October 23, 2022, National Croc Day!

'National Croc Day'

Join in on the fun and celebrate National Croc Day by showing off those Crocs in style and comfort!

Crocs began their journey in 2002 in Boulder, Colorado when the original makers wanted to create a boating shoe out of foam. Perfect for being able to get wet and then dry off easily, the formed foam was also as comfortable as it was practical.

The Crocs name simply came from the practical fact that the top of the shoe looks vaguely like the snout of a crocodile. And the rest is history!

Read more here. . . .

Your Weekly COVID-19 Updates

Paradise Valley Medical Clinic,

Douglas M. Lakin, M.D.

Kaitlin A. Kraemer, M.S., PA-C

9977 N 90th Street, Suite 180, Scottsdale, AZ 85258

480.614.5800 (phone), 480.614.6322 (Fax)

Visit our Website

ATTN PATIENTS:

Dr. Lakin is using FaceTime ,

WhatsApp and Zoom to connect with you

for a 'Telehealth' visit. You can connect using your iPad, iPhone, Android phone, a laptop, or a PC with a camera.

Please watch these videos so you can be prepared and know how to connect with Dr. Lakin for a 'Telehealth' visit.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES

FROM THE DOC

October 23, 2022

NO CHANGES IN COVID STATUS

COVID IS NOT ‘OVER’…BUT WE ARE IN CONTROL OF SERIOUS DISEASE ON A BROAD BASIS.

COVID REMAINS WIDESPREAD AT THIS TIME AND IS INCREASING IN EUROPE AND NEW YORK CITY. WILL WE SEE HIGHER LEVELS IN THE U.S? IT IS UNCERTAIN, BUT INCREASES ARE LIKELY TO HAPPEN DUE TO THE WAXING AND WANING OF ACTIVITY LEVELS AS HISTORY HAS SHOWN.

THERE IS NO SEASONALITY TO COVID. THIS IS PROVEN, AND WE STILL MAY SEE ADDITIONAL SURGES. RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE SOME CHANGES IN THE VARIANTS, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN ANY VARIATIONS IN COVID LEVELS.

BOOSTER COVID VACCINATIONS:

THE NEW COVID VACCINE WILL BE BIVALENT…. THIS MEANS IT WILL CONTAIN THE ORIGINAL VACCINE COVERAGE…. PLUS, COVERAGE MORE SPECIFICALLY FOR BA5 FORMS OF COVID.

GIVEN THE SAFETY OF THE VACCINE, IT IS REASONABLE FOR EVERY ADULT TO CONSIDER THIS BOOSTER…BUT….

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE BOOSTER VACCINE IF:

YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID AND ARE OVER 70 YEARS OLD

YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID AND HAVE HEALTH ISSUES THAT MAKE YOU MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO COVID COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS…. EMPHYSEMA, SIGNIFICANT DIABETES, HEART FAILURE, OR ARE ON IMMUNE SUPPRESSING MEDICATION.

IF YOU HAVE HAD A COVID INFECTION FROM 2020 UNTIL NOVEMBER 2021, THEN YOU HAVE A 30+% PROTECTION FROM THE CURRENT BA-5 STRAIN.

IF YOU HAD COVID AT XMAS OR LATER, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE AN 80% PROTECTION FROM THE CURRENT BA-5 STRAIN.

IF YOU HAD COVID YOU CAN STILL BENEFIT FROM ANOTHER BOOSTER, BUT IT IS NOT AS ESSENTIAL, AS YOUR PREVIOUS COVID INFECTION DOES HELP BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY THROUGH NATURAL MEANS.

IF YOU HAVE HAD 4 COVID VACCINES, THE 5^TH VACCINE IS NOT AS ESSENTIAL, BUT IT WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION AND IS WORTH STRONGLY CONSIDERING

REMEMBER, IF YOU GET COVID WE CAN ALWAYS TREAT YOU WITH PAXLOVID PILLS, THEY ARE VERY EFFECTIVE.

IT IS PROVEN SAFE TO GET THE FLU SHOT AND THE COVID SHOT AT THE SAME TIME…… …BUT I RECOMMEND YOU SEPARATE THEM IF POSSIBLE SO YOU DON’T HAVE A STRONGER REACTION TO THE COMBINATION.

GET YOUR COVID BOOSTER IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER AND THE FLU SHOT AT THE END SEPTEMBER OR DURING OCTOBER.

**Read Dr. Lakin's Full October 23rd,

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

October 13, 2022

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/episode-115

(Same Podcast as last week......New one next week!)

