The speed of vaccination development and rollout is also its greatest drawback. Distrust in the “newness” of the vaccine. But it wasn’t new. Research and development of mRNA vaccines have been in the works for the last 30 years.

Now a year and half into the pandemic, I’m done with the fear. We’ve incorporated social distancing, hand washing, testing, mask wearing and vaccination into our daily lives. Some of us have natural immunity through previous infection. Overall, we’ve been as responsible or irresponsible as we could be. Sure we could benefit from more Americans with immunity through either infection or vaccination. But with vaccine hesitancy – stupidity masked as self-determination and self-righteousness – apparently this is as good as it gets. Time to move on and live with it.

How pandemics end

There are two ways pandemics end: 1) Immunity through vaccination or infection and 2) apathy. I got vaccinated. Now I’ve reached the point of apathy. What else can we do? If there’s another surge, are our health departments going to shut down businesses again? Will the public really tolerate that? In my opinion, they won’t.

I don’t believe I’m the only one that feels this way. We’ve restricted our movements, our children’s education, our commerce and our relationships. At some point we have to collectively realize that we’ve done what we can to mitigate the risks of the pandemic and move on with our lives.

Just get the vaccine

If you’re not vaccinated, just do it. There’s enough data to prove the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines. In fact, the vaccines that you and your children willingly accept, like polio and the flu vaccine, weren’t tested on nearly as many people as have undergone testing with the COVID vaccine prior to FDA approval.

Feel like it hasn’t been around long enough or worried about the new technology associated with an mRNA vaccine? Until you know what m-R-N-A stands for, your opinion regarding virology, vaccinology and epidemiology may not be relevant. Don’t trust researchers and doctors who developed the vaccine but trust them enough when you’re sick as hell and seeking treatment at the hospital? Why the trust after sickness but not before?

The pandemic is over

From an epidemiological perspective, the pandemic may not be over. There will be more surges, more infections, more death. I hope I’m not one of those. I hope you and your family members are not in that number. Avoid high risk situations and get the vaccine. Other than that, apathy is what will ultimately end this pandemic.

The post The pandemic is over… time to move on first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Bae:
Thanks so much, Greg. Good to see you.

Greg:
Did I embarrass you? I hope not.

Dr. Bae:
I’m getting red, getting red.

Greg:
Your hair’s getting longer, by the way, again. Are you doing the COVID thing and not cutting it again, or what’s going on over there?

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, letting it grow out. According to my wife and the person who cuts my hair, Kristin at Monument Salon, shout out to Kristin, they both like my hair a little long, kind of like Oscar Isaac. That was actually the actor that they said they wanted my hair to look like.

Greg:
Hey listen, first of all, the two people you should be listening to in life, your wife, number one, and the person that does your hair, number two. So good choice.

Dr. Bae:
Thanks.

Why Dr. Bae cancelled his trip to Hawaii

Greg:
But the reason I bring it up is, we were kind of full steam, speed ahead, taking our masks off, going out, doing all these things because we kind of thought we had this COVID thing beat, but the Delta variant has thrown a little bit of a curve ball at us, and we’re all kind of coming back. I know me, I washed all my masks, got them in my car, got them in my backpack again. And then I know you just made a major decision about traveling. You were about to take a big trip to Hawaii and you’ve made a decision to not go?

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, if y’all remember, on Big Bay Mornings, I actually invited everybody to come join us in Hawaii and Maui at the end of August, and-

Greg:
I was going to be your nanny. I was going to take care of the baby and then y’all could hang out.

Dr. Bae:
Exactly. Well, yeah, we were excited to have you as our nanny, but we decided to not go because… And I want to make it clear to everybody that we’re making decisions based on specific situation in our life that this doesn’t necessarily mean everybody else has to do the same. But if it was just me and Kelsey, two adults that were vaccinated, I would’ve still gone to Hawaii at the end of the month. No question about it. Even with the Delta variant, even though it’s more infectious and things like that. We would’ve been vaccinated, we would’ve worn N95 masks on the plane. I felt like we would’ve been pretty safe.

Kids under 12 unvaccinated

Dr. Bae:
But because we were going to be traveling with a six and a half month old, or a seven month old by that time, who’s not eligible for the vaccine, who wouldn’t be vaccinated by then, we felt like we needed to cancel the trip. And we reached out to the hotel and just said, “You know what? We’re coming there, we promise. Keep our money, we’re not asking for a refund. Hopefully we’ll be there within the next six months.” And so yeah, we canceled the trip to Hawaii and we’ll just do a little staycation here. But I think the issue was just that, because Emilio isn’t vaccinated yet and being in closed quarters for a five-hour flight, it was just too much anxiety. Because the truth is, he’s a perfectly healthy little boy, and if he got sick, and I know it’s rare that kids get really sick from COVID, but… It’s rare, that doesn’t mean it’s zero. And if he did actually get sick-

Greg:
Yeah. Well, and a baby can’t even wear a mask, right?

Dr. Bae:
That’s the whole thing, yeah, they talk about… Well, the baby’s not required to wear a mask, but I think it’d be pretty tough and maybe a little scary if it-

Greg:
I mean, how would you put a… Yeah, I don’t even know how you would do it.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, and you’d be afraid that it would smother the baby. Yeah, that’d be a bad scene. So we just didn’t want to take the chance of this perfectly healthy little boy getting potentially sick and getting a rare, serious case of COVID. So yeah, we canceled the trip. We’ll hang out here. We’ll be able to travel there again. We’re just going to stay home, stay healthy. And since we’re requiring all of our patients coming into the office now to be vaccinated, we’re hopefully going to keep the Delta variant at bay, keep our own little herd immunity here in the office and that way I won’t take it-

Greg:
At bay. At Bae.

Dr. Bae:
Oh yeah, at Bae. Yeah, there you go, B-A-E.

Greg:
Hey, even though you did cancel your trip and you did it because of your baby, but you said you would’ve gone had-

Dr. Bae:
I would’ve.

