Tiers, Lockdowns & Vaccinations

[moley]

No real surprise that the Brazilian variant found in the UK, we were warned earlier in the month.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9236165/Brazilian-Covid-strain-spotted-France-Italy-Faroe-Islands-inevitably-end-UK.html

Quote

The troublesome Brazilian variant of coronavirus will inevitably end up in Britain, scientists have warned amid fears it could make vaccines less effective. 

Cases of the mutant strain — which shares a mutation with the South African variant — have already been spotted in France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Faroe Islands.

Health ministries in Germany and Spain claim to have also discovered cases of the dangerous strain.

 

[moley]

Not sure why some folk think vaccine passports are a bad idea. It looks likely that the tourism / travel industry will want them.

Covid: Thousands sign petition against vaccine passports

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56202975

Quote

Former prime minister Tony Blair - who has made a string of coronavirus proposals through his think tank - said the usefulness of vaccine passports would depend on circumstances.

 

[skomaz]

43 minutes ago, moley said:

Not sure why some folk think vaccine passports are a bad idea. It looks likely that the tourism / travel industry will want them.

Covid: Thousands sign petition against vaccine passports

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56202975

 

 

Because they discriminate against those that cannot have the vaccine for medical reasons...

[moley]

5 minutes ago, skomaz said:

Because they discriminate against those that cannot have the vaccine for medical reasons..

There was an 'expert' on Radio5Live last week and he tackled that issue by saying that having a vaccine passport or not will allow travel companies, airlines etc to sort passengers and it didn't mean a ban on travelling, but it could mean restrictions. I think most cruise lines will insist on the passports.

[cheezemonkhai]

A negative PCR test is far more reliable than a piece of paper (that no doubt will be faked).

 

Don’t forget that no vaccine is 100% so plenty of those walking around with it are still a risk.

 

If they said you need vaccination or a negative PCR test 72 hours before you travel that is different.

 

To be honest, I think this seem a lot more like Blair trying to get ID cards in for his mates by the back door.

Edited 28 February, 2021 by cheezemonkhai

[Ootohere]

@Aspman i received a call from the doctors surgery and i am getting the vaccine tomorrow morning.

So just half a mile of a journey and no wasted paper & postage from the doctors.

[moley]

The Isle of Mann was celebrating a back to normal life is now going into a 21 day circuit breaker.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-56245100

Sweden could be heading for a third wave

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0302/1200326-coronavirus-global/

Austria and Denmark go it alone for vaccines.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/02/eu-unity-face-coronavirus-pressure-vaccines-supplies/

France changes it's mind on AstraZeneca

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56242617

[gadgetman]

3 minutes ago, moley said:

The Isle of Mann was celebrating a back to normal life is now going into a 21 day circuit breaker.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-56245100

Sweden could be heading for a third wave

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0302/1200326-coronavirus-global/

Austria and Denmark go it alone for vaccines.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/02/eu-unity-face-coronavirus-pressure-vaccines-supplies/

France changes it's mind on AstraZeneca

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56242617

Interesting as Sweden was championed by many as an example we should have followed. 

 

Jersey and Guernsey will be ones to watch too, as only a month ago were championing lifting restrictions completely. 

[moley]

1 minute ago, gadgetman said:

Interesting as Sweden was championed by many as an example we should have followed. 

I worked in Sweden for about 12 days last November and there was very little in place regarding the covid. Distancing in the queue at the supermarket and hand gel in the hotel restaurant.

[@Lee]

On 28/02/2021 at 22:33, cheezemonkhai said:

To be honest, I think this seem a lot more like Blair trying to get ID cards in for his mates by the back door.

I don't see an issue with vaccination cards. There's already the WHO Yellow book to record vaccinations that's used in many countries around the world. Could easily be coupled with a -Ve PCR test with a unique QR code sent to your phone. Show passport and QR code, no match, no flight. The tech's already there for that.
No issue with ID cards either TBH as literally everything you do is already in a database somewhere anyway (DVLA/ Bank/ Council etc etc etc) Much easier if found lying face down in the gutter for Paramedics (for e.g.) to check quickly if you have allergies before administering medication. 
 

Edited 2 March, 2021 by Lee01

[J.R.]

