The EU has warned it will tighten rules on exports of Covid vaccines, amid a row with AstraZeneca over a cut in planned supplies to the 27-member bloc.
The EU has warned it will tighten rules on exports of Covid vaccines, amid a row with AstraZeneca over a cut in planned supplies to the 27-member bloc.
Last year I had rats in my kitchen. Pest control called, baited and killed the buggers, patched up the entry points. They were getting into my sub-floor through a burrow into my neighbour's, who said they would contact their landlord. All quiet for three months.
A quick Google News of the AZ 8% story isn’t returning many hits (Mail mentions it, Express says AZ hit back etc.).
So it looks like most of the press realise that it’s probably not a good idea to run with an unsubstantiated story for the sake of getting some hits.
Media finally having an ounce of responsibility and understanding of their role in the crisis, having spent the past twelve months being utter morons chasing clicks?
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
You may remember that yesterday I expressed surprise at the death rate among teaching staff being similar to the community outside, despite the infection rate being triple.
Turns out there are two reasons for this figure.
One is that on the whole teachers are younger than the population at large (something to do with 40% of staff leaving the profession within five years of qualifying).
The other is that the government deliberately excluded all staff over the age of 64, which meant they excluded half of all deaths among school staff, but compared the rate to the population as a whole.
Which is extraordinary. Not only is that blatantly criminal - even by the dreadful standards set by Williamson and Gibb - but were they really so dumb as to think nobody would notice?
I can only hope that the judge gives them all life sentences.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
On the contrary; that humanity has come up with those vaccines is very much something to be proud of.
The thing about the EU story is not so much they're putting themselves first, it's that they might be about to do something really dumb that actually makes things worse for themselves.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
Precisely. If we buy 350m, use 250m, then donate 250m to Covax then why is that a bad thing?
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
While there are certainly issues over the equitable distribution of vaccines, the fact that countries have over-ordered isn’t one of them. The world would be in a far worse position if we hadn’t. Note that the vaccines developed by two of the world’s leading vaccine companies - Sanofi and Merck - have failed.
I agree with your sentiment, though. And it is massively in the economic interests of rich counties to ensure provision of vaccines to poorer ones, even if they were to ignore humanitarian considerations. An early end to the global pandemic is in all our interests. The UK has actually done reasonably well on this score, being an early proponent and funder of the COVAX effort.
If there is a problem, it is that rich countries haven’t spent enough on vaccine production, and have been insufficiently generous.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
Call it trying to inject some humour, into what might be about to become a serious diplomatic incident.
Mr Meeks misses the other point which is that since the last vote on independence the constitution of the United Kingdom was irrevocably altered by a referendum against the wishes and vote of the Scottish people. That seems to be a prima facie argument for another referendum.
The criticism of Boris Johnson as 'so often short-sighted' does not square with the UK's vaccine programme. The pre-ordering in bulk from multiple vaccine suppliers is one of the greatest far-sighted decisions of any British Gov't in the history of these isles. Don't make cheap shots where they're not deserved and have the good grace to admit it. Otherwise you just come across as embittered.
This looks a very promising drug. Downside is that it has to be administered intravenously. Upside is that it seems to have few side effects (needs far lower dosage than for its originally intended purpose of treating cancer), and appears from early results to be very effective.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
A quick Google News of the AZ 8% story isn’t returning many hits (Mail mentions it, Express says AZ hit back etc.).
So it looks like most of the press realise that it’s probably not a good idea to run with an unsubstantiated story for the sake of getting some hits.
Sadly, that's a very 20th century way of looking at the matter.
The conventional media being (mostly) responsible doesn't help very much if there's a tidal wave of misinformation spreading through Facebook and its various tentacles, scaring the shit out of credulous old people or their hysterical relatives.
It is no wonder that one reads that Biden wants it cutting right down to size.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The vaccine development is one of humanity's finest hours. An astonishing triumph of science. In a year we have gone from discovery of a virus to jabbing millions in the arm with highly efficacious vaccines. It's unprecedented.
Astra Zeneca have a factory at Pune in India and most of these vaccines are going to be supplied globally under licence.
