Is Omicron waning? Don’t let your guard down.

At Blue Heron Chiropractic, we are continuing to seek to provide good chiropractic. We continue our Covid-19 Pandemic protocols, with evolving modifications for the Omicron variant. I am happy to say that we have had no inside events in our clinical community; our phone interviews, questionnaires, mask and disinfection rules, temperature scans, shielding and distancing protocols have kept the virus outside.  This does not mean that it is time to let our guard down.

Last week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that Americans wear the “the most protective mask” that they can. For that reason, we are limiting entry to screened patients with N-95, KN-95, KN- and KF-94 masks or disposable surgical masks, properly fitted. If a patient arrives with a cloth mask, we will provide them with a first disposable mask at no charge. We also know the unvaccinated are 17x more likely to be hospitalized and 20x more likely to die than those who’ve been vaccinated.  That also makes them higher vectors for distributing the virus when they are pre-symptomatic. Still even at this date, only 36.7% of adults in the US are Boosted. Oregon adults, for example, are at 40%, but there are a couple of US states still in mid-to-high teens. It’s for that reason we recommend that all patients get their Booster dosage. We can offer guidance for helping folks to get same, and simultaneously think this is the prudent way to support our clinical community. 

People who have recovered from Omicron are not expected to have full immunity to re-infection by the next variant, according to the Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health.  While it is true that the immune system will have learned to respond to the new virus variant faster, and the event might then be expected to be shorter duration and less severity, the re-infected individual would once again be contagious. That contagion would apply to everyone, not simply the immune compromised or vulnerable. 

The 500-Pound Gorilla in the room is the word “variant.”  Omicron – like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta – mutated, incubated and became yet another “variant of concern”.  The virus mutates and varies on its own, as a natural process. The Omicron variant turned out to be more virulent/infectious, but its symptoms were less severe, particularly if you were not immune compromised. However, as we learned, Omicron could re-infect previously recovered patients of other Covid-19 variants and could breakthrough even recently triple-vaccinated (boostered) individuals.  It is entirely inaccurate and unsound thinking to assume that the next variant will be more mild, less virulent or have less morbidity.  It’s actually only a hypothesis that a future variant might be less severe and resolve faster, and the longer the Pandemic is enabled to persist in the population, the more variants we are likely to see. 

If this sounds like it is too much for you, then it’s true that we might not be a good clinical fit for you. At the same time, we can’t necessarily recommend that you go to a less diligent clinic – quite the opposite, actually.  Our cooperative community can help you get your needs taken care of safely and securely.

Omicron waning is a popular comment these days; don’t let your guard down – we won’t. Let’s talk about this in a few months. In the meantime, unless you feel like gambling with health risk, two to three weeks of your time, stigma, anxiety, and the risk of infecting children or other adults – we think that the time is now to remain diligent with us. When we talk to you on the phone, let’s all be cooperative. It’s by applying good science, Public Health concepts, and a certain amount of “common sense” that we can protect ourselves while this virus moves from a “Pandemic” to an “Endemic” status (Harvard quote).  

Access Chiropractic safely and securely at Blue Heron Chiropractic & Healing Arts Center.