Coronavirus Update With Dr. Dennis Norem

Dr. Norem made his weekly visit to the show to give us the latest on the coronavirus, COVID-19, and the vaccine rollout. 

We started this morning's conversation with some news around the country, where some states have extremely relaxed their mitigation advisories. From California opeining up Disney Land and baseball parks, to Texas and Mississippi telling people they don't have to wear masks anymore. Dr. Norem is encouraged by the fact that people are beginning to go somewhat back to normal, but is concerned that we might be jumping the gun and we could see another surge, especially with the European strain that is currently spreading.

One thing that we didn't get to ask Dr. Norem about, because it was announced after he was on, was the city of Chicago's announcement that fans would be allowed into both Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Ballpark this summer for baseball games as early as opening day.

(Sidebar: This is an amazing victory lap taken by Mayor Lightfoot after making more than a couple of unpopular decisions. Read the room for me just one time Mayor Lightfoot.)

The majority of our talk today was dedicated to vaccines. We asked Dr. Norem if he thought the vaccine distribution was ramped up enough. There are definitely things that could be done better but things are definitely trending in the right direction.

He's still a bit disappointed in the number of people that are seemingly unwilling to get the vaccine. Hopefully, those opinions will change after time proves that the vaccine is indeed safe.

We asked him about the wild variations in reactions to the shot. Some people are reporting basically no side effects at all, while others are experiencing severe soreness at the injection site as well as about 24 hours of flu symptoms. There isn't a good explanation for the different reactions but it is something we might be able to figure out after more shots are given.

We thank Dr. Norem for taking time out of his day to talk to us once again. We learn something every week and hope you do as well.