Corona Virus

[Mike70]

The problem with the speech thing is that most Americans have about the same capacity to judge information as a slug. The American public, by and large, is not terribly well-educated or widely read. Just look at the puerile garbage that is huge on TV. Allowing people to fill the airwaves with opinions masquerading as scientific information seems to me to be destructive to science itself in the long run. I'm an expert at what I do because I've been doing it for 20+ years and have the academic credentials to prove I put in some serious work. I didn't get myself on AM radio and then declare my every opinion sacrosanct under the 1st amendment and equal to other ideas proposed by people far, far more experienced than myself. As long as Americans are gullible in this way,they will be led around by media savvy scum, idiots on the radio and asinine TV shows.

[MinionZombie]

Finally got my first jab this morning - I got the Moderna vaccine. Sore arm and feeling a bit 'blah'. Hopefully they'll really ramp up the second doses and crack the hell on. My 2nd jab is all the way at the arse end of August at the moment, but maybe it'll get brought forward? Bit of a trek to go and get it (pretty much a two hour round trip all-in), but the place was very well organised and run. I was saying this in January - target the spreaders. I could forsee the 'great British summer' talk from miles off, and surely you'd want those who are most likely to be roaming around to be jabbed up and ready to go? They need to be hammering through these, it's taken far too long to get around to the peak spreader ages.

[Neil]

Finally got my first jab this morning - I got the Moderna vaccine. Sore arm and feeling a bit 'blah'. Hopefully they'll really ramp up the second doses and crack the hell on. My 2nd jab is all the way at the arse end of August at the moment, but maybe it'll get brought forward? Bit of a trek to go and get it (pretty much a two hour round trip all-in), but the place was very well organised and run. I was saying this in January - target the spreaders. I could forsee the 'great British summer' talk from miles off, and surely you'd want those who are most likely to be roaming around to be jabbed up and ready to go? They need to be hammering through these, it's taken far too long to get around to the peak spreader ages. Yeh, reactions to the jab seem to differ. I was a bit tired the next day with the first hit. And had no effects at all with the second... ps: I'm not keen on young adults/kids being vaccinated (eg: <20yrs). Don't see much of a gain to be had, and would prefer not to put a vaccine into kids which is still so new. If it proves wise, then a single dose this winter? But at the moment, I'm not keen on it personally.

[MinionZombie]

Yeh, reactions to the jab seem to differ. I was a bit tired the next day with the first hit. And had no effects at all with the second... ps: I'm not keen on young adults/kids being vaccinated (eg: <20yrs). Don't see much of a gain to be had, and would prefer not to put a vaccine into kids which is still so new. If it proves wise, then a single dose this winter? But at the moment, I'm not keen on it personally. Why? They're grotty wee bastards, clambering all over each other being grubby. Going in and out of the local hospital last year I saw so many college age kids (16 to 18) with no masks at all, all huddled around each other, in one case they were literally sitting/climbing on each other. Can't even do the simplest thing - wear a mask - during a pandemic. Pathetic. Now you've got new variants coming in that are going for the younger population, even hospitalising them. Everyone 12+ needs vaccinating IMHO.

[Neil]

Why? They're grotty wee bastards, clambering all over each other being grubby. Going in and out of the local hospital last year I saw so many college age kids (16 to 18) with no masks at all, all huddled around each other, in one case they were literally sitting/climbing on each other. Can't even do the simplest thing - wear a mask - during a pandemic. Pathetic. Now you've got new variants coming in that are going for the younger population, even hospitalising them. Everyone 12+ needs vaccinating IMHO. I understand your thinking, but I'm just very wary of dishing out vaccines to young kids (still growing and going through puberty) . Even the WHO don't recommend vaccinating children under 16 if I recall. ie: The risks may well out weigh the benefits. And then the unknowns? Again, covid death rates are basically single digit of people with dying with/of covid. And we have the lowest death figure currently in the UK ever. What more do we need to do? What is the goal? So continue vaccinating adults for added security for the comming winter period, but leave the kids out of the program for the time being IMHO.

[MinionZombie]

I understand your thinking, but I'm just very wary of dishing out vaccines to young kids (still growing and going through puberty) . Even the WHO don't recommend vaccinating children under 16 if I recall. ie: The risks may well out weigh the benefits. And then the unknowns? Again, covid death rates are basically single digit of people with dying with/of covid. And we have the lowest death figure currently in the UK ever. What more do we need to do? What is the goal? So continue vaccinating adults for added security for the comming winter period, but leave the kids out of the program for the time being IMHO. The virus needs the life choked out of it, that's the goal. Farting around allows it to mutate and create variants - some of which are much stronger in young people, too - meaning the whole thing crawls on and on and on. Climbing infection rates in the UK are the highest in the European area - not helped by some folks' all-consuming obsession with getting a few pints slung over their neck, roaming around maskless, reverting to their mucky-handed old ways. When the zombies come, they will win.

