Message to members about Covid from DG Joe Kashi

 

Dear District 5010 Rotarians:

 

Several District Rotarians have recently asked me for my own personal thoughts about wearing masks in public and getting vaccinated against Covid. 

I receive and read, the Covid medical science feeds sent several times weekly from MIT, the State of Alaska, and medical news services.  Among scientists who are studying Covid, the emerging scientific results are pretty clear and consistent.  My own personal approach trusts science from known-reliable sources, rather than anonymous or unproven stuff on the Internet or from political discourse.

 

There is a general scientific consensus that:

 

Using masks is an effective measure to help limit the spread of pandemic.  Proper masks properly used help limit the spread of disease by infected persons, who may not be symptomatic, to those around them.  Think Four-Way test here.  There is also some evidence, though not conclusive at this time, that using masks can help protect the wearer as well, to some extent.   You can found out more information and get the Center for Disease Control’s latest guidance on masks at   https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html

 

As Rotarians, we certainly understand that sort of personal moral obligation toward others in our communities.  Service Above Self, and all that.  The studies that I have seen also indicate that masks provide some protection for the wearer as well. 

 

What we are now learning is that compared to the 2020 initial strains of Covid 19, the increasingly dominant UK Covid variant is about 64% more "lethal", to use the same wording as the medical journal article.  With the new, more lethal UK variant becoming dominant, that’s probably all the more reason to take such precautions as we can to protect ourselves and others.  This variant is more likely to seriously affect younger people as well.

 

A significant percentage of people who have survived the acute phase of any Covid infection go on to develop over the next several month's often-disabling long-term problems, ranging from heart, lung, and nerve damage to a risk of developing autoimmune disease.  That scientific data is becoming consistent and clear.

 

Monday evening, I saw a photo art Zoom presentation by my friend Dr. Javid Kamili, who is a lead ICU doctor at Providence and who has tended a lot of the more acute Covid victims in Alaska.  You could just hear the heartbreak in his voice and he's a tough fellow and an excellent ICU doctor.    Reports that I get from the medical news services to which I subscribe indicate that 40% of doctors and nurses are so overwhelmed by the Covid crisis as it affects them in their professional and personal capacities that they are considering getting out of medicine, and we already are short, good doctors and nurses.

 

That same day, I also saw the results of a study of more than 230,000 Covid survivors, a seriously big number for any sort of follow-up medical study.  That study found that 1 person in 3 develops clinically diagnosable neurological, cognitive, or psychiatric (mostly cognitive decline somewhat similar to dementia or  serious depression or anxiety) within 6 months after apparent recovery.  Some of my business clients in the Central Peninsula are fighting that now and trying to save businesses that are suffering because of their post-Covid "brain fog". 

 

So, even though I would personally prefer to not have to wear a mask in close public quarters, I do so because all of the studies that I have seen show that it has a major benefit in helping to protect others and at least some benefit in helping to protect ourselves.  

 

Some studies suggest that wearing a mask in public is as helpful as vaccinating most of the population.  Combining the two helps even more.  

 

Covid is continuing beyond expectations in the US the because the percentage of people who are reluctant to get vaccinated is high enough to prevent herd immunity.   Current vaccines, particularly the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are highly protective against developing infection in the first instance and virtually 100% effective against developing severe Covid disease or death.   The chance of a severe reaction to those most-commonly-used vaccines is about half your chance of being killed by a lightning strike.  On the other hand, the risks of contracting Covid and developing serious long-term problems are far, far higher.  Nothing could be more “natural” than helping the body fight off disease.  It’s worth recalling that General George Washington caused all Revolutionary War troops to be vaccinated against smallpox in 1776, then a new and experimental procedure.  Surely, we’ve come a very long way since those days nearly 250 years ago.

 

A return to some form of social and economic normalcy will depend upon all of us pulling together and doing what we can.  Outdoor gatherings with proper distancing and vaccinated people are  now considered generally safe by the CDC.  It’s summer in any event in Alaska!

 

 

Thanks and best regards

 

Joe Kashi