COVID- 19

Hi Steckers where do you get your data from.

I am looking at ourworldindata.com and they are reporting 68% of UK is fully vaxxed and in the EU 67% as at 24 November.

Lovejoy your data is probably accurate but the essential thing of course is what % have natural immunity....antibodies or have had the vaccine. I suspect that figure is significantly higher. For starters almost 10 million are known to have tested positive.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... antibodies


Interesting statistics from the ONS. Suggests over 90 % in all UK countries have antibodies.

The anti-vax movement has been quite violent at times in the EU. I think overall that most people have been supportive of the vaccination programme in the UK. The anti-vaxers have had their moments in the sun but lets be honest they haven't been too badly behaved overall.

In Russia they would be totally quashed if protests emerged but even there with choice ( until recently in some regions for over 60's) the uptake has been very low. Look at their surplus death numbers this year. It's heading towards the 1 million mark !. Tragic. There are a lot of conspiracy theories here in the UK; and that's normal and in a democracy quite healthy ...but in Russia it's a deep mistrust of the vaccine and ( although not publicly discussed there ) of the Government.

I have little confidence in the UK Govt. right now and moreover they have not acted decisively enough on a number of occasions but the NHS here has taken the lead in delivering the vaccine roll out and in the one aspect of the procurement the Govt. did do well to get the orders in whilst Merkel and her EU cronies dithered and then complained that they had been left flat-footed. The fact that the think tank is separate to the Govt. has helped the cause to some extent. They have also made mistakes but that is part of the learning curve even where science is involved.

I hope we don't follow the curve in the EU. We should have learned enough by now to deal with the situation. Mistakes have been made but things have moved on. I think most people have adapted to life with Covid being part of it and as long as the Govt. continuously review and in particular review new variant risks, then I do think we are through the worse impact.

The death rate is tragic but the thing to remember is that the way in which he UK has recorded deaths is slightly different to some countries and perhaps that has inflated the numbers a tad. We will never know what the reason for some of the deaths has been. Where there were significant illnesses running alongside the virus it is impossible to put the cause of death down solely to Covid -19.

Vigilance is still required !.

I am hoping that the evolution of new anti-viral drugs will make an impact for many in terms of alleviating the worse symptoms of the virus ( and of course save lives) and this will surely be a continued basis for research and development.

There are some very encouraging indications that these new drugs are working. The interesting thing will be how the virus plays out too. It may be getting more contagious but less deadly. Science will monitor this continuously and again we are lucky to be at the cutting edge of virology in the UK.

My hope is that the Govt. will monitor the global developments very closely and not be frightened to continue to impose quarantine restrictions and extending the red list where appropriate. It acted way too slowly with India for starters. There is a travel review in January 22 and hopefully things won't be relaxed too much. I think we have the right balance for now and that travel is possible is something to protect but not be too relaxed about.

Over 50% of over 50's have now had their booster jabs.

Excess deaths are something to keep a close eye on but sadly as an indirect impact of the virus and not because of catching it. Statistics are beginning to emerge suggesting that the number of deaths from lung cancer for example has increased due in part to delayed diagnosis of the illness due to the back log from Covid-focused health care.

I do think this needs readdressing and quickly.

I am aware of several people who have not been able to see a specialist for varying conditions and a close relative was recently wrongly diagnosed for a condition by a GP who was relying on photographic images.

The condition has proved to be very serious . The condition was put down to an allergic reaction which may be proved to be medical negligence. After several attempts to see a GP the family member went to A&E and received a totally different diagnosis after undergoing tests. They stayed in hospital for 5 days and they are now facing a quite serious illness which will perhaps only give them 5 years of life expectancy. The Doctor reportedly told the person that had they not gone into hospital and have commenced treatment there was a high risk that they could have died.

I am hoping that the evolution of new anti-viral drugs will make an impact for many in terms of alleviating the worse symptoms of the virus ( and of course save lives) and this will surely be a continued basis for research and development.

There are some very encouraging indications that these new drugs are working. The interesting thing will be how the virus plays out too. It may be getting more contagious but less deadly. Science will monitor this continuously and again we are lucky to be at the cutting edge of virology in the UK.

My hope is that the Govt. will monitor the global developments very closely and not be frightened to continue to impose quarantine restrictions and extending the red list where appropriate. It acted way too slowly with India for starters. There is a travel review in January 22 and hopefully things won't be relaxed too much. I think we have the right balance for now and that travel is possible is something to protect but not be too relaxed about.

I agree with most of this - and have the same hope for the anti-viral drugs. I don't think we are using them yet? I thought they said we would have them in December? (I could be wrong).

I also agree about the recording of death data - its too inconsistent for comparison. But it's too high in most places.

Yes the Govt have taken too long at times to make decisions - but there is much naivety to the decision making process. It's not a case of BJ sitting at his desk Alan Sugar style and making decisions which are immediately enacted. The govt has to listen to lots of sources of information.

Yes some criticism is fair. India was quoted as an example- probably a good example of where the govt got bad scientific advice who were really slow to label the Delta variant as something that needed action. People like to ignore that because it's easier to just blame Boris. Just like a man sat in the pub who seems to know more about everyone else on every subject!

My personal experiences of the vaccine situation at present is pretty terrible. Phoned on mon to get boosters for wife and myself (both late 40s) and my son his second (16yr). And they couldn't get us an appointment locally. Went online and the nearest was Alcester.

Managed to get my son done in Filton (thankfully I was willing to drive him) and my GP has got me a booster.

Not impressed though. We are doing 20-25k daily (first doses) - that's not great is it.

It's not great at all Steckers. I booked mine as soon as I was allowed to online and had an appointment 5 days away from booking if I wanted it. I couldn't take it up due to travel but managed to book it for two weeks later at UWE.

My new GP surgery ( having moved recently ) has already contacted me twice to get the booster, and I could have had it there next week but will go to UWE as it's already booked and I have to go to Brissle that day anyway so it's worked out fine.

At least we do have the vaccine, and it seems in some cases more than one opportunity to take up the offer.