I had yet another covid test today, this time to be released from quarantine in France, same walk in test centre same time of a weekday as 6 weeks ago exactly, then I was the only person there and there was only one workstation for testing, today there were 5 stations that I could see and more behind the screens, it was an empty warehouse before, now full of barriers, tables, screens & testing stations, the reception area was full and the queue was snaking down the street.

 

It is sobering to think that one in every 10 people that I queued up with will have tested positive, if I had gone to the nearer test centre in the next canton to mine it would have been one in 8

 

None of the people there will have been tested for travelling in the next 72 hours, nobody can leave the EU, nobody would like me have been coming out of quarantine (there were only 3 cars on the ferry), all of them will have been contact cases, all those testing positive will be living in a family foyer and/or working amongst others.

 

In the 6 weeks between my tests the number of infections in France has risen by 25% and the number of deaths by 20%, more people contracted the disease in the last 6 weeks than in the first 8 months and during the whole of that time we have been under strict curfew, nobody allowed out between 18.00 and 08.00, needless to say the bars, restaurants etc were also closed within that period.

 

My département is under surveillance renforcée and will certainly be locked down again, the indications are that drastic measures will have to be taken country wide by mid March.

 

Be carefull out there and dont be complacent.

 

Edited 3 March, 2021 by J.R.

[cheezemonkhai]

Some excellent and some terrible news in the same post...

 

Excellent (Another study confirms effectiveness of AZ and Pfizer-BioNTec vaccines):

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56267473

 

Worrying and terrible at the same time (Because fake vaccines means lots of problems globally) :

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56270243

Edited 3 March, 2021 by cheezemonkhai

[gadgetman]

After last week saying that this week would see around 600 doses, and most for 2nd, someone involved at the hub as posted on the local group from next week they're expecting 'sizeable deliveries' to cover both 2nd doses, and 1st doses. 

 

They're expecting to be able to offer down to 40+ by 3rd week of March. 

 

 

Sure I saw an exact figure on expected UK dose deliveries on the BBC news website latest feed earlier but can't see it now. 

 

Think it said 3m AZ next week? 

[gadgetman]

10m from an Indian lab 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/india-supply-uk-vaccine-wealthy-nations-accused-stockpiling/

[gadgetman]

Another day, another failing by Test & Trace. This time failing on venue tracking. 

 

Yet they (Serco, Deloite) have just been given another £15bn on TOP of the £22bn so far 

 

 

 

Edited 4 March, 2021 by gadgetman

[moley]

One of my German colleagues informed me this morning that Germany is extending the lockdown until the end of the month, but he can't see it being lifted in April. 

After the debacle over the AZ vaccine being no good for the over 65's. and the UK getting everything wrong 

Quote

"The new data also shows that the vaccine is even more effective when the first and second jabs are administered 12 weeks apart," the minister said, adding that the law would be updated to incorporate the new recommendations.

Mrs Merkel said on Wednesday that Germany would follow the UK example of stretching the interval between vaccine doses in order to offer as many people as possible an initial shot.

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56275342

I spoke to an Ex Colleague who is now in his mid 80's and lives up in Barrowford on Monday. Both he and his wife had the Pfizer vaccinations in December and 2-3 weeks later in January as prescribed by the manufacturer. After the first jab, both were OK apart from a sore arm for a day or two. After the second jab both were laid up for nearly two weeks, bloated stomach, swollen feet and feeling generally rough. Someone else I know how is also in his mid 80's had the Pfizer jabs, but more like 10 weeks apart and felt a 'bit off colour' for a day after the 2nd jab.

[shyVRS245]

Not too surprising as the latest figures from yesterday (03/03/2021) show UK had 6,385 new cases and is continuing to fall whereas in Germany there were 10,852 new cases and this figure is rising which demonstrates the benefit of the 20+ million already vaccinated in the UK compared to the slower roll out across the EU. This trend will continue for quite some time so I expect the Lockdown in Germany to continue well into May 2021.

[gadgetman]

1 hour ago, moley said:

After the first jab, both were OK apart from a sore arm for a day or two. After the second jab both were laid up for nearly two weeks, bloated stomach, swollen feet and feeling generally rough. Someone else I know how is also in his mid 80's had the Pfizer jabs, but more like 10 weeks apart and felt a 'bit off colour' for a day after the 2nd jab.

Everyone I know who's had jabs have had these side effects but with the Astra Zeneca one. 