How to travel safely

Greg:
… you weren’t taking the baby. You do still think there are safe ways people can travel, but you would definitely recommend, I mean, maybe the best mask possible. What is that, the N95?

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, I don’t know if it’s… Nothing’s going to be a hundred percent safe. It’s about risk mitigation, risk reduction. And I think that if you’re traveling by car to someplace up in Napa and you’re going to be at a hotel that’s got, basically outdoor, that you don’t have to go into a lobby to go into your room, that you have a direct entrance into your room, if there’s little bungalows and things, I think that’s super safe to do that. I think you’re outdoors, you’re not going into a crowded area. If you’re able to eat outdoors, I think that’s as safe as you can be without completely shutting everything down. And yeah, N95 masks definitely are going to be better than just a regular cloth mask. So I think there’s definitely safer ways to travel and that’s what I would encourage people to do, and that’s what we’re… We’re following my own advice.

Greg:
Awesome. Well, I mean, listen, we’ve got to live life, but we also can make smart decisions and smart choices to keep ourselves safe and everybody else safe.

Dr. Bae:
Right. We want to live life, but we want to be alive to live life.

Greg:
There you go.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, so make some good choices. There you go.

How to find Dr. Bae

Greg:
That’s great advice. And if you need any other advice from Dr. Bae, whether it’s about COVID, or maybe you want to book a plastic surgery appointment, or maybe you need a consultation for something and just want to ask him a question, he will answer anything that you want to ask at…

Dr. Bae:
Realdrbae, R-E-A-L-D-R-B-A-E on Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. You can direct message us on any of those. You can watch us operate on social media, and you can also check pricing on our website at realdrbae.com. Always available.

Greg:
Great to see you, Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
Great to see you, Greg.

The post Why I canceled my trip to Hawaii [video] first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Bae:
I’m great, Greg. Good to see you.

Greg:
It is good to see you too, especially now. I mean, have you noticed the weather’s getting a little bit better? We’re finally seeing the sun again. It was a bleak summer for a while.

Dr. Bae:
July. Yeah, we got out of July and it’s beautiful again.

Greg:
Yeah. July was pretty bad. Speaking of pretty bad, this new COVID variant, this Delta and Delta Plus I guess, is in the mix again. I mean, what is happening with the new variant and what can we expect over the next couple of months?

The Delta Variant

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, the Delta variant is… What they’ve said is about a thousand times more infectious than the original Wuhan variant, and what that means is that there’s just so many more viral copies of the virus that build up in your respiratory tract, specifically in your nose. And so that, back before you weren’t putting out as many viral particles, maybe you’d have to be in consistent contact with somebody for 15 minutes indoors to pass it along. Now you could be outdoors potentially and have just a passing interface with somebody. And because there’s more viruses that you’re expelling.

Greg:
Masks again, right? Pull out the masks again.

Dr. Bae:
Masks again for sure. And you know, some people are saying N95s, particularly in a close quarters, like an airplane. So yeah, we are going backwards. It’s very frustrating. And it’s because not everybody’s getting vaccinated. We’re allowing this new Delta variant to get a foothold on all of the unvaccinated people. Yes, there are some breakthrough cases of people who’ve been vaccinated getting the new Delta variant, but it’s definitely significantly fewer vaccinated people are getting sick compared to the unvaccinated people and more critically important as the unvaccinated people are getting seriously ill, more likely to be admitted to the hospital, more likely to die.

Dr. Bae:
Whereas the vaccinated people are less sick. And maybe after a 24 hours or 48 hours of feeling like you have the cold, those people get better that are vaccinated without having to go to the hospital. So obviously [inaudible 00:02:08]… I don’t think I have to say it again, but I will that it would be beneficial if you go get vaccinated, whatever data you’re reading out there that the vaccination is unsafe or something like that. I don’t know how many hundreds of millions of people you have to have entered into a study, getting a vaccine and obviously a huge majority of them, over 99% of them are doing fine with the vaccine. It’s going to convince you.

Long term immunization and boosters

Greg:
Well, let me say this. Yeah. Even though that is kind of the bad news that we’re getting right now and the Delta thing is going on, I do think there’s been two pieces of good news that have come out recently. Number one, we just found out that Moderna said that, I think, even after six months, that vaccine is still 93% effective. So that is great news to know that we now have that study. And of course my girl, Dolly Parton, she funded that one. So of course that one works.

Dr. Bae:
Of course, of course. Yeah. No, a lot of good studies coming out of Israel also, cause they’ve done a lot of the studies with Pfizer showing that, the more antibodies you have that the more protection you have. And so that’s why they’re talking about maybe getting a booster, which isn’t unusual. Because that’s what you do with the regular flu vaccine every year is you’re essentially getting a booster of the new variants that are coming out every year. So to some extent, this Delta variant is no different than… I mean it’s much more serious and obviously… But as far as getting the vaccine, it’s no different than what you would typically get annually for the flu vaccine.

Greg:
Because flu strains change, right? I mean they change every year.

Dr. Bae:
Every year. Exactly right.

Greg:
It’s not the same flu last year that it was this year. And so they change the vaccine every year a little bit.

Annual flu shot will include protection against COVID variants

Dr. Bae:
Exactly. And people think that this is a new thing just because it’s always in the news and you’re hearing about it more, but it’s just obviously rising to our top of mind because of the pandemic and everything. But yes, that is going to be a pretty typical thing I think is that maybe even the annual flu vaccine will include some aspects of the COVID virus in the future, moving forward as that variant changes. So, I think what I’ve read before is that the typical flu vaccine is trivalent, meaning it’s effective against three strains. Now it’s going to be four strains, five strains, but including these different COVID strains, it’s going to be a much bigger needle next year, probably.

Greg:
Yeah, well the other piece of good news is that with the Delta variant, which is not the good news, more people are getting vaccinated. I think people have kind of wised up to the fact that, okay, this is really serious. So we’ve seen numbers, I think going about the 50% range to going over 70% with people at least have one shot.

