From The Chief Editor's Desk...

While I don’t want to start a political or otherwise emotional debate about the efficacy and value of the COVID-19 shots (in fact, it’s the last thing I want to do), it does appear to be related to what ultimately happened to Artim. Being a teenage male, he was most at risk of developing a cardiac problem directly related to having gotten the “jab.” Testosterone appears to enhance pro-inflammatory responses in male patients. Estrogen, on the other hand, appears to provide a protective, anti-inflammatory effect in females.

That’s not to say that female teens aren’t having cardiac issues following the receipt of the COVID-19 vaccination. But male teens and young men (up to their mid-20s) appear to have the highest risk of cardiac side effects following the shot. The reason for the cardiac issues aren’t entirely clear at this point.

Given that most “kids” don’t have an elevated risk profile with COVID-19, it’s baffling why the vaccination is/was being forced upon them. I can possibly see the rationale for those over 25 years old, but including our youth in the mandatory vaccination push just isn’t making sense. I get that public health officials want to aim for herd immunity, but it does seem to me that we can get there (albeit a bit slower) without putting our youth at risk.

I’m a retired healthcare professional who worked on the front lines of the pandemic, caring for patients who were unfortunate enough to contract COVID-19. I even lost two of my co-workers to COVID-19.

To top it off, my son is just three years younger than Artim was when he passed away. And, he’s just starting puberty. So, I’m in no rush to get him any further COVID-19 shots, at least until they understand why male teens are having the most difficulties of any age group out there with the COVID-19 vaccination, as well as ways to mediate that inflammatory response male teens get from receiving the jab.

I “get it” that government officials had to find a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many people were dying, especially with that first round with the virus. But, being as rushed to “market” as they were, the vaccines were disseminated without knowing how safe they were … or weren’t … to various segments of the population. There just wasn’t time to run the vaccines through the usual regimen to determine safety.

mRNA vaccines have been around for a while, but they were previously only used in animal populations. The COVID-19 vaccine was (and is) the only mRNA-based vaccine used for humans (as far as I can tell). Thus, there’s a LOT we don’t know about it or its interactions with various age groups, health conditions, and other demographic data. And, researchers have plans to further explore the use of mRNA vaccines for other conditions.

I hope that “they” can figure out more about why these vaccines are triggering adverse health effects in various populations before they go “all in” in using mRNA vaccines to combat multiple health conditions.

This month's image, created with Bing Image Creator, celebrates Robinson Crusoe Day, with a Tux twist, on February 1. The literary classic is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. It is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre, and has been described as the first novel.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!