Tag Archives: pandemic

medical news

We’re awash in vaccines?

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Is it just me or are we awash in COVID-19 vaccines these days?

Johnson & Johnson has just received approval to distribute its one-shot vaccine. It vows to deliver tens of millions of doses in a major hurry. The J&J medicine now joins Pfizer and Moderna; AstraZeneca is likely to win approval in short order, too.

A part of this ongoing drama needs some attention. It is the amazing development of the vaccines by these “big pharma” outfits.

Think of it. The world became affected a bit more than a year ago by the coronavirus. There might have some research being done at that time, but then Donald John Trump declared — finally! — a national emergency. He sought to get the drug companies fired up to produce the vaccine. Then he bungled the start-up, along with damn near everything else regarding our national response to the pandemic.

Still, the pharmaceutical firms kept at it. There have been some arguments over whether the federal government funding of the research had a tangible impact on the companies’ ability to deliver the vaccines.

They did. Pfizer came out first. Moderna followed shortly after. Now we have J&J.

J&J’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving US 3rd COVID-19 vaccine (msn.com)

As a point of personal privilege, my wife and I have been vaccinated fully with the Pfizer drug; one of our sons has received his vaccine from Moderna. We are praying that our entire family — extended and immediate — gets inoculated against this disease.

I want to salute the researchers at these big pharma companies for delivering the vaccines that now are beginning to reel in the impact of the virus.

Why, I’ll even offer a good word for Donald Trump, who promised a quick delivery of the vaccine. It happened pretty much as the ex-president said it would.

local news

Beyond ‘professional’

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

PLANO, Texas — It is time for a shout out to some folks who face a relentless crush of citizens, many of whom might be getting anxious and perhaps agitated as they await a valuable public service.

My bride and I just returned from John Clark Stadium, about 20 or so miles from our home in Princeton. My wife’s reason for going was to receive her second vaccine for COVID-19. We arrived and stopped at the end of a lengthy line of vehicles waiting to enter the parking lot.

What this brief post is about, though, is to commend the staff of employees that greeted us when we inched our way onto the parking lot and moved toward the processing stations.

These individuals could not possibly have been nicer, more courteous and downright friendly as they greeted us and then waved us on to the next stop along the way.

Think about something for a minute. They could have been coolly professional. Or, they could have been rude. The cool professional behavior is acceptable; rudeness, of course, is not. However, given the strain they might be feeling having to process thousands of North Texas residents through this line during a medical emergency, I can understand how someone might get a bit short-tempered.

Perhaps most astonishing was the greeting my wife got from the nurse who actually administered the Pfizer vaccine. “Is this your second shot?” the nurse asked. My bride said yes, it is. The nurse then all but gave her a high-five to congratulate her and to suggest we might want to “celebrate” the occasion. We all chuckled at the thought, but I remain amazed that a nurse who is replaying this drill thousands of times each week would take the time for a little — but much appreciated — levity.

If I had come equipped with gold stars to hand out, I would have done so in the John Clark Stadium parking lot. Absent that, this blog post congratulating and thanking them for their kindness will have to suffice.

Well done. Stay the course.

medical news

Shuck the mask? No thanks

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is considering whether to lift the state’s mask mandate that’s been in effect since July.

My request to the governor? Don’t do it. Not yet. Please.

I am going to go with what I understand are guidelines set by medical experts familiar with the COVID-19 virus. The Texas Tribune reports:

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that people who have received two doses of the vaccine continue to avoid crowds, stay at least 6 feet away from people who live outside their households, and wear masks to cover their nose and mouth.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease doctor, has repeatedly said that he does not know when Americans will be able to return to normal, but that they may still need to continue wearing face masks into 2022.

Gov. Greg Abbott weighing end to mask order, other Texas coronavirus rules | The Texas Tribune

I have received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Effective tomorrow, my bride will have received her two doses. We’re going to keep wearing masks despite a decision to withdraw the mandate … if Gov. Abbott is foolish enough to do it.

medical news

‘New normal’ looking old

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

As I go about my day, which at times includes an errand or two around town, I am beginning to conclude something about the state of affairs.

It is that they aren’t going to change much in the next year … or maybe two!

I notice all the masks on people’s faces. I watch a lot of folks at the neighborhood grocery store practicing “social distancing” while waiting to get their groceries checked. I notice folks at the sanitizer dispensers washing their hands. I am struck by how many of us are following the guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts.