Herd immunity

Dr. Bae:
Correct. And I think what they were talking about with the original Wuhan strain, that if they got to 70% vaccination rate, that that would give us herd immunity. Now with this more infectious Delta variant, that has got to be closer to 90%, but yeah, we’re definitely moving in the right direction. I think people are getting scared now, they’re realizing, oh wow, this is actually happening to people I know. And so, yes, you’re right. I agree with you. More people are getting vaccinated. And I think just seeing those numbers from the hospital where a huge majority of the people admitted to the hospital are unvaccinated. So people are starting to realize that’s the way to go.

What if the Delta variant was around before the vaccine?!

Dr. Bae:
Something I’ve said before, that blows me away though, is that how many people are getting admitted to the hospital right now in Florida, Louisiana that are overwhelming those systems like no previous surge was overwhelming them. Keep in mind that with this Delta variant, that not everybody’s going to the hospital because we have the vaccine right now. But think about back in March of 2020, if we didn’t have any protection, no vaccine, if the Delta variant was the original strain back in March of 2020, how much more infectious it would have been, how much more sick everybody would have been, how many more people had been going to the hospital, it would have really been like Armageddon. It would have been unbelievable experience. Like we think this was bad. It would have been even worse.

Go get vaccinated!

Greg:
It could have been worse, but you know what, here’s the deal. I’ll make it easy for you. It is… So we were all begging to try to get the vaccine back in the day, right. A year ago, or whenever we started doing it, six months ago, it is so easy. The Safeway across from where I work out, you could walk in, it’s free. You don’t need an appointment. It takes under five minutes. I’ve seen people do it when I’m in there shopping. It is so easy to get vaccinated and it is free. So if you’re not… Go in and do it and you will feel so much better I think.

Dr. Bae:
It’s so true. Do you remember the days where people were getting up early in the morning to log in on multiple websites, trying to find an appointment? And now, the Walgreens in our building, they say walk-ins welcome, walking [crosstalk 00:06:46] available. [crosstalk 00:06:46].

Greg:
Absolutely. And we are lucky again. I know everybody knows this. We’re lucky to live in this country. I was just in Puerto Vallarta a couple of months ago for my birthday. Did you send me… You sent me an email, but where’s my card Dr. Bae? Anyway, there were people, 300 deep, around a building in sweltering heat, just waiting to get the vaccine. So we’re so lucky to be able to just walk into a Safeway. So please do that. And if you have any questions, Dr. Bae can answer them or get you to somebody. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll get the answer for you. You’re so good about answering everything on your social media. So can you tell people how to ask you anything really, right?

Where to find Dr. Bae

Dr. Bae:
Absolutely. Anybody can get in touch with us at Real Dr. Bae, R-E-A-L-D-R-B-A-E on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and just direct messages. And then you can also come to our website and message us through our contact page, or even schedule a consult, well for cosmetic things, obviously, but if you have questions about COVID and the vaccine just absolutely go through our contact submission form at realdrbae.com, R-E-A-L-D-R-B-A-E.com.

Greg:
Great information. Great to see you again, Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
Great to see you, Greg. Thanks for having me.

The post Bae Break with Greg: What is breakthrough COVID? [video] first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Bae:
I’m good ,Greg. I’m thankfully healthy. No signs of COVID, doing well.

New vaccine mandate

Greg:
That is good. Well, that leads me into my next topic, because I know that coming into your office, if you want a consultation, or if you’re going to get surgery with you, you have a new vaccine mandate. Is that correct?

Dr. Bae:
That is correct. Throughout this entire pandemic, we’ve been requiring patients to at least test negative in the community. And then when they come in the morning of surgery, we do get an antibody test on them. But now with this delta variant being a thousand times more infectious than the original Wuhan variant, we just had to get serious about it and our employees have always been vaccinated. That wasn’t a mandate. They just wanted to go out and get vaccinated because they’re into science and things.

Greg:
Oh my God, imagine that, being into science.

Dr. Bae:
Right, right. And being in healthcare and being into science. Right. And so that we’ve decided that we’re going to require all patients coming in for consults, for injectables, for surgery, that they have to be vaccinated. It’s no longer good enough just to have a negative test. You’ve got to be vaccinated, to at least minimize the chance of you getting breakthrough COVID, excuse me, a breakthrough COVID infection.

Free coffee for everyone… who is vaccinated

Dr. Bae:
The way it all started though, is kind of funny. It started out funny at least, that we got this new latte machine that had latte art on it, which we actually posted a photo of you yesterday on our latte.

Greg:
I saw you-

Dr. Bae:
And everybody’s asking for a sip of it.

Greg:
You can make my face on… no, you’re actually making my face on your latte machine.

Dr. Bae:
Right. We can upload your photo. We upload our logos, things like that. And then the machine prints out your face on top of the latte.

Greg:
I can’t wait to send this to my mom. I mean, she’s going to be like, “You finally made it.”

Latte art promotion

Dr. Bae:
Ginger will love it. Ginger will love it. And so what we said is like, oh, we should have people come in and get free coffee and then we’ll put our logo on the latte art. And then if people tag us on social media, they’ll get 10% off the surgeon’s fees for injectables or for surgery. And then we were like, you know what? If we’re offering all these people to come in for free so that they’ll tag us on social media, then we need to make sure that they’re all vaccinated. We don’t want to be bringing a bunch of delta variants into the office. And then we started thinking, well, if we’re going to require everybody to be vaccinated to get coffee, well, maybe we should be requiring everybody to get vaccinated who’s going to be having surgery. Because if you have COVID and you get surgery, you’re going to have the increased risk of getting infections or having post-op complications associated with your surgery.

Dr. Bae:
So that’s how it all started. And then we’ve said, okay, that’s what we’re going to do. So it’s been a few weeks now that we have a vaccine mandate for all patients coming into the office. Even if you were a previous surgical patient and you’re coming back to get another operation, you’ve got to be vaccinated now.

