Other Than Vaccination, How Can You Prevent COVID-19?

Oral preventatives during disease surges:

• Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)1,000-2,000 IU/day (Gruff Davies and Linda Benskin recommend, in general, 4,000 IU daily, perhaps year-round, or whatever combination of food, supplementation, and sunlight gets your blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D to to 50 ng/mL.)
• Aspirin 81-325 mg/day
• Vitamin C 500 mg/day
• Elemental zinc 10-50 mg/day
• Melatonin 1.5-6 mg/day at night or bedtime

The doses vary, depending on body weight, age, tolerance to the drug. Generally, the higher doses are for younger and heavier folks. If one gets plentiful sunlight exposure, the oral vitamin D may not be needed.

Other strategies during disease surges (or always?):

• Regular exercise
• Lose excess weight, especially if obese (BMI over 30)
• Maintain normal blood sugars (if diabetic, keep HgbA1c under 6.5%)
• Avoid close, prolonged contact with coughing and sneezing people, especially in enclosed spaces
• Frequent hand-washing if exposed to public doorknobs, elevator buttons, or other potentially contaminated surfaces, or if around sick (coughing and/or sneezing) people
• Avoid sick people who are coughing and sneezing
• Eat healthful food

Did you notice I haven’t mentioned masks? I’m not a big believer. Do I wear an N-95 mask when I’m seeing a COVID-19 patient at the hospital? You bet. And the mask was fit-tested. Is that testing available to the general public? Not that I’m aware.

Do I have great data to support all these strategies? No, but some. Are they recommended by the CDC or NIH (Nat’l Institutes of Health)? I don’t know or care. I’ve lost faith in them. I’m afraid they’ve been bought and paid for by Big Pharma (and others?).

I don’t know about your personal health and medical history. I’m not your doctor. If you’re considering any of these recommendations, consult your personal physician before implementation.

I was motivated to write this post by the failures and risks of the rushed vaccines. Vaccination might be helpful if you are sickly, over 65, or have underlying conditions such as diabetes, active cancer, a poor immune system, obesity (especially BMI over 35), or some other co-morbidities. I see both very healthy, vigorous 65-year-olds, and sickly 65-year-olds. Which one are you? If you’re over 80, you may have nothing to lose by vaccinating. Average U.S. life expectancy is 79 years, less for men, longer for women.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Updated Dec 28, 2021