A person walks into their doctor’s office and says, “I’m a tee-pee, I’m a lean-to, I’m a tee-pee, I’m a lean-to!!!” The doctor replies, “Relax, you’re two tents.”
Are you feeling too much muscle tension? This simple relaxation exercise from You Tube can help:
Our move to the White Cap building on Industrial Ave in Williston is still a moving target due to supply chain issues. The latest estimate for our move is early 2023.
This move will involve Evergreen Williston (28 Park Ave), Evergreen Junction (55 Main St) and Charlotte Family Health. Alder Brook Family Health is not moving.
Evergreen Family Health Group providers support the CDC recommendations for patients to receive the COVID primary series, boosters, and the new Bivalent booster.
Patients are due for the Bivalent booster two months after they have completed their primary series or received their last booster.
For more information please go to:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
You can get Bivalent booster shots at your local pharmacy, at an Evergreen flu clinic later in the season, or by finding a community walk-in clinic at: https://www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19/vaccine
From Harvard University (copy and paste the link): https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower
All four of our offices have influenza vaccines for the 2022-2023 flu season. If you have an appointment to see a provider, please ask the medical assistant rooming you for a flu vaccine. If you’d like to schedule an appointment for one of our many flu clinics, see below for dates/times/locations. Due to staffing shortages in our admin teams answering the phones, please consider sending a message via your patient portal to request a flu clinic appointment.
| flu clinic date | type of vaccine | location/town | time |
| 9/10/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | 9:00-1:00 |
| 9/17/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | 1:00-4:00 |
| 9/24/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | 9:00-1:00 |
| 9/13/2022 | flu | AFH/Essex Town Alder Brook | 10:00-noon |
| 9/20/2022 | flu | AFH/Essex Town Alder Brook | 3:00-5:00 |
| 9/27/2022 | flu | AFH/Essex Town Alder Brook | noon-3:00 |
| 9/12/2022 | flu | CFH/Charlotte | 9:00-11:00 |
| 9/20/2022 | flu | CFH/Charlotte | 11:00-2:00 |
| 9/27/2022 | flu | CFH/Charlotte | 2:00-4:00 |
| 9/7/2022 | flu | Junction/Essex 55 Main St | 1 0:00-noon |
| 9/14/2022 | flu | Junction/Essex 55 Main St | 1:00-4:00 |
| 9/21/2022 | flu | Junction/Essex 55 Main St | 2:00-5:00 |
| 10/1/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | 9:00-2:00 |
| 10/15/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | noon-4:00 |
| 10/22/2022 | flu | EFH-Willston 28 Park Ave | 11:00-3:00 |
| 10/11/2022 | flu | AFH/Essex Town Alder Brook | 1:00-4:00 |
| 10/20/2022 | flu | AFH/Essex Town Alder Brook | 9:00-noon |
| 10/12/2022 | flu | Junction/Essex 55 Main St | noon-2:00 |
| 10/25/2022 | flu | Junction/Essex 55 Main St | 1:00-4:00 |
Paxlovid is an oral anti-viral medication which has been shown to significantly reduce severe illness and hospitalization in medically vulnerable individuals. Currently, those who qualify to take Paxlovid are any adult age 65 or older, and any person age 12 or older (weighing at least 88 pounds) who is at increased risk of developing severe disease from Covid. Please read the following information if you are considering taking Paxlovid:
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/13-things-to-know-paxlovid-covid-19
We will be receiving pediatric Pfizer Covid vaccines soon and we plan to schedule vaccine clinics in the coming weeks. This message will be updated once we are ready to make appointments. Pfizer vaccines will be available for infants and children ages six months to four years. Children ages five years and older may receive Covid vaccines at a pharmacy.
The following information is for adults who have NEVER BEEN diagnosed with coronary artery disease, angina, heart attack, stroke or peripheral vascular disease. If you have any of these conditions, this information does not apply to you.
This information applies to adults ages 40 and older who are healthy AND to adults ages 40 and older who have increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, tobacco smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol.
First, some DEFINITIONS:
PRIMARY PREVENTION: preventing a disease or condition before it starts. (Secondary prevention means preventing recurrence or worsening of a condition which already exists.)
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: a condition in which plaque builds up inside arteries, which can lead to blockages in arteries supplying blood flow to important organs in the body. When this occurs in arteries in the brain, it is called cerebrovascular disease and can lead to a stroke. When it occurs in the heart, it is called coronary artery disease and can lead to a heart attack, and when it occurs in the legs, it is called peripheral artery disease and can lead to pain in the lower legs while walking (relieved by rest) or ulcerations in the skin of the feet or lower legs which do not heal.