Pushback to our vaccine mandate

Dr. Bae:
And we have had some pushback. But so far… I mean pushback on social media, people saying, “Oh, this is like Nazi Germany.” Everybody always loves to use Nazi Germany as their excuse for anything. And they always think that they automatically win an argument if they compare you to Nazis. They don’t realize that you automatically lose an argument when you compare something to Nazi Germany. But we’ve had some people say, “Oh yeah, you’re forcing us to do this.” It’s like, not forcing you to do anything. You can choose not to get vaccinated. And I can choose not to have you in the office at the increased risk of getting-

Greg:
It’s really about keeping everybody safe, though.

Dr. Bae:
Exactly.

Greg:
It’s not just about forcing people into vaccinations. It’s about keeping your staff safe, you safe, and the patients safe.

Dr. Bae:
And also not bringing home the delta variant to Emilio, our six and a half month old who’s not eligible for vaccine yet.

Greg:
You have a baby to think about now. It changes everything.

Dr. Bae:
I have to. Just like I care about other people’s babies staying healthy, then you should care about my baby staying healthy and that’s why you should come in vaccinated now.

Why you should get vaccinated

Dr. Bae:
The thing that I don’t understand is, I know everybody’s got their different viewpoints on the science and they feel like this is this or that, but just with the data coming out with all of these people who are being hospitalized, that overwhelmingly the people that are being hospitalized are unvaccinated people and to a much lesser degree, it’s vaccinated people. And then to a greater degree, the people that are vaccinated are staying out of the hospital. They’re not getting serious illness. They’re kind of having a cold. And so just the numbers seem so obvious to me that if you’re unvaccinated, you’re at much higher risk of being admitted to the hospital, dying and things like that.

Dr. Bae:
The thing that blows me away is, think about this. Think about if this delta variant, which is a thousand times more infectious than the original Wuhan variant, think about if we had this variant at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020-

Greg:
Oh my God.

Dr. Bae:
when there was no protection against it, there was no vaccine. It would be Armageddon. Everybody would be getting admitted to the hospital. It would’ve been really horrible.

Greg:
Well, we definitely would have been in our bunkers then. Yeah, we would have been hiding.

Dr. Bae:
For sure. If we think it’s bad now, it would have been way worse if we had no protection against something that was that infectious and that serious. So because of all that, that’s why we are requiring people to get vaccinated. And you know what? Get vaccinated, come in, get some free coffee, tag us on social media, get 10% off surgery. How can you go wrong with that?

How to learn more

Greg:
And you know what? You don’t even have to get any kind of procedure, or ever even think about getting any kind of procedure-

Dr. Bae:
That’s true.

Greg:
of course we would love for you to, to get that free coffee.

Dr. Bae:
Right. That is true.

Greg:
How do we get the free coffee, Dr. Bae? If we’re vaccinated, we can reach out to you.

Dr. Bae:
That is a really good point. You do not have to be a patient or get a procedure just to get the free coffee. You can just come in, be vaccinated and get it. So the way to do it is you actually go to our website, realdrBae.com, R-E-A-L-D-R-B-A-E.com, and you’ll see a link to put a pre-order in for your latte.

Greg:
Oh wow.

Dr. Bae:
And you just book your coffee right there and you come in and we will give you a coffee with our logo on it.

Greg:
No, my face.

Dr. Bae:
And you can choose to tag us on social media or not.

Greg:
My face. Ask for my face.

Dr. Bae:
You get a choice, either Greg’s face or our logo.

Greg:
Perfect.

Dr. Bae:
But we also can put your post-op photos on the latte art. We have a booty shot on the latte now.

Greg:
Wow.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, yeah. Check out your e-blast. You’re in there. We sent out an email newsletter this morning. You’re in there.

Greg:
Oh, Lord. I hope it’s not my booty.

Dr. Bae:
But it’s pretty funny. It’s amazing. What you can do with latte art now is limitless.

Greg:
All right. Well, we’ll see you soon, Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
Thanks so much, Greg.

The post Bae Break with Greg: Vaccine mandate for patients first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Bae:
Thanks for the compliment, Greg. Happy to be here.

Greg:
You’re welcome. I’m glad that you appreciate the compliment. You could say it back if you want, but anyhow…

Dr. Bae:
Back at you back at you.

Coronavirus in our future

Greg:
Well, you’ve kind of helped this face in the past, but anyway. Dr. Bae, of course, we’re going to be talking about coronavirus for a long time. You’ve always shared the knowledge that you have with us about coronavirus and where you think things are going. Looking like in the news, they’re talking about herd immunity. Can we get there with vaccinations. Maybe not enough people in America are going to get the vaccinations and what are we going to do? How is it going to affect us? Can we still leave the house? Where is all this going? What’s the future look like?

Herd immunity

Dr. Bae:
Well, I think the good news is, this is definitely something that we’re going to be able to manage going forward. We’re not going to be stuck in the house for the rest of our lives or anything like that. The thing people do have to understand is that, one of the numbers they were throwing out with herd immunity, meaning that enough people would have it, that it would protect all of us. Either you’d get herd immunity by getting actually sick and getting antibodies to the coronavirus or getting the vaccination. They were talking about that number would be like 60, 70% of the population would have to have the vaccine or have gotten coronavirus to get heard immunity. Now that number is creeping up a little bit and they’re saying that with these variants, that maybe make things a little bit more contagious. The different variants from South Africa or Brazil, or from the UK that now maybe you have to have like 80 to 90% herd immunity, so that’s going to be kind of tough to make sure that 80 to 90% of our population.

Dr. Bae:
That’s the thing. It’s not just adults, it’s kids and things who aren’t even getting the vaccine right now, so it means the vaccine, the rate’s going to be really high to get herd immunity. Again, that doesn’t mean that we have to stay in lockdown. What it really means is that most of us will be protected and that if you do happen to get the coronavirus, but you’ve been vaccinated, then you won’t, statistically speaking, you won’t get admitted to the hospital, you won’t die from it, it’ll be more like a seasonal cold or something like that. That means that we’ll probably need to continue getting vaccines or boosters every year. If you think about it, all I’m really describing is the flu shot or the way the flu has become now. We think of the flu as something that, it’s a bummer if you get it, but you survive it typically and we still have to get flu shots every year to stay up with whatever new variants there are. That’s why we’re getting flu shots every year, because there are variants each year.

