LIFELY NEWSLETTER
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Our Decision About the Coronavirus Vaccine
Debra Redalia
A reader wrote to me asking for help making a decision as to whether or not to get the coronavirus vaccine.
So I thought I would share an edited version of my response to her here.
My personal position on this since the beginning has been to support my immune system and wear a mask, etc. Larry and I pretty much stay within a very small circle in our community and don’t go to gatherings with unknown people. Every day we go to a our small produce stand down the street, and I go to a chiropractor now and physical therapy. We occasionally go buy lumber or something as we build our tiny house, but that’s it. We have very little exposure to others. When we do have to be out and about, we wear our masks.
So far so good.
The key thing for me is to support my immune system, which is always a good idea. Here is a link to the post I wrote on this subject last year and it still applies: LIFELY: How to Support Your Immune System.
The last time Larry and I had anything contagious was November 2019. We had a very strange episode of something like intestinal flu, but very extreme. After the fact, we wondered if it was covid, and have had nothing since. About six months ago we both got a covid text and both were negative.
Larry and I often do the same things, but on the vaccine our decisions are different.
Since Larry has had a heart attack, he’s decided to get the vaccine because he has a higher risk. And I support his decision.
I’ve decided to not get the vaccine and continue my successful actions.
If I was an essential worker being exposed to the public, I might choose differently.
What it comes down to for me is that Nature provides our bodies with immune systems to protect our bodies from harmful exposures such as viruses. If our immune systems are working as designed and intended, our immune systems would handle covid. But most people have insufficient immune systems due to exposure to toxic chemicals in their homes and workplaces, poor nutrition from eating industrial food, smoking, recreational drugs, and the like.
Larry and I in general make choices to live according to Nature. Vaccines are an industrial product that is part of the whole industrial system of using industrial products to solve the problems of industrial lifestyle, rather than improving the condition of the living organism by living according to Nature.
It’s my preference to act with Nature first, but I have been known to take the industrial medicine route to save my life.
It’s your decision. Only you can decide the best route here based on your body condition and exposures.
So Larry finally got his vaccine. It was extremely difficult to actually get it. Difficult to get an appointment. But he persisted and got the Moderna vaccine.
He had side effects with pain at the site of the injection for two full days. He actually couldn’t do much and laid in bed most of the time.
But then he was fine.
I had both doses of Pfizer.. I was hesitant. I do not get flu shots. I did not get the Shingles vaccine. WHY did I get the COVID VAX????..
I live in NYC, Queens. Elmhurst/ Corona the epicenter is 2 miles away. All night we heard ambulance sirens and saw the refrigerator morgue trucks parked on the street. My teaching job went online. My principal told us not even to get delivery or carryout because our students told her that everyone is working sick. My friend a nurse got COVID last March and was sick for 6 weeks and she is a long hauler. She got her COVID shots in December.
I have been a 90% a hermit this last year. My groceries are delivered or I have walked to Trader Joe’s senior shopping hour. I have not been on the subway for a year. I have doctor visits in Manhattan that are a must and I use a car service. I could not delay cornea surgery. My surgeon told me that I was not going into her hospital without at least one dose of vaccine. She was right in demanding that I was vaccinated.
A friend that lives near the upper Manhattan Medical Center that I was getting surgery at, refused their offer of the vaccine in January. My friend has been cautious all year mask, social distance in the park, only walking to the grocery store, car service to doctor appointments. Late February she called me to tell me how weak she was and that food tasted like cardboard. She went to the doctor and the line was around the block. Her neighborhood had spiked with a with the B.1.526 variance which is more transmissible. She said she felt worse than when she had chemo and did not think she could survive COVID again. She reluctantly got the vaccine a month later.
