Yeah, just a bit irritable today.

But....the results are in. Part of the reason why Israel received so much of the Pfizer vaccine is that they agreed to enrol most of the population into Pfizer's ongoing mRNA vaccine trials. Good for them. Of the nine million people in Israel, nearly half have received a first dose, and a third have received both doses since the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine began on December 19th. So far, this real world study has examined about 600,000 vaccinated people against the same sized control group of unvaccinated people. Up until now, most data on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines has come under controlled conditions in clinical trials, leaving an element of uncertainty over how results would translate into the real world where life is less predictable. Of note too is that Pfizer's Phase 3 vaccine trials looked at only 30,000 people. The more people you have enrolled in a study the more precise it's results are. Precise definition: marked by exactness and accuracy. I like the sound of that ! Thirty thousand study participants compared to 600,000 study participants? I need to ask my statistician husband how much more accurate these results are. But I already know, it's massive. Here's the good news. The research in Israel, showed that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine reduced the number of COVID infections by 94 % across all age groups. AND, this study also suggests the vaccine, is effective against the UK variant. The UK variant was the dominant strain of the virus in Israel at the time of the study. AND....At least three studies out of Israel have also suggested the vaccine reduces the transmission of COVID 19. You are not just immune to COVID 19 when vaccinated but you don't transmit the virus when vaccinated. We are still waiting for more research to conclusively prove this but this is massive. Bam, Bam and Bam. Take that COVID!!! Infections rates have fallen in Israel and the country is now easing its third national lockdown and reopened swathes of its economy including malls, shops, schools and many workplaces in the past two weeks. Have no fear folks. We will get there. Turn the news off. There is too much noise. I have had it up to here with discussions about which country or which province has given the most vaccines. Let's pass judgement in the summer when we have all had the opportunity to be vaccinated and we look outside ourselves to see who else in the world needs these vaccines. Anne-Marie Please share. I just asked the 'B' man, my statistician husband, about the difference between 30,000 and 600,000. He looked a little surprised and said, " All things being equal, the study with 600,000 would have much more precise and accurate results". Nice.... For the Wellington-Dufferin-Public Health Unit, here is the Pre-Registration Website link for everyone over 80. Register to get your vaccine. https://register.wdgpublichealth.ca Guelph Community Foundation has published a series of Vital Briefs that focus on Secondary Pandemic Effects on our health. The link to the report is: https://www.guelphcf.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=-kDSQDcIjsA%3d&tabid=100. Food Insecurity, Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Employment, Families and Children.....great info. Please read! Click here to learn about 10 C's Connecting Circles for people over 50. So important to reach out and connect with others. https://10carden.ca/connecting-circles/ For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-