Coronavirus and the flu

Greg:
This is a new, one thing I think people have to realize again, this is a new thing. We learned a lot in the first year, they’re going to still keep learning more about coronavirus and the rollout, but they do have these vaccines now. Now they realize how to roll it out and get it out into the hands. That was a little tough at the beginning, but now it looks like it will be like the flu shot, where the vaccine is rolled out seamlessly each year.

Dr. Bae:
Correct. Exactly. You’re a 100% right. The thing people also have to keep in mind, is that just like we’ve done the flu shot each year and now that flu shot will probably include some variant of the coronavirus that happens to be the main one that year. It’s not necessarily the one that was big last year that people would get that flu shot every year with whatever flu viruses are coming or whatever coronavirus is coming, they’ll get that in the flu shot. The thing people also have to remember is that even with the flu, year after year, depending on the year, depending on what source you’re looking at, 20 to 40,000 people die from the regular old flu every year, so we’re not eliminating that. That was probably a mistake by public health officials to ever think that we were going to be able to just eliminate this thing or at least give people that hope. This is going to be just something we’re going to have to manage with each year.

Dr. Bae:
Yes, people are going to die from the coronavirus in years to come, but just like they die from the flu. Those are people who maybe have pre-existing conditions, so it’s a reason to get healthy. It’s older population, so we need to make sure they’re vaccinated each year. Again, it all comes back to managing how we deal with this going forward so that we don’t have to stay in lockdown. Maybe every 100 years there’ll be a new virus that comes out that we can’t really handle quickly and that’s when you’ll have another pandemic. Hopefully that won’t happen again in our lifetimes.

Working from home

Greg:
Well, you know what? Speaking of that, I mean, we all have to take a little bit of responsibility to getting ourselves as healthy as possible, so this is good knowledge. Also, people can get healthy by losing weight and getting into better shape and exercising. I know you can help with giving advice for that or helping with different procedures. If they want to talk to you, Dr. Bae, in more in depth, one-on-one, a consultation for something. How do they reach you?

Dr. Bae:
Well, first I want to say you heard it here first, liposuction is not the treatment to get yourself in better shape for the coronavirus. If you’re looking to get something done, no problem, I’m happy to help. You can check out our website, realdrbae R E A L D R B A E, not B A Y, realdrbae.com. and you can also follow us on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, excuse me, @realdrbae and we can check pricing on our website and all that good stuff. If you are still working from home, moving forward your company has said, even though things are opening back up and you’re still going to work from home, this may be the best time for you to get a procedure and recover while still working from home. Pretty convenient.

Greg:
It is. All right. Well thanks again Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
My pleasure, thanks for having me.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post What’s in our coronavirus future? first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Greg:
Hey, this is Greg from Big Bay Mornings on 997 Now, and I’m here with a Board Certified plastic surgeon Dr. Bae. Good to see you again, Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
Hey Greg.

Greg:
How’s it going?

Dr. Bae:
Going well, going well. I just want to point out that that is an awesome man-cave with those UT colors.

Greg:
Thank you. You look at that and look at my Longhorn thing back there. Yeah.

Dr. Bae:
And are you familiar with the actual name of the color? That type of orange?

Greg:
Burnt orange? How could I not be? I went to University of Texas.

Dr. Bae:
It’s actually burnt sienna. Yeah. It’s burnt sienna.

Greg:
That’s not what we say at UT. Here, I even have this for you, Dr. Bae, look at that. Hook ’em. I know you went to, not really a rival school, but close, close to University of Texas. You went to LSU.

Dr. Bae:
No, no. Well, for medical school, but I actually went to UT Austin for undergrad. We were a few years off though.

Greg:
Yeah.

Dr. Bae:
You’re getting confused, but it’s all right. Age does that to people.

Masks are coming off!

Greg:
Listen, don’t try to say I’m the older one here, but anyway. All right. I’ve got a question. Speaking of UT, since we both went there, I have this handy dandy mask. See my UT mask. I’ve got it all.

Dr. Bae:
Looks like a jockstrap, but okay.

Greg:
I’ve got those two, but I won’t go get it for you. I got the mask for you. I’m not going to get the jockstrap for you.

Dr. Bae:
And don’t get them mixed up and don’t get them mixed up putting the jockstrap on your face.

Greg:
I don’t know. In my world, that could be kind of exciting, but anyway, we better get back on track before we get in trouble here. Speaking to these masks though, we might not have to wear them forever. We are turning a corner here with the pandemic. Now, of course, we want people to keep wearing their masks right now. But I mean, one of the things that I kind of like about wearing the mask is it covers some of the things I don’t like about my face and the waddle, and maybe any imperfections, but that’s your specialty to fix these kinds of things.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah. I mean, it looks like things are getting a little bit closer back to normal. I mean, the CDC said this week that if you’re vaccinated, you can be inside with other people that are vaccinated and you could even be with other people that are unvaccinated as long as they’re not high risk. So the time of starting to remove masks is happening now. I mean, it is according to the CDC, I know that each state has different rules, but it’s happening. People are starting to take off masks and then you’re going to be able to start to see maybe the thin lips, the jowling, the full neck.

Greg:
I’m going to see the COVID-19, the COVID 19 that everybody gained.

Options for the lower face

Dr. Bae:
Right. So if anybody starts to get a little uncomfortable with that, people are still able to work from home so you can go get treatments and still recover from home, so that’s still pretty convenient, but yeah. When it comes to the lower face that was covered by a mask, yes, you can get lip fillers if you want. If you want to plump those up. If you have jowling, maybe just slight jowling, you can actually do liposuction along the whole neck, along the jaw line that can help with jowling.

Options for the neck

Dr. Bae:
If you have really bad jowling, then you need more of a facelift, but that’s obviously a bigger step for some people. And then when it comes to the neck, lots of different things, you can do surgical and nonsurgical. As far as the neck goes, if you have a little bit of folders here, there’s something called Kybella that will melt the fat, but keep in mind it will make your neck swell up like a bullfrog for about a week afterwards.