Yoga centers are opening again. The yoga center also has a chiropractor and an acupuncturist that I have been going to all year. The Yoga center owner, almost 80, vegan, very fit and a friend for 30 years was unmasked and bragging about his nutrition and supplements , and ridiculed me for wearing a mask. The center is basement level and has never had good ventilation. His wife had a bad case of COVID last month and her coloring is still gray, she doesn’t have that glow of health that she has always had. Group yoga class, NO.
Everyone can decide for themselves. A special ed teacher friend who was required to teach in person rode the NYC subway, with a flimsy mask and was exposed to students and staff who tested positive and has managed to not get COVID. Is it luck?
Your story is certainly compelling as to why we should all get the vaccine.
I first want to point out to anyone reading this that the writer is in, as she says, “the epicenter” of covid. I might decide to get the vaccine too if I lived there. But I don’t. The number of cases we have here are few and far between. I live on the edge of a rural area. i have not met one person who has covid or even heard of anyone I know having it. All the places I go are in my local area or to other remote places. So location and proximity to possible exposure and population density would have a factor in deciding to get the vaccine or not.
The other thing is, I want to respons to your question “Is it luck?” The dictionary definition of luck is “The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events.”
My experience has been that there are no chance happenings. Everything that happens occurs as a result of our spiritual intention (or lack thereof), the ideas and fears we hold in our minds, or what we have done or failed to do to our bodies. There is always a cause, or a comnionation of causes. We do not live in a random world.
One of the biggest factors, in my opinion, is the condition of one’s immune system. And one of the biggest things that weaken the immune system is exposure to toxic chemicals via consumer products, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, etc. Because most of the population has toxic exposures, they are more vulnerable to covid and other diseases. Simply because of weakened immune systems. We don’t know the condition of everyone’s immune system, but I would bet that if you lined up everyone and examined their immune systems, the bodies with highest risk would be the ones who get covid.
But that’s only one example.
Again it comes down to a complex mix of factors about who will get it and who won’t.
We live in an industrial world where everyone is considered to be the same. Our medical system has standard treatements for everything. But many of us have learned that we are individuals and to simply eat the industrial food, use the industrial products and be treated standardly by industrial doctors does not produced health.
Again, yes, it sounds to me like you made a good decision as an individual. And make a decision as individuals based on all of our individual factors is something each one of us should do. The basic question is, “what do I need to do to best protect my health?” For some, it’s taking the vaccine. For others it is not taking the vaccine.
It’s not a mass yes or no.
I am also mcs so called my enviornmental dr for his opinion on vaccine…as he said everybody has to make their own decisions as to what they choose to do. He said as of now he isnt getting the shot, but will wait and see what happens in the future..i also have decided to take that route, my husband got the shot some months ago with no reaction, but i think those of us with mcs really need to think about our decisions on another level, esp after hearing what is in them…sandy
I agree.
Sandy, what’s general the consensus in the MCS community about long-term effects? As you know, some health effects, from some drugs, only become clear after 1-3 decades of widespread use. Or even longer.
A friend of mine know s two people who got the vaccine and both got Bell’s Palsy afterwards. Be careful!
I am following this thread closely and learning from comments shared. Thank you Debra for starting Lifely and creating a space for this kind of conversation.
Audrey I’m sorry to hear that happened!
As we all know, every pharmaceutical treatment carries risks. So until enough studies are done, it’s correlation vs causation— they just don’t know. Unless someone here can link us to studies.
I cannot remember where I read about the ingredients in the J&J vaccine – I have been reading so many articles – it may have been in an email from the cfs/fibromyalgia group – it has ethanol in it (but not the polyethylene glycol that the other two companies have in their vaccine).
Today, New York Times reports Johnson and Johnson vaccine put on pause due to clotting cases. One woman died and
another in critical condition. Tread carefully my friends. Let’s be empowered to trust our own body’s wisdom, intuition and path to health and wellbeing.
I agree! Ultimately our health is the result of our own awareness of our bodies and the decisions we make towards health and well-being.
Whatever anyone else says, we should always evaluate for ourselves.
