts to loosen its grip on American lives.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, whose state voted for Joe Biden in 2020, is one of the governors who has decided the mask mandates need to go, although Colorado has been mandate-free for more than a year.

My point is that politics now swirl around these decisions, just as politics swirled when some states issued mandates and other states — those that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 — did not.

Colorado governor calls for ‘civility and respect’ as blue states ease mask mandates | TheHill

OK, so the mandates are being lifted across the board. I welcome the apparent return to a normal life, if it holds up. I do worry about another variant emerging to send us into another tizzy over the pandemic. Then again, the Omicron variant has turned out to be less deadly even as it has infected more people more rapidly.

How about we continue to be careful?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, medical news

No return to ‘normal’ … yet

Have we arrived at that place I will refer to as Post-Pandemic Nirvana? I am not yet willing to kick up my heels, break out into a song and shout from the roof of my North Texas home that we’re there … at least not yet.

Several states have declared their intention to lift mandates on masks in indoor places. One of them — my home state of Oregon — has caused a lifted eyebrow or two, given that state’s political climate and the aggressive nature of Gov. Kate Brown’s desire to impose mandates.

Texas isn’t one of the states to lift any mandates. Why is that? Because we haven’t had any mandates. I am sure Gov. Greg Abbott is going to take credit for the declining infection and hospitalization rate from the COVID-19 virus. Save it, governor. I am going to credit the vaccines and Texans’ willingness to adhere to mask “requests” along with social distancing recommendations.

I am going to continue to mask up for the foreseeable future. I don’t trust total strangers’ vaccine status. Nor do I trust their hygiene habits or their willingness to stay the hell away from me in closed locations.

I will join the rest of the country in cheering the decline in infection rates from the Omicron variant and the various sub-variants that haven’t yet been branded with a name. However, we shouldn’t yet return to what we used to define as “normal” behavior.

I am keeping my masks handy.

And you?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com