February 24, 2021
Dare mighty things
The last year has been full of dismal news, often with news of one more unexpected event or discovery (remember murder hornets?) Last week was tough with the suffering in Texas from the severe cold wave and prolonged loss of electricity.
Finally, some good news this week. Cases of COVID-19 are dropping, as well as deaths. The data from the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine show it prevents infections and transmissions, as well as severe illness and death. The FDA will review the data tomorrow and approve it quickly, I expect. That will help increase vaccine access, which is also improving. More links are available to help find doses, both in Washington and nationwide. I am seeing that. I have more and more patients who have been able to get the vaccine. Moods are lightening.
One thing that really brightened my week was the Mars landing of the Rover Perseverance. Who knew that the name Perseverance would be so timely? And of course, the scientists have a good sense of humor and sent a hidden message in the parachute. After being deciphered, the message spelled a phrase from Teddy Roosevelt, “Dare mighty things”. The full quote from a speech in 1899 is: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Wash your hands, cover your nose, keep safe six, and dare great things.
And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for. Thanks for reading
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/health/covid-vaccine-johnson-and-johnson.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/business/vaccine-finder-org.html
https://www.covidwa.com
https://vaccinefinder.org/search/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/science/nasa-mars-parachute-code.html
https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/roosevelt-strenuous-life-1899-speech-text/