It appears to me that on one side we risk covid and the other side we side effects. Either way, a strong immune system can only help, not hinder.
Thanks Debra– agreed.
Is anyone here following Dr. Mark Hyman’s take on this? Functional Med leader.
https://drhyman.com/blog/2020/04/01/a-functional-medicine-approach-to-covid-19/
Meanwhile, more is known about our long-term chances w/ COVID than we know about long-term chances of vaccine with zero long-term health studies.
Given Larry’s health state I can might understand why he might opt for a medication w/ zero long-term health studies. As long as he’s making a fully-informed decision!
Keeping in mind, these vaccine makers have zero liability. Their development costs, too, fully subsidized. That’s free-market capitalism for you. 🙂
Good post by Dr. Hyman. He’s saying just about what I’ve been saying but gives more details about things you can do, all of which I agree with.
As for Larry getting the vaccine, it hasn’t beem available so that hasn’t happened yet. We’re still discussing it.
Thanks for reading Dr. Mark Hyman’s article Debra.
Mainstream values drive public policy, whether those values are informed or not.
A good come-back from Hyman’s podcast: “Just because I need to know that air travel is safe and effective, does not mean I’m against air travel. I just need to know if it’s safe and effective”. That’s just the basic strategy, regardless of your opinions about air travel.
Then show we know exactly how the vaccines work, and what’s still not known by any scientists. And how we can help prevent this disease regardless of our vaccine choices by creating resilient immune systems, masking, distancing etc.
I agree. We need to know the safety and effectiveness of everything.
However, I would also say that evaluation of safety and effectiveness is the result of the basic assumptions applied. Safe and effective by what standard? The industrial standard? I evaluate by the Nature standard, which I think needs to be done to get answers that lead to sustaining Life. We still have a long way to go to understand Nature and have Nature’s standards accepted and used in general society. But I’m working on it.
Thank you Debra for being an oasis in the industrial desert. Your voice on this topic is so important. There is so much pressure to conform to the industrial solution being given to fight off a virus created by poor industrial conditions. Those of us who know firsthand about toxic induced health conditions from industrialization have learned the path to health and wellness is clean air, clean food, breath and, in your words, “Improving the condition of the living organism by living according to Nature.” Some of us have learned the hard way that synthetic chemicals are at the root of much of modern disease. Everyday we work to get healthy. Trusting the wisdom of the trees might be a better path. The community immunity of trees is a perfect example of nature’s healing elixir. .Yet, the maintsream dialogue about covid has not been about improving our immune systems or taking an immune boosting approach. That would require us, as a society, to acknowledge and address the underlying problem our industrial practices pose to our health. So, we reach for the quick industrial solution, bypassing the conversation about how we got here and what we can all do to improve our ecosystem. By the way, thank you for capitalizing the word Nature! It deserves a regal status all its own. Our wisest teacher.
Thank you Peggy. I agree with eveerything you said.
I am increasingly concerned about the demonization of those of us who choose not to vaccinate. There was a recent article in The Atlantic about how we are driving up the cost of medical care (assuming we will be infected, be treated at high cost, and pass it on to others). Here’s the link: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/04/vaccine-refusal-hesitancy-economic-costs/618528/
Their logic escaped me. We also pay for everyone out there who chooses to live life carelessly and unhealthily. Rude comments from neighbors and other people we encounter are also upsetting but we try not to react while respecting their opinions. We also hope they respect ours but they don’t seem to do that. I loved Dr. Hyman’s article, by the way, all the things we do and believe in to keep our immune systems healthy. We sincerely mean it when we say we wish all people wellness and safety whether or not they are vaccinated.
Demonization is just one of the tactics used to control others instead allowing each person to make their own decision.
If each of us took the viewpoint that everyone has the ability and freedom to make their own choices and that needs to be respected, and everyone made their choices based on highest good for ALL life, including humans and other species, then we would all be doing well.
But without that, some people will want to control others to t their way of thinking.
