Covid-19 vaccine is finally here!
Our staff has been vaccinated, and it is now time for all other healthcare staff, school teachers/staff, essential workers, etc. to get their vaccine, so schools and offices can resume work almost as normal, if not completely like it used to be.
Currently also people over 65 are eligible--check out Larchmont Pharmacy!
Others will gradually be included in the distribution of the vaccine, down to young adults and adolescents over 16. Current research will likely reduce the age of vaccination, although it seems like children under 10 may not need the vaccine.
Indeed, recent studies show that the MMR vaccine, given at age 1 then around 4 --sooner for those visiting Europe-- offers a degree of protection against Covid-19 thanks to the cross reactivity of the mumps antigen of this vaccine, which presents similarities with this coronavirus. This would explain why children 1-10 are much less likely to get infected, and if they are--from parents, extremely unlikely from other young kids or teachers... they are less likely to spread the disease. The mumps antibodies often drop significantly around age 12-14 years.
Here is important vaccine eligibility information from New York State.
And please do not fall for the ridiculous misinformation about the vaccines !
Those new mRNA vaccines are safe and very effective --about twice as much as flu vaccines!
The mRNA technology is not new and has been used safely for over 20 years, in cancer and genetic diseases treatment and vaccines. Its simplicity allows for rapid modification, for instance new boosters can rapidly be designed for variants of Covid, even if the manufacturing is very complex due to the fragility of the mRNA.
It is safe ! The rumors that it will change your DNA, transform you into a GMO human, or produce malformations in your newborn are totally fake... Please pass on the information! The mRNA fragment injected in the muscle is very fragile and short-lived, and cannot in any way enter the nucleus of your cells and affect your DNA: it is used by the muscle cells to produce a spike protein similar to Covid's, then it disappears. The spike protein then triggers an immune response by your lymphatic/immune system, just like it does with other vaccines, when the antigenic protein is often attached to a dead virus as vector for instance, like in the flu vaccine.
We are on the list of vaccinators, and will let you know when the vaccine is available.