Greg:
Then you’ll need the mask again.

Dr. Bae:
That’s true. You’ll need the mask again. The other option is CoolSculpting, which it just freezes the fat and then the fat dies. The nice thing about CoolSculpting is that it doesn’t cause that big bullfrog swelling for the week after the treatment, so that’s good.

The SIMI Neck Lift

Dr. Bae:
And then if you really want to take it a step further, if you have a little bit of misplaced skin here, then you can do a surgical treatment, like I offer that I developed and I got published for. It’s called the SIMI neck lift, single incision, minimally invasive neck lift, where we just make one incision here, we undermine the skin, tighten up the skin here. And it avoids those big incisions behind the ears where you would normally remove excess skin. But for the patients who really do have that big turkey gobbler neck, have skin that they got to get rid of, then yeah, you would need to do a full neck lift for that, where you make those incisions behind the ears and remove the skin. So lots of options out there.

Greg:
And I have personal experience with this because my friend, Anna, she flew from Dallas. She came all the way from Texas to get her semi neck lift with you, Dr. Bae, And she absolutely is overjoyed with it. She loves the results.

Dr. Bae:
Well, thank you very much for the referral, Greg. You’ll get a little discount the next time you come in. Not that you are getting anything.

Greg:
I’m coming. I’m coming. You see this, I’m coming. Get your needle ready. Get that Botox ready for me.

Dr. Bae:
It’s ready. You’ve got a bottle of Botox with your name on it.

Greg:
Thank you, Dr. Bae. That’s good. All right.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post The masks are coming off! What will they reveal?! [video] first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

And then there were three. That’s right, three vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J). All highly efficacious according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. And we have these three vaccines not even a year after the first shelter-in-place orders were issued in the US. Now that they’re all available, let’s review how these three vaccines compare.

Comparison of Effectiveness

A great deal of attention has focused on the differences between Pfizer and Moderna vs the J&J vaccine. While the J&J rate of effectiveness is 66.9% and Pfizer and Moderna are 95% and 94.5%, respectively, these numbers are measuring two different end points.

The J&J figure relates to the effectiveness in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 illness after a single dose. In fact, it was 85.9% effective against the most severe forms of COVID-19. Pfizer and Moderna were measuring symptomatic infection, not necessarily moderate to severe infection.

Rather than focusing on the numbers above, focus on the numbers below: the three vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations and deaths.

Risk of dying or being hospitalized after vaccination

When measuring effectiveness weeks after vaccination, the risk of hospitalization and death fell to zero when receiving any one of these vaccines. In other words, if you get sick, these vaccines with almost certainly save you from hospitalization and death. This is why consumers should not turn down the J&J vaccine if they have an opportunity to get it. Because if you wait for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, erroneously assuming they’re “better” than the J&J vaccine, you could contract COVID-19 and die in the meantime, a fate the J&J vaccine would save you from.

Effectiveness against variant strains

While the British and South African variants were not around during the Pfizer and Moderna trials, there’s evidence these vaccines are still effective against them. The J&J vaccine definitively offers protection against the South African variant. It was 81.7% effective against severe forms of COVID-19 in South Africa. Fortunately, these vaccines can include protection against future variants.

Number of doses required

The Pfizer vaccine requires at least 21 days in between two doses. Whereas the Moderna vaccine requires 28 days between each of the two doses. The J&J vaccine only requires one dose. However, J&J has an ongoing trial to determine if a second booster shot would increase effectiveness.

Vaccine technology

Both Pfizer and Moderna use mRNA technology that has been in development for 20 years but this is the first vaccine widely distributed using the technology. The J&J vaccine uses a viral vector technology that has been previously used in an Ebola vaccine.

They all have one thing in common. They all cause our bodies to produce the coronavirus spike protein on our cells’ surfaces, thus stimulating our immune system to produce antibodies. By being “locked and loaded” with antibodies, our body can quickly fight off a future coronavirus infection.

There is fear surrounding the mRNA technology and the erroneous concern that it can affect our genetic code and possibly fertility. The populace received reassurance that this was not the case because the mRNA particle does not enter the nucleus where our genetic code resides. This is accurate.

Ironically, the J&J vaccine, which contains DNA transported to our cells in a re-engineered, harmless adenovirus (in their natural state, adenovirus can cause the common cold), does enter the nucleus to produce mRNA that then goes on to become the blueprint for the spike proteins. While the initial acceptance of the J&J vaccine is a welcome surprise, it’s interesting that it 1) uses a real virus to transport its genetic material to elicit an immune response and 2) enters the nucleus to do so.

Safety profile

Aside from arm pain, fatigue, body aches and weakness, the FDA believes all three vaccines have favorable safety profiles. There are certainly reports of allergic reactions, but this can occur with the annual flu vaccine.

Additionally, the reactions are often due to the “packaging” of the vaccine rather than the active ingredients of the vaccine itself.

Risk of spreading COVID-19 after vaccination

Studies are ongoing. But there is increasing evidence that those who receive the vaccine do not become effective carriers of the virus with a high viral load. Therefore, they are not shedding the virus in numbers to infect others.

Cold storage requirements

Because the mRNA vaccines are so fragile, they require storage at colder temperatures. The Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-cold storage. The FDA is now allowing storage at “warmer” temperatures, citing evidence from Pfizer that the vaccine is still effective in temperatures comparable to a typical freezer.

The Moderna vaccine continues to require freezer temperature storage. In what may make distribution easier to far flung or isolated communities, the J&J vaccine remains effective with storage in a standard refrigerator.

Safety in pregnancy

Anecdotally, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to be safe in pregnancy and during lactation. In fact, the main obstetrics and gynecological trade organization, ACOG, is actively encouraging pregnant and lactating women to get vaccinated.

