Sanford chief physician to host vaccine webinar for businesses
Oct. 25, 2021
The way Sanford Health chief physician Dr. Jeremy Cauwels sees it, “what should be a relatively routine vaccine rollout was very remarkable.”
By “remarkable,” he means experiences like these.
There was the college visit recently where in the same room he was asked both about the COVID-19 vaccine affecting fertility and birth control.
There are the concerns about side effects, including inflammation around the heart and blood clots.
And, somehow, there still are people who believe the government is injecting a controlling microchip with the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I can tell you there’s no microchip,” Cauwels said. “Because of the size of the needle we use to draw it up, there’s no microchip that would currently fit. This wasn’t a tracking device. This is a way to prevent you from getting an illness that can kill you.”
This is the sort of fact-checking Cauwels will bring Tuesday when he will host a webinar for businesses with their own vaccination questions, addressing these and other common misconceptions.
Calling it “a pandemic of misinformation,” he said he hopes answering ongoing questions can connect with those people “who are just hesitant and waiting to have a thoughtful conversation. Those folks we hope to still move.”
The concern about fertility is among the most common questions and dates back to an initial concern raised by a couple of scientists, Cauwels said.
“After careful study, there is no evidence whatsoever about increased difficulty getting pregnant or loss of pregnancy associated with this vaccine,” he said. “I understand the concerns, but there is no effect on fertility. There is no effect on your child’s well-being.”
However, getting COVID-19 especially during the third trimester of pregnancy “is absolutely life-threatening for you and your baby,” he continued. “And being vaccinated before your third trimester allows you to provide antibodies for you and your baby as you deliver.”
As far as the concerns about side effects, “if you’re male, the possibility of inflammation around your heart does occur,” he said. “But it occurs 10 times more often if you get COVID than if you get the vaccine. They’re still safer with the vaccine by a factor of 10 to one. If you’re worried about blood clotting, that factor is almost 40 to one.”
For younger people still passing on the vaccine, “it’s about helping them understand public health,” Cauwels said. “The reason we’re asking and sometimes requiring folks to get vaccinated isn’t because they’re going to get critically ill. We understand few of them are going to get critically ill, but they still provide the greatest protection for heroes like Colin Powell and others who will get the disease and not be able to fight it off.”
The hope is that by continuing to communicate, the number of vaccinated individuals will continue its gradual increase, he said.
“Going through those numbers is fine on a newscast, but it’s very different when you sit down with a friend you trust, and those conversations are missing in society in general. The right thing to do is remind patients to see their doctor,” he said.
“What you need to know is sooner or later through the course of this pandemic you’re going to see this virus. Are you going to see this after your body has been primed to protect itself, or are you going to see this with no protection? That’s what a global pandemic does, and that’s what you need to know.”
Business leaders, click here to sign up for the webinar.