There's a particular problem with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine storage which makes them less readily available for most developing countries.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
The centralised procurent scheme isn’t compulsory, but the irony is that if not for Brexit, they might not have even tried to do it that way at all.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
I thought the France comment was very funny. Don't lose your sense of humour. I'm sure the French haven't.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
Interestingly, West Virginia has done one of the best jobs in all of the US in efficiently distributing vaccines, so it’s clearly possible for Republican states to get it right.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
Or, to put it more succinctly, it's the product of imperial over-reach.
The Commission wants to stick its fingers into all the pies. Coronavirus offered it an opportunity to butt in on health policy, which has traditionally been reserved mostly to the member states and where one would therefore assume that its pre-existing capabilities are somewhat limited. They persuaded the 27 to let them take over and leverage their collective strength to get the vaccine project done efficiently and at scale, to the benefit of all.
It then proceeded to make a sluggish, inflexible, bureaucratic screw-up of procurement under the direction of Stella Kyriakides, a politician from the doubtless lovely but very small member state of Cyprus, whose professional background is in child psychiatry. From what I can glean through a quick Google, her past leadership experience consists of chairing some Council of Europe committees, and running a breast cancer charity.
Quite simply, the Commission has bitten off more than it can chew.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
No I was always only a narrow remainer and I weighed the pros and cons carefully. Something in my mind like a 52-48 split.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
The centralised procurent scheme isn’t compulsory, but the irony is that if not for Brexit, they might not have even tried to do it that way at all.
If you believe that, you'll believe anything. If they only did it that way due to lacking self-confidence post-Brexit and wanting to show that Europe "works" together then it has rather backfired don't you think?
All this talk of the over 65s and the idea yesterday's what appears to be German fake news might scare off the over 65s from getting vaccinated . . . we must have a significant proportion of over 65s having already received the first dose already surely? The 14 million by 14 February refers to the first 4 priority groups which includes everyone 70+ so only 65-69 would be left after that I am guessing? How many more people fall in the 65-69 category?
Mr. Rook, aye. Petty empire-building has always been the EU way (there's no reason Euratom should be part of the EU other than a desire to expand in all directions) and it's one thing I disliked about it.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
No I was always only a narrow remainer and I weighed the pros and cons carefully. Something in my mind like a 52-48 split.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
How do I love the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith? Let me count the ways.
To come back on topic, I didn't think the 52-48 (cough) pro-independence Scottish poll in the Sunday Times was exactly convincing.
If the EU carry on like they are, and the UK continues to make a success of its vaccine rollout and Brexit life, then we might go through all the palaver of setting up indyref2 only to find the Scots don't want independence. Again.
There are advantages to Brexit. They may come increasingly into focus.
To come back on topic, I didn't think the 52-48 (cough) pro-independence Scottish poll in the Sunday Times was exactly convincing.
If the EU carry on like they are, and the UK continues to make a success of its vaccine rollout and Brexit life, then we might go through all the palaver of setting up indyref2 only to find the Scots don't want independence. Again.
There are advantages to Brexit. They may come increasingly to the fore.
If that's the case and you want the Union to survive then if the SNP do win a majority then a referendum shoud be arranged for next year and have the issue tackled head-on.
If the Scottish public vote to stay in the UK, post-Brexit, then the issue is settled - and like the second Quebec referendum there's every chance it will be final.
If the Scottish public vote to leave the UK, then that is their choice - why should they be held prisoners if they choose otherwise?
Interestingly, West Virginia has done one of the best jobs in all of the US in efficiently distributing vaccines, so it’s clearly possible for Republican states to get it right.
Coincidentally they didn't sign an agreement with the big pharmacy chains and instead are using local businesses.
There isn't a day goes by without CNN posting up one article or another explicitly bashing Britain. It really is quite extraordinary. Someone, somewhere, high up in the organisation really has it in for us. This isn't news reporting. It's a hatchet job.
"But despite the harsh restrictions, case numbers are not dropping as fast as experts have hoped. Deaths continue to rise and public health experts and government are starting to warn people that the country will be in this battle for the long run ... The UK is a cautionary tale of what could happen elsewhere."
Like America, for instance?
In fact, case numbers are dropping very fast, our vaccine rollout is world-leading, and the death rate does not 'continue to rise.' Obviously deaths continue to rise until we reach 0 a day so it's a fatuous remark.