'A New Phase'

In "A New Phase," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the many new subvariants that are competing with BA.5, the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, and the challenges that will come with the next phase of the pandemic.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

ALL IS GOING WELL WITH THE PANDEMIC AT THIS TIME. HOSPITALIZATIONS ARE AT THE LOWEST WE HAVE SEEN DURING THE PANDEMIC
THERE IS A LOT OF COVID ACROSS THE USA. PEOPLE ARE DOING MUCH BETTER, IT IS MUCH LESS SEVERE.
BA 4 AND BA5 ARE RISING AND MAY CAUSE INCREASE HOSPITALIZATIONS SLIGHTLY COMPARED TO MORE RECENT VARIANTS.
CHINA WILL BE EXPERIENCING MAJOR COVID OUTBREAKS AS TIME GOES ON. OMICRON IS LIKE THE WIND…YOU CAN’T STOP IT, BUT YOU CAN TRY TO CONTROL IT. THE ZERO COVID POLICY OF CHINA IS UNSUSTAINABLE.
COVID IS SHOWING MINOR SURGES IN THE NORTHEAST.
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 THIS TEST IF YOU HAVE CLASSIC COVID SYMPTOMS.
MASKS OF THE KN95 AND N95 VARIETY CAN BE HELPFUL. CLOTH MASKS AND SURGICAL MASKS ARE CURRENTLY NOT AS EFFECTIVE WITH DELTA VARIANT
THE THREE/FOUR VACCINE REGIMEN IS PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE AGAINST SERIOUS ILLNESS AND HOSPITALIZATION. DEATHS AMONG THE VACCINATED ARE MASSIVELY REDUCED.
GET YOUR BOOSTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

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

After you received your COVID vaccinations, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.

BUT FIRST.......

PLEASE COMPLETE THE INFORMATION ON THE CARD BEFORE YOU SEND IT TO US!

What we need:

Your name
Date vaccination received
Brand name
Lot number if available
Which dose you have received

**Email your COVID vaccine completed info HERE

The places where COVID-19 cases have increased the most, least in the last two weeks

Case numbers for the previous two weeks are compared to the two weeks before.

For More information.....CLICK 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.

Quick and stealthy ‘Scrabble variants’ are poised to drive a winter Covid-19 surge

A flurry of new Covid-19 variants appears to be gaining traction globally, raising fears of a winter surge.

In the United States, these are BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7, BA.4.6, BA.2.75 and BA.2.75.2. In other countries, the recombinant variant XBB has been rising quickly and appears to be fueling a new wave of cases in Singapore. Cases are also rising in Europe and the UK, where these variants have taken hold.

Dr. Peter Hotez, who co-directs the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, says he thinks of them collectively as the Scrabble variants because they use letters that get high scores in the board game like Q, X and B.!

As the US moves into the fall, Covid-19 cases are dropping. Normally, that would be a reason for hope that the nation could escape the surges of the past two pandemic winters. But virus experts fear that the downward trend may soon reverse itself, thanks to this gaggle of new variants.

9 Fast Facts About the History of Crocs

You’re able to identify Louboutins by the red bottoms and clock Nikes by the tell-tale Swoosh, but perhaps no shoe is as recognizable as the Croc.

Love them or hate them, Crocs have a pretty impressive history, with the company building a foam-clad foot empire in the last 20 years.The recent increased interest in comfort-first fashion coupled with the brand leaning into the love-’em-or-hate-’em nature of the shoe helped Crocs cement its popularity in recent years.

They are basically pop culture royalty. Need proof of the power of Crocs? Check out these 9 fast facts about Crocs’ history, including the brand’s annual sales numbers and the reason behind those holes on top of the foam-based kicks.

1. Crocs first appeared on the shoe scene in 2002.

2. Inspired by the Dutch clog, Crocs were originally designed to be boating shoes.

3. That proprietary Crocs foam is a thing of legends.

4. Why are Crocs called Crocs? Yes, crocodiles.

5. There are exactly 13 holes on each pair of Crocs.

6. Crocs acquired family-owned company Jibbitz to turn those holes into profitable charm holders.

7. Crocs has sold more than 720 million pairs of shoes since its inception.

8. Crocs is one of the top 10 non-athletic footwear brands in the world.

9. Like Lysol and hand sanitizer brands, Crocs actually benefited from 2020.

Celebrities love Crocs, too. See a roundup of stars sporting the clogs.

'CROCS/ FLYING SHOE STORE'

Stay Safe!