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…
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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 Rotary Edges Toward In Person Meetings There comes a time in the history of an epidemic when the risk of discomfort, disability and death begins to be outweighed by the risks of continued isolation and continued restrictions on normal societal behavior. If we can stay the course on the rate of vaccinations that we’ve seen lately since the mega-sites opened, we can soon reach that point. The CDC has indicated that if all the individuals in…
EDITORIAL Much To Be Proud Of In Response To COVID-19 Despite the chilling toll – 3,483 COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths – Otsego County people, our neighbors, friends and family, have a lot to be proud of as we ended The Year of The Pandemic on Monday, March 15, we found in revisiting the last 52 editions of this newspaper. Throughout, there was worry, dismay and grief in the face of the implacable and mysterious foe, but little panic. In…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG Neighbors Helping Neighbors Get Shots This past weekend Bassett performed an amazing feat of vaccinating a large group of people, more than 1,100 over two days. The confirmation of vaccine availability only came though on Wednesday, March 3, leaving but two full days to prepare. Nevertheless, I visited on Sunday and it had the appearance of a military operation (which in a sense it was). The Bassett community, from Dr. Tommy Ibrahim on down should be…
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 Working The System, Getting The Shot I had my first COVID-19 vaccination Sunday, Jan. 26. To get an appointment, I went through all the protocols and algorithms that I discussed previously in this column. I was able to find an appointment Sunday in Plattsburgh. A day later I found an appointment for Utica on Feb. 3 and canceled the Plattsburgh appointment and then I kept looking for something closer and sooner. Lucky for me, some close…