There is clear evidence that coronavirus infection in pregnant women is significantly more severe when compared to non-pregnant women. Additionally, there are no known instances of risk to the fetus when the mother receives the vaccine. This makes the choice of vaccination clearer from a risk-benefit perspective.

At this time, both Pfizer and J&J plan to move forward with clinical trials involving pregnant women.

Conclusion

The vaccine is not the only protection against COVID-19. Social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing are still basic CDC recommendations. When combined with these precautions, any of the three vaccines will statistically keep people safe, possibly infection free. But most importantly, they help avoid hospitalization and death. If anyone have the opportunity to receive a vaccination, don’t turn it down because of a perceived ineffectiveness of one vaccine over another. Stay healthy. Get the vaccine.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Three vaccines: Pros and cons first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

In the run up to the current vaccine approvals and post approval process, I’m blown away by what is making people worried about this vaccine. I’m not surprised they’re worried. Totally get that. But surprised by what they’re worried about!

Anxiety and fear are completely understandable for a vaccine that was developed in record time and with “newer” technology (mRNA (m = messenger)(RNA = ribonucleic acid). I say “newer” because while it’s the first vaccine coming to market using mRNA technology, the technology was actually developed decades ago. Yes, it was approved under an emergency use authorization so we don’t have years of follow up studies confirming its safety. However, with the millions of people who’ve received the vaccine either during trials or since release, severe reactions are very rare. Most side effects include short-term fatigue or headache. But with a greater than 94% effectiveness, these side effects are a reasonable tradeoff.

Of course we shouldn’t go into anything blindly. Of course we should have an idea of what we’re putting into our body. But the concerns people are bringing up suggest misinformation and rumors without a clear basis. My post below, along with this article and this article seek to allay some of those concerns.

Fertility

When someone expresses a concern, I don’t believe we should dismiss those concerns. I think we should be curious as to what is the underlying reasoning for their concern. Once we know, we can more accurately address that concern.

But in the case of fertility, it’s not clear where this fear is coming from. Do they think the vaccine causes a person to become sterile? Impotent? This article suggests the concern is a debunked cross reaction with placental proteins! I want to ask the people that cite this as the reason for not getting the vaccine, “what do you know about placental proteins?!”

An alternative reason for concerns about fertility may lie with the vaccine’s mechanism of action. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are messenger RNA-based vaccines. mRNA is genetic code that the cell uses as a blueprint for manufacturing proteins. In the case of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, the mRNA goes into the cell and stimulates the cell to create the coronavirus’ spike protein.

The spike protein then goes to the cell surface and stimulates the body’s immune system to create antibodies to that protein. Keep in mind the presence of these manufactured spike proteins on your cell surface don’t last forever. They degrade over time like any protein. They’re there just long enough for your body to stimulate antibodies to them. And if the real coronavirus with its spike proteins enters the body, your immune system is primed and ready to produce antibodies to neutralize the virus.

But at no time does the mRNA ever enter the “inner sanctum” of the cell, the nucleus. This is where our genetic code is kept. Our genome, our DNA. By remaining outside of the nucleus when creating the spike protein, the mRNA never incorporates into our DNA. Therefore it is not passed on to your kids and does not affect fertility.

If additional reassurance is necessary in regards to fertility, keep in mind that The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology are very clear about vaccination during pregnancy and lactation. They’re for it!

Ultimately, the attempt to dispel a myth regarding fertility is the difficulty in addressing the underlying source of the concern (since it’s not always clear).

So imagine yourself listening to the news during this pandemic and the news anchor says, “Breaking News! Two companies have developed new vaccines for the coronavirus. They work by injecting the actual coronavirus into your bloodstream.”

Concerns over the vaccine technology

Back to the technology used in these first two vaccines. They use mRNA as a way to stimulate the body’s immune response as explained previously. Whether people are concerned that it’s the first vaccine using this technique or because of fear that it interacts with our own DNA (again, it doesn’t), I think it’s important for concerned citizens to consider the alternative types of vaccines.

Keep in mind that all of the vaccines you’ve ever received, stimulated your immune response by using 1) a live, weakened (attenuated) virus (eg MMR or measles vaccine), or 2) a dead virus (eg polio, hepatitis A, most flu vaccines). So imagine yourself listening to the news during this pandemic and the news anchor says, “Breaking News! Two companies have developed new vaccines for the coronavirus. They work by injecting the actual coronavirus into your bloodstream.” It wouldn’t matter that the vaccine contained weakened or dead viral particles. You’d run for the hills!

Therefore, a vaccine that produces a protein that allows your body to produce antibodies to the virus, without ever interacting with the virus itself, is progress. Consider yourself lucky to be living in a time where this technology is available. Now go out and get vaccinated!

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post You’re worried about this vaccine?! And other myths! first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Facial fillers and the COVID vaccine

First off, it’s not usual to have a reaction to a vaccine. Any vaccine. There’s nothing special about the COVID vaccine in that respect. The preservatives used in vaccines, such as polyethylene glycol (PGE)(used in skin creams and other self care products) can cause a reaction in some people. Typically recipients that are already susceptible to allergic reactions for one reason or another.

In fact, many documented cases of allergic reactions to the vaccine, facial filler patients or otherwise, were consumers that carry an EpiPen because of their risk of having an allergic reaction. That should tell you something about their innate susceptibility to allergens in general. This is different than the vast majority of the population.

Currently, the theory is that people who have had facial fillers, that can contain PGE, develop antibodies to PGE and once they receive the vaccine, which also contains PGE, their immune response “attacks” the fillers, causing facial swelling. For the record, this attack by the immune system is actually a good sign you have a strong, appropriately reacting immune response.

What happens to facial filler patients that have a reaction to the vaccine?

So for those people that have a reaction to the PGE in a vaccine, they have have facial or lip swelling in the area of the facial fillers. But that’s it. The reaction is easily treated with antihistamines like Benadryl, Claritin or Allegra. Oral or an injectable steroid will help tamp down the reaction as well.

