News outlets that skew strongly in one direction or the other, seemed to focus on bad news in regards to Covid-19. At least that is what this working paper states which is published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, and titled, “Why is all Covid-19 news bad news?“

So I want to focus on what the good news is right now.

Vaccines save lives.

Highlights of the New York Time article, “Good Vaccine News.”‘

• All five vaccines (with public results which are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson) have eliminated Covid-19 deaths.
• They have reduced hospitalizations.
• None have been remained hospitalized 28 days after receiving a shot.
• The shots dramatically lower your chances of being infected.

Also understanding the difference between effectiveness and efficacy is something we might need to understand better here in Hawaii as this article makes clear from Hawaii Tribune Herald on “Three ‘Breakthrough’ virus cases found in Hawaii.” It misuses the concept of efficacy as 5% of vaccinated people could get covid based on the clinical trial which is not true. Efficacy in these trials meant that people with the vaccine in the clinical trial were 95% lower in risk to acquiring Covid-19 in comparison to the control group. Efficacy is related to clinical trials and effectiveness is related to real world use. Real world effectiveness can be lower then clinical efficacy because trials are typically not a true representation of the population in demographics and overall health. It is also worth mentioning the possibility that 1) people were exposed prior to getting the shot or during the two week time period after vaccination where the body has still not built up an immunity, 2) underlying health conditions inhibit the immune response to vaccination, or even 3) you were exposed due to being in a situation where the virus was running rampant and that large dose of virus exposure overwhelmed your body’s built up immune defenses.

Something to celebrate. And just thinking seriously about the vaccine and what it means for me and those around me.

So this story is based on my furbabies dislike for vegetables. We are one of those fur-parents that stopped feeding their dogs kibble and have tried raw food, mixing it with other things, and now all the cats and dogs get cooked food. They love chicken and it fits our cat, Kili’s allergy needs as well (I cannot believe how much of cat food has fish something in it, even if it says chicken).

Chicken has been all of their main protein but getting them to eat more vegetables to get the vitamins and nutrients they need has been … a challenge. I know I can try to find a supplement for them, but personally it is not my favorite option. I would rather find it naturally in the food any of us eat.

I mentioned this issue to my dad when he visited one day, he mentioned trying chicken liver (vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin C, selenium, copper, and iron) and gizzards (zinc, iron, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B12, niacin, vitamin C, riboflavin, magnesium, copper, manganese, and calcium). So we went to Times to find it. They also had these items at Don Quijote and Foodland Farms. Foodland Farms is where I also found the hearts (fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, iron, taurine, and zinc) this last time. So we bought it and most of them just gobble it up.

We do not want to give them too much because we worry about any issues with feeding them too many organ meats, like purine (uric acid level rise) and saturated fat. So we fried a little of each and I cut it up to create small portions for the five of them. Cutting up the hearts bothered me a little because they kind of looked like what I thought my heart would look like. This piqued my interest so I did a little search time looking up what hearts look like for other animals. Also do animals have hearts that look like mine? So the answer is basically, yes, if the being has a heart it does look a lot like mine.

The idea that all beings that have hearts, have a heart that looks a lot like mine, is something that has really stayed with me and I am still reflecting on it. I recently went a little smaller in my reflection, with the realization that the human heart looks the same in all of us. Right now I think there is something special in remembering this and I should keep it top of my mind.

Happy St. Patrickʻs Day (Hauʻoli Lā ʻo Patrick Haipule – I think). So there is some positive news around covid-19 and potentially being around others. Vaccines in Hawaiʻi are on the upswing – some of our counties have over 25% vaccination rates, we are nearing Tier 4 reopening (although as of this writing we have over 1% testing positivity rate – which is supposed to be under 1% for two weeks for us to move into Tier 4), and more vaccines are becoming available to more of the population. With the guidance from the CDC for those that have been vaccinated, I am looking forward to seeing my grandmother soon.