The pandemic and its impact are staying with us for the foreseeable future. Maybe even beyond it.

I hate acknowledging what I know in my heart and my head to be true, which is that no matter how safe we think we are, we cannot possibly for even a moment divert our attention away from the need to take care of our health.

I know too many people who are losing loved ones to the COVID virus. Just today a friend of mine, who is married to a physician, told me she lost her father-in-law to the disease. My friend, again drawing on her husband’s expertise, also told me that close to 80 percent of COVID patients who are placed on ventilators do not recover; I mention that a member of my family has recovered from a month-long hospital stay which included lengthy time on a ventilator.

President Biden has asked us to wear masks. He is doing so as well. So is his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband. They are setting an example for the rest of us to follow.

I am all in.

I never swilled the snake oil that the president’s predecessor, Donald Trump, was peddling as he told us in early 2020 that the virus was “under control.” It damn sure wasn’t. It is getting that way now — finally!

I believe we have entered the realm of the new normal, which to my way of thinking is beginning to look, well, just plain normal.

Uncategorized

Vaccine effects vary widely

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

There is something I have learned about the COVID vaccine’s after effects.

It is that one cannot predict what they will be.

Friends of mine who are preparing to get their vaccine are asking: What can I expect? My answer: I haven’t the foggiest notion.

I had expected some side effects from my first vaccine. I had a sore arm and a little bit of flu-like aches and pains. Then they vanished after a half-day of mild discomfort. Then I was told the second shot would make me feel like dookey. I got the second shot this past Friday. Symptoms? Nothing, man.

A member of my family received both of his vaccines and reported the second dose laid him low for a whole day. He said he felt like crap all day. Then he was fine.

The lesson I have learned from all of this?

One cannot predict with any certainty how one will react to this vaccine. Next time someone asks what they can expect, I’ll just tell ’em: Just receive the vaccine and hope for the best.

Uncategorized

Getting through the crisis

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It has been fascinating to me to follow my social media friends’ struggles to get through the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

The various social media platforms out there have kept me informed on their progress. To be candid, some of them are actual friends, while others are just, oh, “friends” in the social media contact sense of the word.

However, social media being what they are, we get to share in the ups and downs, highs and lows with folks who play no particular role in our lives.

Still, the vaccinations are mounting  rapidly each day. Which tells me that if my social media contacts are any indication of the larger trend, we well might be on the verge of whipping the disease.

These keeping up with our networks of acquaintances and actual friends reminds me of the blessings that social media have brought to our modern society. Sure, the platforms spread lies, conspiracy theories and can be used for all sorts of nefarious purposes.

Informing the larger world of our progress in whipping a killer virus remains a distinct positive aspect.

I am delighted to hear the good news.

Uncategorized

Biden shows empathy

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This shouldn’t matter, but in the current context it surely does matter … a lot!

President Biden today delivered a heartfelt message to Americans, aiming his comments directly at those who have lost loved ones to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The numbers are horrific. More than 500,000 Americans have died from the disease. The president sought to deliver his message in personal terms.

Why does all of this matter more than it usually might? Because it shows in sharp, vivid contrast to the lack of empathy we have heard from the White House while the nation has battled this killer virus.

Biden’s presidential predecessor just couldn’t bring himself to call for a moment of silence, or to speak to us from the deepest recesses of his gut about the pain so many of us are suffering. Instead, he lied to us initially about the threat the virus posed and sought to provide happy talk about having it “under control.”

Joe Biden has not performed flawlessly in his first month in office. The rollout of vaccines has been clumsy in some locales; he hasn’t been helped, either, by the inclement weather in some places, such as in Texas.

This president, though, understands the pain that many Americans are suffering in this moment. He, too, has lost loved ones. He has buried two of his children and his young wife. President Biden is trying to speak to us as someone who knows our pain.

I am an American patriot who appreciates the message the president is trying to deliver.

Uncategorized

This is success? Hardly!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s face facts.

The United States of America comprises 5 percent of the world’s population.

However, our great nation accounts for 20 percent of the worldwide death toll attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These two statistics are worth noting because of a third number: 500,000, which is the number of Americans who have died from the pandemic in a year.

I mention this yet again because we were told a year ago by the then-president of the United States that we had the disease “under control.” It wasn’t.

