Life in the Time of Covid-19 Here we go again with the coronavirus pandemic Several months ago, I stopped writing my weekly column on life in the time of Covid-19. The rollout of the vaccinations was going well locally, the numbers of people hospitalized locally were low, and organizations were opening up. The Rotary Club that I belong to in Cooperstown was making plans to go back to meetings in person. I was also recovering from major surgery and it…
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LIFE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG The Doctor Will View You Now On a recent morning, I had a first visit/consultation with a physician from Columbia-Presbyterian in New York City. In going to the city and back to Cooperstown, Columbia presents a special challenge to me. It is a difficult facility to maneuver through under fully normal conditions and these times aren’t normal. It would have required driving about four hours each way and maybe even an overnight stay. Both the physician…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG A&D, OPT, Other Transportation Services Step Up I and multitudes of people, from the President of the United States on down, have tried to convince people to get vaccinated when they are eligible, and to maintain basic public health precautions; wearing masks properly, washing hands and surfaces frequently, and maintaining social distance. Only about 60 percent of the adult population has followed these recommendations and a similar percent say they will get vaccinated. If this continues,…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG If Offered J&J Vaccine, Take It, Stop 3rd Wave This past Sunday the Director of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) approved the use of the COVID-vaccine produced by Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. The day before the FDA determined that the vaccine was safe and effective for the prevention of COVID-19 and gave it an EUA (emergency use authorization). On Monday, the state Task Force unanimously recommended its use. The entire current inventory of 3.9…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG Stay Vigilant! But There’s Actually Some Good News This marks the 50th column I’ve written in this series. It’s hard to believe on many levels: How long we have been restricted or locked down, that I am still doing this weekly when we figured we would need to do this for at best a few months, that there remain new things to write about (in fact, every week brings new information), that my publisher makes me…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG Vaccine? Terrific. But What About Treatment I was asked to give a talk at the Center for Continuing Adult Learning recently in Oneonta. It was supposed to be on vaccine development and distribution, but two days before I was to give it, I was asked by a participant to address treatment of active COVID-19. Up to this point I have avoided discussing this because each physician chooses treatment for each patient based on many factors, including…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG J&J Comes To The Rescue! And What About That NFL On Friday, Jan. 29, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson announced its vaccine had proven effective in Phase 3 studies. This brings a third vaccine on line in the fight against COVID-19 and potentially increases the pace of vaccinations by 50 percent. Additionally, the J&J protocol is for a single dose and the storage requirements are much less stringent than those of the two vaccines already available in the…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG From Russia, With Love Unintentionally but inevitably, and catastrophically, the Russian National Figure Skating Team has carried out an experiment that lets the rest of the world see what happens when you expose super-elite athletes indiscriminately to the risk of contracting COVID-19. While not immediately fatal, it is not pretty and suggests what the long-term consequences of contracting the disease may be for other young people. According to the Dec. 17 edition of The Wall Street…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG Vaccines, Part I: Pfizer Into The Fray Many people have asked me to explain vaccines to them, and specifically the ones for COVID-19. They are most concerned with how they work, when they will be available, and if they will be safe. Hopefully, this column will help. The terms vaccine and vaccination derive from the Latin name Variola vaccinae, which means small pox of the cow. Vacca is Latin for cow. The term vaccine was first…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG STERNBERG: Doctor In The House (Isolated) Like many of us this Thanksgiving, my family had a very truncated get together and dinner. My daughter visited from Annapolis, Md. She had been self-isolating, had rarely gone out, always took precautions, and was tested the week before she decided to come visit. We decided that the risk of being infected by her was very, very minimal after all of these precautions, and invited her. I myself have been…