The EU have cocked up massively and if they do end up behaving in this way because the UK's had the temerity to actually be competent in a critical area it'll rightly provoke significant anger.
At that stage, there'd be a higher chance of their 'ambassador' being expelled than recognised as worthy of full diplomatic status.
Interesting discussion on hotel quarantine on arrivals “England only, Scotland considering it”- so it looks like its being treated as a Public Health matter - a devolved responsibility. So the SNP could have done it when they wanted.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
Surely that’s good news, TUD? Otherwise you would have to give up posting.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
No I was always only a narrow remainer and I weighed the pros and cons carefully. Something in my mind like a 52-48 split.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
I was very similar but ironically I always thought a European Health Service would be a great levelling idea - much better than silly Common Agricultural Policies and some of the other crap. However, the vaccine experience has shown how wrong I was sadly.
R4 U.K. Vaccine minister “every confidence Pfizer will deliver”. I guess he would say that, wouldn’t he.....
This isn't going to be my strongest point of the morning but I do have a hunch that he's right. I think Pfizer are going to push hard to supply the UK. Despite our 2nd jab delay we're at the forefront of a successful vaccine rollout and Pfizer want to be an integral part of that.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
No I was always only a narrow remainer and I weighed the pros and cons carefully. Something in my mind like a 52-48 split.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
How do I love the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith? Let me count the ways.
You must be looking forward to Scotland joining the Euro. Is that official SNP policy yet?
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
Yep.
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
'me, a Remainer'
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate. Sorry for your loss.
No I was always only a narrow remainer and I weighed the pros and cons carefully. Something in my mind like a 52-48 split.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
How do I love the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith? Let me count the ways.
You must be looking forward to Scotland joining the Euro. Is that official SNP policy yet?
The EU have cocked up massively and if they do end up behaving in this way because the UK's had the temerity to actually be competent in a critical area it'll rightly provoke significant anger.
At that stage, there'd be a higher chance of their 'ambassador' being expelled than recognised as worthy of full diplomatic status.
I hope someone in government is telling Pfizer now that we will do whatever is necessary to allow them to manufacture their vaccine here.
The EU have cocked up massively and if they do end up behaving in this way because the UK's had the temerity to actually be competent in a critical area it'll rightly provoke significant anger.
At that stage, there'd be a higher chance of their 'ambassador' being expelled than recognised as worthy of full diplomatic status.
I hope someone in government is telling Pfizer now that we will do whatever is necessary to allow them to manufacture their vaccine here.
Probably too late to get it done but its an idea worth exploring.
Worrying if the EU bans exports of the Pfizer vaccine to the U.K. Disgraceful too.
What then happens to those needing their second injection?
I suppose it would depend on whether we had enough stockpile to give them a second shot if we stopped using Pfizer for the initial dose at once.
If we didn’t, that would be a very serious matter - potentially a criminal matter against the relevant EU body although you’d know more about that than me - but it would not of course help those who needed the second dose.
Even the hint may force an abrupt switch by the government though.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
Surely that’s good news, TUD? Otherwise you would have to give up posting.
I'm not one to simultaneously bloviate about humanity’s greatest hour though. Very competitive market in any case on PB once you remove all the patriotic British fig leaves.
Incidentally, has anyone identified the source of the Handelsblatt fake news story yet? Would be a trifle embarrassing if it were a source close to the pro-Russian Britophobe conspiracy theorist just elected leader of the CDU - but that’s where I’d start looking.
EU cannot be remotely serious about vaccine export bans, can they?
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
The whole business is not pleasant, most wealthy countries have bought up far more vaccines than perhaps they need (the UK has 350 on order).... meanwhile the world's poorest/most marginalised have been well and truly shafted on this one, not humanity's greatest hour.
The UK needs 100m or so vaccines to do everyone, they over-ordered because they didn’t know which 100m would be good or be first to arrive.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
I see humanity's greatest hour still leaves room for petty nationalistic digs. Never doubted it for a minute
Surely that’s good news, TUD? Otherwise you would have to give up posting.
I'm not one to simultaneously bloviate about humanity’s greatest hour though. Very competitive market in any case on PB once you remove all the patriotic British fig leaves.