Is the disease under control now? There exist signs that it well might be starting to be corralled. Vaccinations are being delivered. Americans are wearing masks, are keeping their distance from each other and avoiding what doctors all “congregant settings.”

That is progress. If only we could have been spared the lies about having a killer “under control.”

medical news

Halfway to immunization

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We’re halfway to being fully immunized in our house.

I got my first Pfizer vaccine a little more than a week ago. My much better half, aka my bride, got her Pfizer shot this past week.

In two weeks I will return to the VA Medical Center in south Dallas for my second dose; my bride returns to John Clark Stadium in nearby Plano for hers.

What does that mean in terms of our lifestyle? Nothing, man. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing since, oh, this past summer. Which is that we’re going to stay mostly away from restaurants, we will keep wearing masks, we’ll be washing our hands frequently and feverishly, we’ll splash sanitizer on our hands as well, we will maintain appropriate “social distance” from everyone we see.

That’s how we intend to live for the foreseeable future.

I highly recommend that all Americans follow our lead. We have to get through this pandemic together … right? Right!

local news, medical news, military news

VA comes through once again

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I consider it a “pre-paid benefit,” and I use it whenever and wherever possible.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stands ready to assist 18 million American veterans for whatever needs arise. So with that, I will tell you that I got a phone call the other day from the VA. The automated voice informed me that I could call a number and make an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the VA North Texas Medical Center in Dallas. I jumped all over it.

I ended the call, then phoned the number the “voice” gave me. After a lengthy wait, a human being picked up on the other end and she set up an appointment. I could come in the very next day!

And so … the demystifying of this process kicked in.

I received the Pfizer vaccine the next day. My wife and I drove from Princeton all the way through McKinney, Allen, Plano, Richardson and then through Dallas. We navigated our way through the Interstate 30/35E/45 interchange next to downtown Dallas and then arrived at the VA medical center.

We parked in a garage close to the building where I needed to wait for my shot.

I walked in, got my temperature taken and then trekked down the hall to check in with the clerks who were running the inoculation entry station. Here is where my heart began to sink. Why?

Well, when I talked to the lady on the phone the previous day, she told me that a mid-afternoon appointment was likely to mean sparse attendance at the clinic where we reported for our vaccination. What I saw upon arrival, though, was, um, vastly different from what the lady on the phone led me to believe would occur.

I walked down the hall past a long, seemingly interminable line of masked-up veterans. I turned down three more halls and found the end of the line.

My first thought when I got there – which I believe I muttered out loud under my own mask – was “holy crap! I am going to be here forever!” I phoned my wife, who was waiting outside and informed her that I was at the end of a line with at least 300 people in front of me. “I’m going to be here a while,” I told her.

Then a bloody miracle happened! At least it seemed like a miracle. It seemed as though I had been waiting for less than 30 minutes when I found myself suddenly at the desk where I had checked in. I was about to enter the room where 24 inoculation stations were set up.

Jeff Clapper, public affairs officer for the North Texas VA Health Care System, suggests it’s all according to plan. The system, he said in a statement, “has been remarkably effective at immunizing VA North Texas staff and patients, successfully delivering 11,600 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to date, with wait times consistently below 45 minutes.”

Clapper added, “The Dallas (point of distribution) is currently vaccinating both eligible veterans and VA North Texas employees by appointment only; no walk-ins allowed.” He said the North Texas VA office “contacted over 25,000 priority eligible enrolled outpatients via phone call.” He said the Dallas POD is now booking new vaccination appointments for not earlier than the first week of March.”

I have been enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs medical program for just a few years. I signed up when I was living in Amarillo and have found the VA level of service to be exemplary. I had nothing but smooth sailing at the Thomas Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo. The level of service remains high at the Sam Rayburn Medical Center in Bonham, where I go these days for my regular wellness visits. That brings me to another point: I have suffered no medical emergencies, but at my age I am aware that my luck is likely to run out … eventually.

The Dallas visit to obtain my first Pfizer vaccine shot to prevent me from catching the COVID virus only enhances my good feelings toward the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I am sure I can speak for many veterans who appreciate the care they get. I understand that no massive government system is perfect. For me, though, it’s been pretty close to perfection.

For now, at least.

NOTE: This blog post was published initially on KETR-FM’s website.