Here is Dr Klotman’s Week 255 video address. The highlights appear below:
COVID
- This is the 5th anniversary of the COVID “Public Health Emergency”
- The COVID pandemic took 7+ million lives globally and 1.2 million in the USA
- Last month there were 2100 COVID deaths in the USA
- Only 25% of US adults have been vaccinated with the latest COVID vaccine
- If this rate of infections and deaths continues, COVID will be as deadly as Flu
- Keeping up with COVID vaccination means milder disease if you get COVID as well as a lower risk of developing Long COVID
- The risk of COVID illness death among the unvaccinated is five times greater than among the vaccinated
- Analysis of COVID deaths and their relationship to vaccination shows that 46% of USA COVID deaths could have been prevented by vaccination
- The XEC strain is still the dominant COVID strain in the USA
Respiratory Virus Season
- COVID activity is low despite very high wastewater numbers – people are developing mild or asymptomatic infections while shedding virus
- Influenza activity is very high, and RSV activity is moderate
- Influenza ER visits and test positivity rates are up to pre-COVID pandemic levels
- Most Flu cases this season are H3N1 Influenza A
- Declining Influenza vaccination rates among school-age children has led to school district shutdowns as hundreds of students and dozens of teachers become infected
My commentary:
February. Dr. Klotman observes, is Heart Month – at least until fElon Mollusk and His Most Imperious Orange Douche decide that, like Black History Month, Heart Month will no longer be observed.
The fact that 2100 Americans are still dying of COVID every month should serve to raise awareness that the COVID pandemic is over, but the virus and its risk of severe illness and death are not. The return of Influenza after the COVID pandemic is a testament to the effectiveness of social distancing and N95 masking. Do what you believe best for you and your family; I’m still wearing my mask to the grocery store, and Home Depot, and other venues where I encounter the public at large.