Nowhere does it say the EU will ban Pfizer exports to the UK . The EU have not said this but some in here seem to have brought the right wing headlines hook line and sinker !
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
Nowhere does it say the EU will ban Pfizer exports to the UK . The EU have not said this but some in here seem to have brought the right wing headlines hook line and sinker !
Nowhere does it say the EU will ban Pfizer exports to the UK . The EU have not said this but some in here seem to have brought the right wing headlines hook line and sinker !
seems like the sort of contract we insist on - we'll do out best but there are circumstances beyond our control which we can't do anything about.
And that is what has happened here - a batch needs to be written off (for which the EU isn't paying) and lack of raw ingredients is making ramping up impossible.
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
By everyone I guess you mean either the EU or the German press?
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
There has been some weird stuff today. At least the German news story, if bullcrap, is just someone in government there trying to mess around for gods knows what reason, but some the actual institutional stories have been strange too.
I think it's a genuine mistake, and I honestly think someone is getting the mother of all bollockings about it right now. And if the journo is so absolutely sure of what his source said, it'll be the source.
I suspect @Andy_Cooke got it right earlier: given it's a sample size of just 10, the paper probably said "70% effective (95% confidence interval 8-97%)". And then some lazy innumerate journalist desperate for a story ran with:
"Trials indicate AZN's effectiveness with older recipients could be as low as 8%"
It's a workable theory, but I think the presence of both '8%' and 'over 65s' in the other bit, makes that theory the frontrunner.
"Yes, it looks efficacious, but we don't really have useful efficacy data for the over 65s. It should be efficacious, but to what degree? Only 8% of the sample were over 65s"
"Should be efficacious... to what degree... only 8%... STORY!"
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
By everyone I guess you mean either the EU or the German press?
We’ve just spent four years talking about taking back control. It’s not a huge surprise that others are doing the same. Even now we’re playing silly buggers with the EU embassy for some bizarre, unfathomable reason.
Mr. Jonathan, the prevention of vaccine exports during a pandemic from a bloc that has screwed up its own response to a country that has acted more competently is* wretched behaviour.
It's utterly immoral, and would poison relations by an order of magnitude more than the comparatively trifling matter of an ambassador's status.
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
"Working together" doesn't work. See: EU vaccine procurement.
Taking responsibility for your own actions works. See: UK vaccine procurement.
Blaming others doesn't work. The EU are doing that now, lashing out, because they failed and want a scapegoat.
I agree with your sentiment, though. And it is massively in the economic interests of rich counties to ensure provision of vaccines to poorer ones, even if they were to ignore humanitarian considerations. An early end to the global pandemic is in all our interests. The UK has actually done reasonably well on this score, being an early proponent and funder of the COVAX effort.
If there is a problem, it is that rich countries haven’t spent enough on vaccine production, and have been insufficiently generous.
I agree with your main point. That said, I'd be glad to hear we were early proponents of COVAX, but I thought we came on board at the last moment, after 76 other first world countries? We can reasonably say that we were massively distracted (COVID and Brexit) until we did it, but we shouldn't claim to be early adopters.
The Australian referendum was on same sex marriage. It was not on the continued existence of the state. I would expect that we would end up at the Supreme Court who would confirm a non-agreed referendum to be non-binding, and we end up with Catalonia.
Another Scotch expert and a Supreme Court legal one at that joins the club.
Mr. Jonathan, the prevention of vaccine exports during a pandemic from a bloc that has screwed up its own response to a country that has acted more competently is wretched behaviour.
It's utterly immoral, and would poison relations by an order of magnitude more than the comparatively trifling matter of an ambassador's status.
I agree with you. It is entirely bad when countries and blocks pursue a narrow self interest and indulge in divisive rhetoric.
Thanks Alastair for a very thought provoking piece. I disagree with your view that, if the UK Government does nothing, it looks timid. In fact, it's probably it's best policy. Say "there's no point dealing with you because whatever we negotiate, you will change the rules to suit your own view" and let the Scottish Government sort a referendum. Encourage Unionists to boycott it. Then have the position of the SNP having to come to your door asking for negotiation because, if it doesn't, most fund managers will be leaving Edinburgh ASAP.