For me the solution has been to my own self be true. I fiercely hold my own self-determinism and don’t allow myself to be demonized. I know I am intending good for all and eventually all of us who are doing that will prevail.
Thanks Anne! I love the Atlantic. But the thing is, their journalists follow disease-management news, not science-based Functional Medicine news.
So their fears are understandable, given the info they have.
Unfortunately they’re associating us with the partying super-spreaders.
I’m reassuring my friends, family, everyone that I’ll continue full masking, distancing etc. So I’m not part of the problem they fear. No one’s getting sick because of me.
Yep– no one’s more careful than me, from the beginning.
At the same time, we need to restore our nation back to health.
I have to comment here that “science-based” is not the same as “nature-based.”
Science operates on a materialistic viewpoint that there is only physical matter and nothing else. They only study physical matter.
Living Nature is made up of both matter and the spirit that makes matter alive. We human beings are part of the natural world.
Until science can acknowledge the spiritual dimension, scientists will not come to the correct conclusions about Life.
> We still have a long way to go to understand Nature and have Nature’s standards accepted and used in general society. But I’m working on it.
Nature’s standards: that’s what Naturopathic medicine is about if I’m correct. Also Functional Medicine. Industrial meds minimized.
Yes and no. My experience with both is that they are still operating within the industrial model, though with a more natural direction. They are a step in the right direction, but there is more to go.
Agreed, Debra. Anyway, a healthy, natural lifestyle should come first. Medicine , to me, means treating symptoms.
Yes. Health is the result of living in a way that produces health. The field of medicine is only relevant when we fail to create health through our own actions in everyday life.
I have experienced this time and time again as I continue to peel away factors in my life that impact my health and experience health improvement as I remove those factors. Such as exposure to toxic chemicals in consumer products, for one, and eating industrial food for another.
Just stumbled on this website, not even sure quite how. Anyway as a physician by training and an active clinical researcher I was interested to read about your differing decisions regarding COVID-19 vaccination. I’m sorry to say that I find you view disappointing. Your central tenant:
“What it comes down to for me is that Nature provides our bodies with immune systems to protect our bodies from harmful exposures such as viruses. If our immune systems are working as designed and intended, our immune systems would handle covid.”
represents a verifiably false premise. It simply is not true that there is some kind of mythical guarantee that a human beings immune system will protect against any and all viral infections. I figured I would run into some fantasy when I saw all the times nature was written as “Nature”. Anyway, I’m glad your husband is getting vaccinated. I wish you would reconsider your position. Despite all your efforts, if you become infected, you may experience significant and prolonged sickness or even death. Age is an independent risk factor that none of us can escape no matter our lifestyle. COVID-19 is not just another flu, it is a killer. More than 560,000 dead Americans provide the evidence of that. Masks and social distancing are good for mitigation, but the virus never sleeps, it doesn’t get discouraged, it will persist for years within our population. Not getting the vaccine is like not wearing seatbelts. Most days for most people, it doesn’t make a difference, but one day it just might save your life. Plus by not getting vaccinated you put others at increased risk. And eventually, we’re doing to pull back from masks and social distancing and so the danger for those who aren’t vaccinated will remain a lower by persistent risk. Who needs that?
As much as you seem to find my viewpoint lacking, I too find your viewpoint lacking.
I am surprised that as a physician you are not at least acknowledging the importance of the immune system to good health and fighting covid, but instead called it a “verifiably false premise.” You gave the immune system no credence at all.
Could we agree that the immune system has an important role to play in this pandemic AND for those for which it is not contraindicated a vaccination might also be helpful?
Just as I am pro immune system without recommending the vaccine, so too have you recommended the vaccine with no mention of the side effects. Even athletes are getting side effects.
My only point here is that there are two options and we are all individuals. Immune system shouldn’t be put aside in favor of vaccine, neither should vaccine be put aside in favor of immune system. Each individual needs to make an informed decision as to what is right for their own body and for those they come in conttact with.