[Neil]

The virus needs the life choked out of it, that's the goal. Farting around allows it to mutate and create variants But that will never happen. The virus is here to stay, and will become part of the standard Winter spike, all around the world. And like other such similar diseases it will now be kept in check by herd immunity, aided by Winter flu jabs including a Covid booster. Climbing infection rates in the UK are the highest in the European area - not helped by some folks' all-consuming obsession with getting a few pints slung over their neck, roaming around maskless, reverting to their mucky-handed old ways. We clearly seem to have different views IMHO:- 15 months of Lockdown measures. A multitude of economic hits the likes of which have not been seen since German bombs were landing on London. Mental health issues at record levels. Waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment at alarmingly high levels. A year of children suffering emotionally and educationally. At what point do we stop fixating on an illness which in truth is akin to a severe flu, and which we are seemingly just not being objective about (weighing it compared to the above)? At what point do we actually consider we've done enough? So at some point we just need to stop fixating on CV19 figures, look at the bigger picture, and return to normal life. How much different will things be this time next year? And the year after? Because the virus will be there and taking people... Yes CV19 is a serious concern. Yes people are dying and suffering from it. But we've done enough. We need to IMHO start getting things into better perspective and get back to real life (albeit with some simple measures in place). Note: Extended lockdown measures etc risk many other counter productive outcomes. eg: It has potentially now reduced herd immunity from traditional seasonal flu viruses. So this coming Winter we could expect a high hit from that. This is the problem with fixating on CV19 seemingly while ignoring negatives outcomes from policies for it.

[MinionZombie]

There's an appropriate balance to be struck. But it isn't helped by a government which is, quite frankly, a shower of shite who are incapable of making a decision let alone making a decision at soon enough (all of their stables are empty with doors wide open) while also struggling - still - to properly communicate the messages and requirements. Also not helping - fuckers who just think "yeah, that's all done then" before slinging their masks in the bin and swanning out to lick every door handle in sight, while also having never had a single dose of vaccine. There's too many careless members of the public out there. We see it every winter with the seasonal flu - arseholes who put their own creature comforts before the health of everyone else. I'm not saying 'lock it all down', far from it - but I'm infuriated by a government who've handled this all pretty piss poorly all-said-and-done, and a members of the public who defy simple common sense as a matter of 'fuck you' routine (ironically they're fucking themselves over, too, but they're too arrogant to see that). We're in the last leg of the journey - it's crucial to get this part right (and this new sudden rush to get everyone below 50 vaccinated smacks of yet more government ineptitude - something anyone with two brain cells could've seen coming from a mile off only getting acted upon just as it turns up on Boris' doorstep). It feels to me as if too many folks as hopping out the car while we're still doing 40 and haven't even pulled into our road yet.

[Neil]

So over the last week or so, gone on holiday down to Swanage with my daughter and a couple of her friends, gone to the cinema with a pair of friends (The Suicide Squad) with a cheeky Five Guys burger before, popped out to dinner with some mates, all without any restrictions or masks of any sort, and it's been like a wave of mental well being and relief washing over me frankly. Just got to hope the passport nonsense doesn't take us back a step.

[MinionZombie]

Have you had both jabs?

[Neil]

Have you had both jabs? I've had both jabs yes. But vaccinated or not, we now have a population who is well over 90% antibody positive for covid. Time to move on... I bet in years to come, we'll have lower figures than that... ps: I won't be visiting any place/venue/location that requires proof of vaccination. I suspect if they try implementing it (passports) we'll quite rightly see a huge backlash against it. pps: My daughter hasn't had the jab, and TBH, neither of us are keen on her having it. Benefit/risk just seems questionable at the moment. Let's see some long term results.

[Neil]

Worrying if there's any truth to this concern...

[Neil]

And now the UK ramps up its restrictions again (with "Plan B"), for the new Omicron variant which no one has yet died of (with), or has even put anyone in hospital. And by all accounts the Omicron variant is a good thing as its symptoms seems milder than the older variants... So off we go with measures that have been shown over and over to be inneffective (masks and lockdowns don't make any significant difference, and risk doing more harm than good), in truth simply as a cowardly publicity act to appear to be doing something to keep the media/critics at bay. And talking of media, you can guarantee when there is a death with/of Omicron the press will LOVE IT! I suspect they just can't wait for it... And all the while, rates in hospitals have been falling, are far less than this time leas year, and surprisingly, if you're vaccinated, you're statistically MORE likely to be in hospital due to covid than if you're not vaccinated. But information like that doesn't help sell papers... /rant

[MinionZombie]

And all the while, rates in hospitals have been falling, are far less than this time leas year, and surprisingly, if you're vaccinated, you're statistically MORE likely to be in hospital due to covid than if you're not vaccinated. But information like that doesn't help sell papers... /rant Care to share these statistics with source?

[Neil]

Care to share these statistics with source? Sure... The trend mentioned has been going on for months, and can be seen for example in the 'Government surveillance reports'. The last one I looked at was last month - https://assets.publishing.service.go..._-_week_45.pdf If you look at page 22 you can see figures per 100,000 the number of people in hospital requiring emergency care, who are vaccinated vs who are not vaccinated. If you look at say 30-39yr olds, vaccinated outnumber unvaccinated by over 400% (17.3 vs 4.1). This trend has been going on so long, and is so obvious, they've even started mentioning it in the report itself, and now question the reason(s). But whatever the cause, the continued demonisation of unvaccinated people for supposedly spreading the disease, or putting pressure on the health system, if not unfounded, is seemingly out of all logical proportion. NOTE1: On Good Morning Britain a couple of times this week they've openly lied saying 80-90% of people in hospital with covid are unvaccinated. This narrative (misinformation) gets picked up and run with. Should be an OFCOM issue TBH. NOTE2: Last month I tried posting a similar comment and link (as above) on a YouTube discussion. It was soon removed by YT, due to "wrong think"? No doubt if I'd instead posted 80-90% of folks in hospital with covid were unvaccinated that would have been OK? NOTE3: The death figures are almost the reverse, with the vaccine showing it does seem to help prevent death. Which is good (for vaccinated folks)...