☣ Coronavirus ☣

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freakstar said:
This is not a political forum but I can’t let this pass. You clearly don’t appreciate how sidelined other nations have been whom have therefore made the best decisions as they see fit for their citizens (as has been demonstrated). ‘They all have to be ‘slightly different’ to England don’t they’ says it all (in fact on many occasions England have latterly followed). Why is it not the case that England policy is ‘slightly different’ to the other nations - particularly when the other nations have been generally ahead of the curve.

Everyone is in the same boat wherever in the globe - I reluctantly say ‘we are all in it together’....so come on let’s not start having cheap veiled shots.

As I said, this is not a political forum so no need for debate however, I feel we needed a bit of context on your statement.
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It's because England is significantly better than the others at football.......and are the only Northern Hemisphere Nation to win the Rugby World Cup.....

There, I've said it😄😄
 
spinksy123 said:
It's because England is significantly better than the others at football.......and are the only Northern Hemisphere Nation to win the Rugby World Cup.....

There, I've said it😄😄
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I don't normally watch football, but I love these international weekends when the stuff on the telly shows teams I actually want to watch. That's Netherlands, Gibraltar and The Most Hopeless Team Ever (aka Scotland). But yesterday once Scotland passed four (yes, four...) I turned over to watch Germany lose, at home, to North Macedonia, which even though I'm bloody good at geography I don't think I could place on a map!!
 
FlatErik said:
Thanks.

Learn to live with Covid.
Finally someone with common sense.
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In Whitty world learning to live with Covid includes lockdowns where necessary. He's been very open about the risks variants pose for a long time and often said things will ultimately likely boil down to how much disease and excess deaths are deemed "acceptable" going right back to January. At the moment there are no vaccines which are effective enough to "do the heavy lifting" against SA variant (and to a lesser extent Brazil variant) so there is no objective justification for allowing open borders any time soon until adequate protection is available. This means after boosters are administered in the Autumn, in practice.

At present Europe poses a major risk to the UK because there is very little SA variant here. However about 1 in 7 cases in Europe are of that strain as a result of free movement in the European Union and lax variant testing/quarantine/lockdowns there for arrivals from outside the EU.

So it has already got a strong foothold close to home. If we open borders for holidays, reduce quarantine on return and let the tide of infection in from Europe we will never avoid a surge of infection and even Whitty has admitted we may need to see restrictive measures re-introduced in Autumn if this happens - unless vaccine efficacy of those currently being used turns out to be better than hoped.

What we do know is that we could not live with infection rates of the Kent variant over the last 3 months without locking down the country. Whitty 100% behind that. Fortunately for UK the Astrazeneca vaccine and the pfizer one are both effective against Kent (UK) variant that is now causing havoc globally. So we've got the right vaccines in arms for the variants we are currently at risk of. It's because of that we can now open the country back up - but importing cases is a big no-no if that situation is to be sustained.
 
spinksy123 said:
It's because England is significantly better than the others at football.......and are the only Northern Hemisphere Nation to win the Rugby World Cup.....

There, I've said it😄😄
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Difficult to disagree with that to be fair on the footy. Although I’ll pick you up on the Rugby - we are peaking at the best time - wait and see
 
kimajy said:
In Whitty world learning to live with Covid includes lockdowns where necessary. He's been very open about the risks variants pose for a long time and often said things will ultimately likely boil down to how much disease and excess deaths are deemed "acceptable" going right back to January. At the moment there are no vaccines which are effective enough to "do the heavy lifting" against SA variant (and to a lesser extent Brazil variant) so there is no objective justification for allowing open borders any time soon until adequate protection is available. This means after boosters are administered in the Autumn, in practice.

At present Europe poses a major risk to the UK because there is very little SA variant here. However about 1 in 7 cases in Europe are of that strain as a result of free movement in the European Union and lax variant testing/quarantine/lockdowns there for arrivals from outside the EU.

So it has already got a strong foothold close to home. If we open borders for holidays, reduce quarantine on return and let the tide of infection in from Europe we will never avoid a surge of infection and even Whitty has admitted we may need to see restrictive measures re-introduced in Autumn if this happens - unless vaccine efficacy of those currently being used turns out to be better than hoped.