My reply to this physician is that there are credible, highly credentialed physicians with several board certifications who do not agree with him/her. One third of those in the medical field are not being vaccinated. I have four risk factors including my age of 77 years. As I have posted, I react severely to several medications, including four families of antibiotics. It is a fact that there have been reactions including anaphylactic shock and death. I agree this is not flu but I don’t get flu vaccines either and haven’t had the flu in over 40 years. I agree, Debra, that it is a personal decision. I also agree that lifestyle and healthy habits boost the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency in a large percentage of the population is also a factor. Physician friends in Australia say it takes a year to 18 months to know the full side effects. There is no right or wrong here but we do have a right to make an informed decision. We need not be bullied to follow the herd. Saying that the side effects, e.g. clots happen rarely or that those who died were dying from their co-morbidities or old age is simply not convincing enough for me. Quite frankly, anything that messes with my DNA is terrifying.
Thank you.
I agree with you 100% Our DNA was created by God and not by people. It is not to be altered for God made us perfect even with our imperfections. We all are extraordinary to God but people have standards that do line up with God but with their own view of what is right and wrong. 🙂
And I agree with you.
From my observation I have come to the conclusion that there is a Creator who has created Life with a harmony and pattern that results in health and sustainability. To tamper with that harmony and pattern is what leads to illness and destruction.
When I eat whole organic food from my garden I wonder how anyone expects our bodies to be healthy without that.
I agree wholeheartedly with the points made by Anne and Debra. There are significant risks with a vaccine that was rushed to market at only stage 3 of the trials, with no data about long term side effects. A new genetic medical technology brought to market so swiftly needs to be carefully considered. And discrediting the link between the vaccine and adverse reactions, including clotting or death in some individuals, is a form of medical misinformation. Many of us have empowered ourselves to research and read the fine print because we cannot rely on conventional medicine or mainstream media outlets to do this for us. We know the integrative practitioners that work everyday with so many individuals to restore health to the body by rebuilding the immune system and supporting the body’s innate healing capacities. Immunity is a powerful protection. I wonder, has the “physician by training” that just stumbled upon Debra’s website ever stumbled upon the condition called TILT- toxicant induced loss of tolerance? You can find out more here: http://new.drclaudiamiller.com/ Claudia S. Miller, M.D. is an allergist/immunologist and tenured professor at University ofTexas School of Medicine at San Antonio, researches the underlying environmental causes of diseases and teaches the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of environmentally induced or exacerbated illnesses. She has made this research her life’s work and developed a screening instrument for chemical intolerance.
For those of us who have been TILTed and developed serious health consequences, including autoimmune conditions, environmental allergies and intolerance to all synthetic medications, getting the vaccine is like not wearing a seatbelt. It poses a serious, if not deadly, health risk. If the physician understood TILT and the risks toxicants pose to human health – the challenge to find where one can live, breathe and safely exist day to day without exposures to toxic environmental chemicals- then he/she might develop empathy and not lecture us about putting others at risk. Before you judge another’s viewpoint as lacking, I suggest you become more informed yourself. We certainly are.
Well, I don’t know anything about this physician, but again, each of us knows more about our own bodies than she or he knows about them, so I think we are qualified to decide for ourselves.
Most people in the world still don’t know about how everyday toxic exposures can damage the immune system, making it more difficult for our bodies to defend themselves.
I hope this physician will see these responses and be willing to consider the truth of them.
Peggy, thanks for your thoughtful comment.
If I’m correct: Before COVID the gold standard for knowing long-term health effects of any drug is at least a decade. Why is almost no one discussing that, including here? Unless they said so and I missed it, in which case, my apologies in advance. But it’s certainly not a big topic of discussion in any case.
And why would any long-term health effects be limited to individual env. allergies, intolerance, auto-immune?
I could be wrong– hope so! AND, no long-term studies can show us anything. Because there are none.