 

Next door neighbour is 80 and had both Pfizer doses without any issues at all. 

 

Dad had 1st Pfizer and was fine. He should have 2nd next week. 

Mum was ill for a week after her AZ. 

 

 

[Ootohere]

I had the Oxford jag at 9.20 am yesterday.

Last night at 8pm i got a stomach ache which had nothing to do with anything eaten.  I never have stomach aches other than last night.

9pm i felt a bit woosy and went to bed as hardly able to stay awake.  

Slept like a log and today no issues.

[cheezemonkhai]

Personal opinion.....

 

 

So we can fairly safely conclude just like with the virus, different people react differently to the vaccines (regardless of which it is).

Frankly I'll take either. 

Also it was recently announced that the existing approved vaccines can do the same approval method used for the annual flu vaccines, so that varient versions can be quickly approved.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56274293

 

All in all things are currently heading in the right direction.

Big assumption, but if this all goes well, I hope the UK transfers a further number of the excess vaccines to COVAX.

 

Worth noting the UK like most nations paid into COVAX, with a number of doses we could claim, but have never claimed those doses.
Also also that the oxford AZ (Sweedish/UK) vaccine is being sold at cost (or there abouts) again quite generous really imho, as the corporate profits and taxes that could have been had selling that at just £2.50/5 a dose would have the company a nice amount and paid a nice chunk of tax.

 

Genuinely hope the above from the UK plus the donations by all countries of the other vaccines out there bring us at least some respite from this situation, if not a solution.

 

 

[shyVRS245]

Not checked how the major countries in Europe have been doing recently and Spain are performing even better than the UK with just over 6,100 new cases yesterday, but Italy with over 20,000 new cases and France with more than 26,000 new cases will be in Lockdown for quite some time although daily deaths are consistent at between 350-400 per day in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

[@Lee]

Official RKI number of new cases 3/3/2020 is 9,019 so I don't know where the 10,852 came from as, yet again, there was no link provided.
https://www.rki.de/EN/Content/infections/epidemiology/outbreaks/COVID-19/Situationsberichte_Tab.html;jsessionid=70813D306445D5407527BEEF29903820.internet052

[moley]

2 minutes ago, Lee01 said:

Official RKI number of new cases 3/3/2020 is 9,019 so I don't know where the 10,852 came from as, yet again, there was no link provided.

• 10,835 new cases and 386 new deaths in Germany [source]
• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/germany/

 

[@Lee]

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/coronavirus/Corona-Impfungen-Wer-bekommt-jetzt-AstraZeneca-in-SH,impfen348.html
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/Corona-Impfzentren-Der-Stand-in-Norddeutschland,impfzentren102.html
 

Quote

Too much skepticism about the AstraZeneca vaccine like him is reported from some parts of Germany, apparently does not exist in Schleswig-Holstein. According to the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Health, AstraZeneca has delivered 52,800 vaccine doses to Schleswig-Holstein so far. According to the information, around a quarter have already been vaccinated on people with vaccination priority 1.

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/AstraZeneca-Impfstoff-in-SH-gut-angenommen,astrazeneca168.html
 

Quote

Message from the Segeberg district administration

Against the background of incoming and announced deliveries of Biontech, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca vaccines, the country is ramping up the vaccination centers. For the Segeberg district this means that from March 1st, in addition to the vaccination center in Kaltenkirchen, the vaccination centers in Norderstedt and Wahlstedt will also start operations. With this expansion, a total of 21,084 vaccinations will be possible in the vaccination centers in the Segeberg district in the first four weeks of March - always on the condition that the announced vaccine doses are actually available.

https://ulzburger-nachrichten.de/start-der-impfzentren-in-norderstedt-und-wahlstedt-am-1-maerz/

5 minutes ago, moley said:

• 10,835 new cases and 386 new deaths in Germany [source]
• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/germany/

 

Thank you but it's not your job to do Shy's job for him.

Edit. The Worldometers site says new UK cases for 3/3/2020 was 6,385 but I can't find the daily update for 3/3/2021 to see what the .gov.uk site says.

Edited 4 March, 2021 by Lee01

[moley]

2 minutes ago, Lee01 said:

Thank you but it's not your job to do Shy's job for him.

Just being helpful and keep the peace.

I think most folk reference the Worldometer site for the stats as it's very comprehensive.