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Insights

by Doug Quine


Douglas Boynton Quine is a research scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and explorer. He has dozens of registered patents, many cited by major corporations.

Doug holds a PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and a BA in Biology from Princeton University.

MakeUsWell edited Doug's writing for brevity and clarity.


Vaccinations

I received my first Pfizer vaccination Dec. 22nd. And my second one on Jan 12th.

Side effects are said to be reduced with age, since older immune systems respond less aggressively. I am 70, and only experienced a sore shoulder the night of the vaccination, and some tenderness of my shoulder the following day. I still shoveled our driveway after the snowstorm.

West Haven Connecticut Veterans Affairs Healthcare has set up an efficient process for vaccination scheduling for employees and veterans.

There was no wait when I arrived.

~77.5% of VA Healthcare Connecticut employees have received their first COVID vaccination and ~74% have received both, as of February 7th.

~30% of the local Veteran population had received their first vaccination and 8% had received both. VA West Haven is contacting veterans sorted by age (descending) to offer vaccinations.

COVID-19 STUDIES

Early in the pandemic, I enrolled in the Massachusetts General Hospital / Stanford University / King’s College London COVID-19 daily symptom surveillance study. And report my daily status. The study uncovers early community COVID symptoms.

Before my vaccination, I enrolled in the West Haven Connecticut Veterans Affairs COVID antibody study.

This study tracks vaccination side effects and uses periodic blood tests over 2 years to determine the antibody levels produced by the first and the 2nd vaccination shots.

If participants catch COVID, samples are taken to identify the strain of COVID. And to determine if the participant’s genome explains the phenomenon—despite the vaccination.

This is a population study and doesn't report antibody test results to individuals, except in the case of a genome observation, if the person chooses.


Public Health Issues

I agree with Dr. Brent Pawlecki that “Health Disparities” are the greatest unaddressed issue. The inability / reluctance of minorities and poor people to receive vaccinations and necessary health care is deeply disturbing.

Although widely publicized, the failure to turn “vaccines into vaccinations” disturbs me.

Time is of the essence.

High COVID case counts enable mutation into variants which may spread faster, be less responsive to the vaccines, and lead to more deaths.