I’m not mentioning long-term studies because I am not evaluating the vaccine. But thank you for bringing this important point to the discussion.
One need not evaluate any new medication to know it has no long-term studies on large numbers of people.
I’m reading many mass-media articles on this. In most of these articles it’s only alluded to at the end w/ one sentence: something like “Long-term effects will only be known by long-term monitoring”. That’s it.
S Harris – what is the obesity rate in the USA – over 48% and being over weight leads to typed II diabetes. This is why the USA has the highest death rates. Doctors love to prescribe medication for everything but they are poorly lacking in the field of health, wellness, nutrition and the bodies immune system and how every part of our body was created to work in harmony. We are the most obese county in the world and the countries with the lowest body weight per person also have the lowest COVID cases and deaths. We are what we eat and we eat crap in the USA and doctors are thriving because of our poor health. We must stop eating fast food and white sugar and dairy. If we do this our rate of illness will plummet. 🙂 Rich
Agree. This is why I have created a whole website on eating wholefoods at WholefoodCuisine.com
Thanks Debra! You’ve been putting out awesome whole food recipes for many years. Any new approach now, for preventing these co-morbid metabolic conditions? Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune etc.
With regards to food, I think the it’s now time to really organize to eat whole every meal every day. How to eat whole when you are out-and-about and traveling. The more deeply we not only eat whole in our food choices but also move to eating more fresh and live (like from our gardens and farmer’s markets) and from local ecosystems (foods that naturally grow where we live) the more we will connect to the healing power of nature. This will all be coming up on my Wholefood Cuisine blog.
Right, Richard– and more doctors and scientists are stepping up saying the same.
Feed consumers crap that gives most of them major metabolic conditions wrecking their immune systems. Obesity, toxics, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune, asthma, etc.
Then feed’m fear and panic in the news, so they won’t question a new treatment w/ zero long-term health studies. Lack of those studies a fact 99.9999% censored in the news.
It’s all so self-serving.
It’s one thing to test this vaccine on a few thousand for a few months which is all they’re going on. But giving it to hundreds of millions w/ zero long-term studies— a whole other ball game.
OK I think I’ve gotten this out of my system.
Here’s hoping we’ll all be ok!
I think those of us to eat well, avoid toxic chemicals that damage our immune systems, and do whatever else we can to support our bodies will be fine.
For us, so far, so good. The last three days Larry and I have been off exploring beaches on the north coast of Califorrniaa. Lots of climbing and walking on sand while breathing very very clean air full of oxygen and negative ions.
S Harris
I wish more people would follow your advice. I agree with everything you wrote so I will not repeat it here. I have MCS and have avoided most vaccines in the past, but this Covid is beyond anything that I have witnessed in my lifetime. (I am almost 90!) It is scary to think of what could happen in the future if we do not get herd immunity or something close to that. I fear for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I hope people will rethink their decision and get vaccinated. Although there are some people who think like Debra, I am worried that many people are making their decision for political reasons. So sad! 🙁
I think people making comments here are not declining the vaccine for political reasons, but rather because they are concerned for their health. The vaccine is not 100% without risks.
Thanks Debra! In some pockets it’s a political decision. But not for me, nor for anyone I’ve read here, to my knowledge.
Keeping in mind: Public Health seems to say that as long as known long-term downsides of COVID symptoms are greater than with known downsides of vaccine (unknown), then get the vaccine. Ignoring the many factors in immune health and illness.
Yes, they do say that, but I don’t agree. They are only looking at one factor.
I heard a bit of news as I was walking yesterday. I overheard somewhere people are now being allowed to not wear their masks in public if they have been vaccinated. Well, how would this be enforced? Can I stop wearing my mask? A lot of unknowns.
Larry has not been vaccinated yet because there are no vaccinations available here at the moment.