What we do know is that we could not live with infection rates of the Kent variant over the last 3 months without locking down the country. Whitty 100% behind that. Fortunately for UK the Astrazeneca vaccine and the pfizer one are both effective against Kent (UK) variant that is now causing havoc globally. So we've got the right vaccines in arms for the variants we are currently at risk of. It's because of that we can now open the country back up - but importing cases is a big no-no if that situation is to be sustained.
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Exactly. This will take a few months to go. My mum is getting her 2nd on 13 April - she is so relieved - I can’t understand why Europe don’t?
 
freakstar said:
Exactly. This will take a few months to go. My mum is getting her 2nd on 13 April - she is so relieved - I can’t understand why Europe don’t?
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My mum's booked in for her 2nd on 15th - the 11-12 weeks has seemed like a really long wait over here ! It'll have been over 6 weeks since my 1st by then so I might ask them if I can have my second one early at the same time when I take her if they have enough. It's all AZ so hopefully there might be a chance as I'm booked in at the same centre on 17th May.
 
That would be perfect for you to do it all on one...you having slightly earlier should be fine I would have thought (given initially they said 2 weeks). Good luck with it!
 
kimajy said:
My mum's booked in for her 2nd on 15th - the 11-12 weeks has seemed like a really long wait over here ! It'll have been over 6 weeks since my 1st by then so I might ask them if I can have my second one early at the same time when I take her if they have enough. It's all AZ so hopefully there might be a chance as I'm booked in at the same centre on 17th May.
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AZ gives better protection at a longer (12 week) dosing interval.
 
lee111s said:
AZ gives better protection at a longer (12 week) dosing interval.
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It seems so, but if we're headed for obsolete vaccine efficacy by Summer I'd rather have an extra 6 weeks of 2-dose protection now when it's actually worth something !
 
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Quite a row in the UK about domestic vaccination passports. If it comes in, there are three ways to access a venue - the vax pass, or a recent test, or proof of antibodies...all of which can be loaded onto an app or a written statement.

If we are to get places fully open and quickly, I don't see a problem with this; there are ways round for folks that can't have the vax for medical reasons. or simply allow admission to those too young to have had a chance of having the vax. Yes, it's compicated, a hassle, and venues have to play their part, but after one long sodding year without - surely it's worth a go?

Meanwhile Monday week we'll all be able to enjoy a pint outside. I'm counting down the hours until I can do something I would never ever do normally, stand in a cold, wet, dreary beer garden. Yes, that desperate for normality. Where can I find the app??
 
So we are so far ahead from you it’s unbelievable. We have an app that is basically a confirmation you’ve either been vaccinated or had a pcr (I went to the drive thru yesterday). Once you are vaccinated twice and wait 28 days you go for another PCR (hence my trip yesterday) and when the results are through, immediately on the app you get notification. I’ve now got a gold pass.

It’s pretty easy I would have thought?
 
Interestingly, have just looked at the medicines section on the NHS app, and my first jab is showing on there, so there is at least part infrastructure already set up should it be required in future (no comment on whether a good thing or not)

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freakstar said:
So we are so far ahead from you it’s unbelievable. We have an app that is basically a confirmation you’ve either been vaccinated or had a pcr (I went to the drive thru yesterday). Once you are vaccinated twice and wait 28 days you go for another PCR (hence my trip yesterday) and when the results are through, immediately on the app you get notification. I’ve now got a gold pass.

It’s pretty easy I would have thought?
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Are you in Israel or somewhere like that mate?
 
UK again - not sure whether the announcement about the summer's travel is on Monday coming, or the one after (mini-freedom day)? I was under the impression that the boffins were preparing a report for the 5th and it was to be discussed in the House and a statement made on the 12th at the briefing? But I read that there will be an announcement on the 5th.

Does anyone know for sure?
 
freakstar said:
Dubai - it’s been unbelievably good. We are doing well (we let tourists over Christmas and got a spike after but fine now). Life is pretty normal....I’m sitting having a pint of Guinness in the pub for example.
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Grrr.........🤬

Flaming ironic that a supposedly dry mainly muslim country is the one place you can get a sodding pint as normal.

Wonder if they've fully opened the pubs in Gibraltar or Malta...no matter...can't go.
 
2H76 said:
Grrr.........🤬

Flaming ironic that a supposedly dry mainly muslim country is the one place you can get a sodding pint as normal.

Wonder if they've fully opened the pubs in Gibraltar or Malta...no matter...can't go.
[/QUOT

Let’s not get into a discussion with right wing views.

More than happy to discuss global vaccine programs.
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freakstar said:
Dubai - it’s been unbelievably good. We are doing well (we let tourists over Christmas and got a spike after but fine now). Life is pretty normal....I’m sitting having a pint of Guinness in the pub for example.
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Ah shit, bloody Israel! I was miles off lol.

Sounds good though, I like the sound of that system you have in place.
 
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