The important thing to remember is that no one has had a serious reaction in the case of facial fillers. So if you’ve had facial fillers and are considering not getting the vaccine, please reconsider. This is a risk – benefit decision. And the benefit of getting the vaccine and avoiding an active COVID infection far outweighs the risk of have some facial swelling after facial fillers.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Facial fillers and the COVID vaccine first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Data shows vaccine is safe

To achieve herd immunity, we need 50-60% of Americans to get the vaccine. That translates into 200 million of us. For that to happen, we need to ensure folks it’s safe. Based on the data, the vaccine is safe. In an effort to educate the public regarding the vaccine’s safety profile, we have to highlight some of the concerns out there.

Alcohol and the vaccine

And in the process of highlighting concerns, we may inadvertently bring attention to, and give credence to myths that we want to dispel. For example, alcohol consumption. There’s a concern that a COVID vaccine in Russia may have a bad reaction when the consumer drinks alcohol within weeks of receiving it.

There is no evidence that if you drink alcohol, you will have a bad reaction to the vaccine. The only possible underlying validity to this is the possibility that if you consume a great deal of alcohol in general, this may affect your overall health and lead to a weakened immune system. But other than that, there is no direct correlation between the occasional drink or even a social drinker having a reaction to the vaccine because of their alcohol consumption.

Allergic reactions to the vaccine

Soon after the UK began distributing the Pfizer vaccine, there were reports of allergic reactions. While allergic reactions are possible, three things are critically important to know. First, reactions can occur with all vaccines. Second, the reaction isn’t necessarily due to the active ingredients in the vaccine themselves. They may be from the solution or preservatives in the vaccine. For example, when receiving the typical flu vaccine, the person administering the injection may tell you that a reaction is possible if you already have an allergy to eggs. And third, the people reported to have had allergic reactions were already highly susceptible to allergic reactions in general. How do we know this? Because they were already carrying epi pens! That means, for the large majority of vaccine recipients, a severe allergic reaction is not a major risk.

Bell’s palsy and the vaccine

In a review of Pfizer’s vaccine data, the FDA noted that 4 people got Bell’s palsy during the vaccine trials. While no one in the placebo group during the trial got Bell’s palsy, the FDA noted that this is similar to the number of people that will get Bell’s palsy in the general population, completely unrelated to the vaccine or vaccine trials. In other words, even if those people weren’t in the vaccine trials or received the vaccine, they would have the same probability of getting Bell’s palsy.

As more people receive the vaccine, we may learn of other reactions or side effects. But for now, the vaccine appears safe and the best option we have to return to a life of vacations and human interactions without masks.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post The vaccine is near! The vaccine is safe! first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

The Vice Presidential debate last week may seem like forever ago. But who can forget Kamala Harris’ statement that she would accept a vaccine from the FDA but not from President Trump. Whether you heard it or not, it’s still nonsense. This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the scientific method and science in general. So don’t let Kamala scare you.

Don’t let Kamala scare you from taking a vaccine

The development and approval of a vaccine is not, nor has it ever been, solely under the discretion of the President. There is a cacophony of public and private partnerships involved. Currently there are four drug companies that are in the final Phase 3 trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. Translation: they’re providing the vaccine to tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the world to ensure the vaccine is both safe and effective.

After each phase of any drug trial, the FDA reviews the data to determine if the drug company can proceed to the next phase and final approval after the third phase. Consider all of the researchers, doctors, nurses, statisticians that take part in these studies. If there were any shortcuts, someone within this entire process would blow the whistle.

And with so many involved, there are simply too many people standing in the way of a President imposing their will to magically approve a vaccine over everyone’s objections. While Vladimir Putin did that in Russia, this isn’t Russia. So for Kamala to say she would accept a vaccine from the FDA but not from the President is ridiculous. The truth is that approval is predicated on the drug companies, the FDA and the President signing off on it. Does that mean she won’t take the vaccine because the President was ultimately involved? Actually, what she does personally is immaterial.

Why her comments are so irresponsible

The real issue, the real harm is that she has lent credence to the thousands (or millions?) of Americans that have reservations about taking the vaccine. For either founded or unfounded reasons, some have concerns about the safety of the vaccine. With her irresponsible comments, they can now follow their instincts to forego the vaccine. Albeit for completely unscientific, nonsensical reasons.

By promoting a conspiracy that Trump will single-handedly approve the vaccine, she is no better than anti-vaxxers that believe vaccines lead to autism, a widely debunked theory. Some may believe her comments were hyperbole. That she didn’t really mean it. Unfortunately, being the Jenny McCarthy of the Democratic Party and scaring the populace from getting the vaccine, and producing herd immunity, is unforgivable.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post If a vaccine is approved, don’t let Kamala scare you from taking it! first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Virtual visits aren’t just safe, they’re convenient

Forcing patients into non-urgent virtual visits has made them realize, “why weren’t we always doing this?!” Patient behaviors will change as they recognize the convenience of online doctor visits. First, they will be much more discerning about which visits actually require in-person visits. This will evolve even further once a vaccine is available and we’re truly past the pandemic.

Consider that in-person visits require many patients to leave work early. That consequently requires them to ask their employer to leave early for a doctor’s appointment. Which may or may not lead to a discussion of their particular malady.

Leaving early may also require them to desert some of their duties or hand off those duties to a fellow employee. Which may also lead to a discussion of their medical issues with a colleague.

And this is all before the patient has to contend with a commute to the doctor’s office and the cost of parking. It’s no wonder more consumers will prefer a non-emergent virtual visit if their doctor offers it or if their condition allows for it. If they haven’t already, patients will realize that not only are virtual visits safe, they often suffice for a real in-person visit and are more convenient.

The one issue that may curtail a full blown embrace of virtual visits is the cost. During the pandemic, online visits for COVID 19 related and unrelated issues were covered by insurance companies. Now, as insurance companies curtail coverage for virtual visits, or shift some of the copay to consumers, virtual visits will continue to rise, but possibly not at as steep an incline as seen during the peak of the pandemic. But make no mistake, virtual visits are here to stay.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Virtual visits are convenient, not just for COVID avoidance first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.