Debra:
Love your article and rational. I have stage 3 Lyme disease which is very similar to stage 3 cancer. I am not terminal but my immune system is severely compromised. I have a team of doctors who are integrative, functional and holistic doctors who all agree that I should never take any vaccine. Between the chemicals and metals that are in these laboratory vaccines it is just to risky so though I am not thriving I am surviving and I am living a incredibly healthy life style.
Good for you! Lifestyle makes all the difference.
Richard, as you likely know, this is not just about chemicals and metals. The vaccine works by instructing cells to make new, human-engineered antibodies against this virus.
It’s possible that those antibodies attack non-target cells in the body. It’s happened with a least 6 who got JJ vaccine. Attacked their blood platelets.
If I must take a vaccine I’d prefer just getting a non-viable virus. Telling our cells how to make protiens is a whole other ballgame.
Regarding travel, perhaps we will be able to travel if we test negative even without vaccination. We have friends currently living in Spain as legal residents. She is American, her husband is a citizen of another European country who has applied for U.S. citizenship, and they will not be getting the vaccine. They say Spanish citizens qualify first and vaccination is not required for travel within the EU. They both have serious concerns about the vaccine. In a Facebook post, it showed a ticket line at the airport with social distancing and masks and then on board, with everyone sitting inches from each other. It is not logical. That is not to say I am eager to fly and be in such proximity. I’m not.
As many of you, I have too many health issues and too many concerns and unanswered questions to schedule an appointment. Boosting our immune systems is the only thing that makes sense to me. Sugar is a big deal, by the way. Thanks for mentioning it. I struggle with a sweet tooth but not daily. If I stay away from temptation (bakeries), I’m OK. We don’t make desserts at home. I also have to be careful about the number of hours between meals because as a pre-diabetic, my blood sugar plunges and I get the shakes. It comes on all of a sudden and then I head for a quick fix (a cookie). We have done the elimination diet several times and sugar cravings go away after about a week. We always feel so much better without gluten, sugar, and dairy. We don’t drink cow’s milk but we do drink goat’s milk and eat sheep and goat yoghurt (plain). It’s more easily digestible. Warning! Plain sheep’s yoghurt is the tartest I’ve ever tasted. Praying and meditation, for us, is part of being healthy. Mending estranged relationships will also boost your immune system. Forgiveness is a major nutrient. Thank you all for this discussion. I don’t feel so alone in my decision.
Thank you so much for sharing your views on the covid vaccine, and boosting our immune systems. One of the things that I try to do is to eliminate sugar from my diet, as I am prone to inflammation. I have mcs, post-heart attack with a stent, and lately have idiopathic angiodema episodes where my face swells up like a balloon. I don’t think that I will get a vaccine, but like you, I wear a mask when I go anywhere, use my hand sanitizer after shopping, wash my hands frequently, as does my husband. He feels that he will be getting the vaccine at some point. I hope that the herd immunization factor does happen and those of us who choose not to be vaccinated will be safe, or safer.
Keep up the excellent work, Debra! Can’t thank you enough.
You’re welcome.
I think it will all work out. Those who do get the vaccine will help the overall spread. Those of us who don’t get it because we are creating strong immune systems also likewise will not be spreading it.
Agreed, Debra. Except.. if I’m correct… we, w/ strong immune systems can get infected and spread the virus, even if we never get symptoms.
So even though I’m healthy in my late 60s (never get sick at all), I’ll continue preventive measures to protect the 6 in 10 Americans with at least one chronic health condition that makes them more vulnerable. Half of them have more than one such condition— mostly preventable.
I’m not sure I understand what you are saying.
I get that you will continue preventive measures, but are you getting the vaccine to protect others, just in case you have it but are not symptomatic?