ASPIRIN: a medication which blocks the action of platelets. Platelets are cells in the blood which help form blood clots. By blocking the action of platelets, aspirin can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Aspirin can also have a serious side effect of bleeding, particularly from the stomach.
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Next, ASPIRIN RECOMMENDATIONS for PRIMARY PREVENTION:
For adults aged 40 to 59 years with a 10% or greater 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk:
The decision to initiate low-dose aspirin use for the primary prevention of CVD in adults aged 40 to 59 years who have a 10% or greater 10-year CVD risk should be an individual one. Evidence indicates that the net benefit of aspirin use in this group is small. Persons who are not at increased risk for bleeding and are willing to take low-dose aspirin daily are more likely to benefit.
For adults 60 years or older:
The USPSTF recommends against initiating low-dose aspirin use for the primary prevention of CVD in adults 60 years or older.
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QUESTIONS and ANSWERS (Again, this information applies only to those who have never been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease):
Q: How do I know if my 10-year risk for developing cardiovascular disease is 10% or greater?
A: Speak to your primary care provider. There are population-based calculators to approximate your risk, but the calculators have inherent inaccuracies.
Q: What if I am age 60 to 75 and already taking aspirin to prevent heart disease? Should I stop taking it?
A: Speak to your primary care provider. The answer is nuanced and depends on your own personal health and potential benefits versus harms of aspirin.
Q: What if I am age 75 or older and already taking aspirin? Should I stop taking it?
A: Yes, you should stop taking aspirin.
Q: Just how important is aspirin for preventing cardiovascular disease?
A: The answer is nuanced, and depends on your personal health and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Aspirin has greater importance for adults who have greater risk of developing the disease, compared to adults at low risk. The BEST ways for adults to prevent cardiovascular disease are to:
-keep the blood pressure low, ideally 120/80 or less
-quit smoking tobacco
-keep diabetes well controlled (A1C level less than 7.0)
-have desirable cholesterol levels
-follow a Mediterranean diet
-get regular exercise
***THIS INFORMATION ONLY PERTAINS TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED THREE PFIZER OR MODERNA VACCINES, OR A JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE PLUS A SECOND VACCINE OF ANY TYPE***
Q: Who may receive the 4th vaccine? (3rd vaccine in the case of Johnson & Johnson being the 1st – see the final question for info specific to those who received J&J initially)
A: Adults ages 50 and older may receive a 4th dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, at least 4 months after their 3rd dose. Adults ages 18 – 49 with certain serious underlying health conditions may receive a 4th dose of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Children ages 12 – 17 with certain serious underlying health conditions may receive a 4th dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Q: What is considered a serious underlying health condition, in relation to individuals ages 12 – 49 qualifying for a 4th vaccine dose?
A: If you have:
Q: May I receive my 4th vaccine at my Evergreen/Junction/Charlotte/Alder Brook Primary Care office?
A: Only Evergreen in Williston and Evergreen Junction in Essex Junction have the Covid vaccine. The Charlotte and Alder Brook offices do not have Covid vaccines. Williston and Junction patients who already have an appointment with a provider for a different reason, may receive a 4th vaccination during the visit. These two offices have the Pfizer vaccine. We are not currently scheduling appointments solely for receiving Covid vaccination. You may schedule a Covid vaccination appointment at a pharmacy.
Q: Can I receive a Pfizer vaccine as a 4th dose if my previous 3 vaccines included a Moderna vaccine? Can I receive a Moderna vaccine if my previous 3 vaccines included a Pfizer vaccine?
A: Yes for both questions.
Q: What if I received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine initially?
A: If you are age 18 and older and you received two J&J vaccines you may receive a Pfizer or Moderna booster. If you are 50 and older and your 1st and 2nd doses were either both J&J or a J&J followed by either a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, you may receive another Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
The following is information from the CDC:
“Data continue to show the importance of vaccination and booster doses to protect individuals both from infection and severe outcomes of COVID-19. For adults and adolescents eligible for a first booster dose, these shots are safe and provide substantial benefit. During the recent Omicron surge, those who were boosted were 21-times less likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated, and 7-times less likely to be hospitalized. CDC continues to recommend that all eligible adults, adolescents, and children 5 and older be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, which includes getting an initial booster when eligible.
Following FDA’s regulatory action today (3/29/22), CDC is updating its recommendations to allow certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least 4 months ago to be eligible for another mRNA booster to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Separately and in addition, based on newly published data, adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at least 4 months ago may now receive a second booster dose using an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
These updated recommendations acknowledge the increased risk of severe disease in certain populations including those who are elderly or over the age of 50 with multiple underlying conditions, along with the currently available data on vaccine and booster effectiveness.”
