June 25, 2023, Global Beatles Day!

Music lovers worldwide come together to celebrate

Global Beatles Day on June 25.

The occasion pays tribute to The Beatles and the impact they had on both music history and pop culture. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison first recorded together as a foursome in 1962 — after producer George Martin fired original drummer Pete Best.

The band’s work throughout the decade remains unparalleled in pop music.

**Read Dr. Lakin's Full June 25th,

Comments. . . CLICK HERE

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19

June 15, 2023

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/episode-133-no-simple-answers

(Same as last week's.... New podcast next week!)

'No Simple Answers'

In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss national and international COVID trends, a study on metformin and long COVID incidence, and the use of N95 respirators for protection against wildfire smoke. Dr. Osterholm also answers a COVID query on booster doses and shares a moment of joy from one of our listeners.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

GET YOUR 4th BOOSTER (6th SHOT) IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID OR IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN 4 MONTHS SINCE YOU HAD COVID YOURSELF
A GOOD MASK, N95 OF KN95, DOES HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION…. USE IT AT HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS
GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION
VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION. ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT THE J&J VACCINE IS PICKING UP STEAM AND GIVES SOLID LONG-TERM PROTECTION.
BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.
ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON IT…BUT USE IT.

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection. Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

Newly Declassified Report Shows U.S. Intelligence Community Remains Divided Over Likely Origin Of COVID

A long-anticipated government report on the origins of Covid-19 offered new details on the U.S. intelligence community’s findings but did not state definitively whether the source of the coronavirus was exposure to an infected animal or an event at a laboratory.

“All agencies continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Friday in a 10-page declassified report.

The report laid out divisions within the Intelligence Community, some of which were previously acknowledged. While the National Intelligence Council and four unnamed agencies assessed that natural exposure to an infected animal was the most likely scenario for the first human infection, the Department of Energy and FBI’s assessment was that a laboratory-associated incident was more likely the cause.

Meanwhile, the CIA and an unidentified agency “remain unable to determine the precise origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, as both hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting,” the report states.

Moderna Files For FDA Approval Of Updated COVID Vaccine For Fall. . .

Moderna on Thursday applied for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the biotech company’s updated Covid vaccine for the fall.

The shot targets omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the dominant strain of the virus nationwide.

Moderna said the submission is based on the FDA’s recommendation last week that vaccine makers update their jabs to target XBB.1.5, which is one of the most immune-evasive Covid strains to date.

Moderna and rivals Pfizer and Novavax already began to develop versions of their vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 months before the FDA’s recommendation.

All three companies are expected to make vaccines available to Americans in time for the fall, pending the FDA’s approval.

Read more here. . . .

Mask Policy in Our Office

At our office, we are continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will strive for ways to keep our patients and staff safe.

We recommend that all unvaccinated and vaccinated patients and visitors entering our office cover their nose and mouth at all times.

To prevent further spread of the Delta & Omicron variants, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on March 21, 2022, to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19.

We have a limited supply of paper masks and will make these available to patients while they last, however, we encourage you to bring your own facial covering.