This is remotely related (maybe more) but I am in that 15-20% of the population with an extreme allergy to nickel. I told the heart surgeon at the Mayo Clinic that he could not re-bind my ribs with surgical steel because of my nickel allergy. He said, “Well, that’s what we use.” He said the only other material he has used was for babies and children but never in adults. It is a poly-fiber. He asked what my symptoms were and I said severe contact dermatitis with oozing clear liquid and scabbing over that took a month to heal. He sent me to a dermatologist/allergist who confirmed a case of an adult woman (51) who had constant pain in her chest for a year after open heart surgery. They opened her chest, removed the SS sutures, and her chest pain resolved. I just know that I am very sensitive to chemicals and medications so I am not getting the vaccine. I will do everything to boost my immune system which seems strong in many ways (no flu, colds). We take C, D3, K2, zinc, quercetin, magnesium, Omega 3s, CoQ10, astaxanthin, among others. All are reviewed by my cardiologist and naturopath. We don’t take anything randomly or carelessly. We continue to eat organic food, flesh that is humanely raised, no hormones or antibiotics, eggs that are organic/free-range and pasture raised (yes, it’s worth it to pay a premium price for them), lots of vegetables and salads with many ingredients even with breakfast. “Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food.” PS – I’m 77 years old.
i would agree your comment is related.
For me it goes to the point of everything industrial comes from a viewpoint that all consumers are identical and everything they produce is OK for everyone. But it’s not, as you and I know. Every body is unique and has its own needs. And so we each need to make decisions for ourselves.
Hi Debra,
Thanks for writing and posting this article. You are right, there are lots of articles about the vaccine, but very few on how to boost your immune system. You offer a refreshing and well written perspective on how to think about the vaccine.
Thank you, this is just the article I was looking for!
Michelle
You’re welcome! 🙂
My husband and I are reluctant to get the vaccine and take a “wait and see” approach.
I have four risk factors and still don’t want to take a chance.
I’m with you on strengthening the immune system. Neither of us get the flu vaccine and we have not had flu, if ever, in over 30 years. My husband has never had a flu vaccine; I have had one as a mandate of employment when I was a clerical supervisor adjacent to an AIDS clinic. One in my life.
We eat very healthy food cooked at home and take proven supplements. Our water is filtered removing fluoride and we have air filtration in all rooms. We don’t use toxic chemicals in our garden or to clean our home. We read and listen to information about the vaccines and do not wish to join the millions who are getting vaccinated.
We also realize that, according to our attorney in an informal inquiry, that our mobility will be restricted (no traveling to Europe to those left in our families). We wear masks and are careful about our physical contact. We keep distance in talking with our neighbors and those we encounter during grocery shopping.
We are not anti-vaxxers but are conscientious what we put into our bodies. I have a serious genetic heart condition and have had a mild heart attack because of it. I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy only discovered when I was 67. Open heart surgery to remove a large muscular obstruction saved my life.
Be well, safe and always question mainstream recommendations.
PS – I am extremely sensitive to medication and allergic to four families of antibiotics.
I agree with you. 🙂
I don’t know yet about the ingredients in the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, but I have seen the ingredients for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and they both have petroleum products in them (Polyethylene glycol) – this is the main ingredient in anti-freeze. The info I have says the amount of polyethylene glycol n the vaccine is tiny, but people with chemical sensitivities can react to minuscule amounts of any chemical – so this eliminates most if not all of us with mcs. We all just have to be careful – wear our mask, etc. My doctor said that hopefully when most people get their vaccines, there will be herd immunity, and those who haven’t gotten the vaccine will be okay. I can only hope for this.
I agree with you. For someone with MCS the chemicals in the vaccine may be worse than whatever protection the vaccine may provide.
audrey – in regards to your comment — here is what i found out about the johnson & johnson vaccine:
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2021/03/420071/how-effective-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-heres-what-you-should-know?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Inside%20Neuroscience&utm_campaign=Mar2021.
however, even with this information, at this point i agree with debra.
elizabeth
Thanks, Elizabeth.
It’s always good to have information in order to make a decision.
Regardless if one gets the vaccine or not, it’s still good to support your immune system.
Thank you Elizabeth for the info on J& J.