I'm sure this whole renewed talk from Sturgeon has to do with the dispute over Salmond, and what she did / not do rightfully.
Yep. Far from looking timid, it's the only thing to do, because the wildcat scheme *depends* on the UK Government opposing this tooth and nail and getting into a big legal battle, with 'Boris vs. Sturgeon', which (Kle4 said rightly) Sturgeon could not lose - regardless of the legal outcome. Leaving them to get on with the white elephant with an air of faint bemusement deflates the whole thing.
I agree with Mr Ed (not something I say every day). Just express polite interest - the Scots want to consult people on independence? Fine, but it's not binding, and is unlikely to pass 50% of the electorate.
There will be a Royal Commission on Indy, Explore all the choices. Report back. Tell the Scots. Federal UK, status quo, indy outside EU or within, dissolve devo. Your call.
This will take a few years, and take the subject off the boil. It is, also, by the by, surely the sensible thing to do. If there is one thing everyone has learned from Brexit, it is that a wildly important referendum with a simple Yes/No on a hugely complex subject is not always wise, and if it is done, it needs to be done with the public as informed as possible as to what will happen after.
I voted Leave. I am still, just about, persuaded that I made the right choice, but it is exceptionally marginal. If I had properly thought about the Irish border problem I might have changed my mind, it just never occurred to me (as it barely occurred to others, to be fair).
Scots and Brits need to be better educated next time. And there should be a next time, Scots deserve another vote once they see how Brexit has worked, or not. Late 2020s is when I expect it to happen, and when it should happen.
I presume you mean just lie to us like last time and then renage on everything you promised after the result and whine about generations meaning 40 years or other such squirrels.
To come back on topic, I didn't think the 52-48 (cough) pro-independence Scottish poll in the Sunday Times was exactly convincing.
If the EU carry on like they are, and the UK continues to make a success of its vaccine rollout and Brexit life, then we might go through all the palaver of setting up indyref2 only to find the Scots don't want independence. Again.
There are advantages to Brexit. They may come increasingly to the fore.
If that's the case and you want the Union to survive then if the SNP do win a majority then a referendum shoud be arranged for next year and have the issue tackled head-on.
If the Scottish public vote to stay in the UK, post-Brexit, then the issue is settled - and like the second Quebec referendum there's every chance it will be final.
If the Scottish public vote to leave the UK, then that is their choice - why should they be held prisoners if they choose otherwise?
Either way the issue is resolved.
The only thing I would add is that there really should be a second referendum at the end so that Scotland can decide whether they are happy with the consequences of independence or not prior to them leaving.
If the UK government agrees another referendum now not only is there a large risk of losing Scotland, though no certainty with 49% Yes including DKs on the latest poll but also they would be showing no willingness to stand up for the SNP who even if they lose indyref2 will demand indyref3 the next day exactly as many nationalists refused to accept the result on the 2014 referendum.
Even if a referendum was held by Sturgeon without UK government approval Boris could ignore it exactly as Rajoy ignored the unconstitutional 2017 Catalan referendum even though 92% of Catalan voters voted for independence on a 43% turnout.
That was the right decision by the Spanish PM to uphold the Spanish constitution and the supremacy of the Spanish government and 4 years later Catalonia remains part of Spain
If the Scottish voters don't want to be in the Union anymore then why would you want them to be prisoners trapped in the UK with no legal method of voting to leave?
What does that achieve? Is the union worth more to you than the fact people don't want it? Isn't it better for the union to survive because people want it to survive?
Philip, you should know by now he is not right in the Tattie
Many thanks to Alastair for this header - really interesting and has convinced me that SIndy2 is on.
One strategy he doesn't cover is what happens if a boycott happens from the 'No' side. This would undermine the legitimacy of the referendum (I believe a similar tactic was tried with Puerto Rican statehood). The SNP would be hard pushed to get 50%+1 of the electorate voting yes I'd imagine.
A fair way to handle the vaccination problem would be to ensure the elderly in all countries get to go first. I wonder whether we will see a move amongst young people to refuse the vaccine until the more vulnerable elsewhere in the world have been covered.
Mr. Jonathan, I'm not talking about rhetoric. I'm talking about the credible threat of preventing the export of life-saving medicine because the EU failed its response to the pandemic.
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
By everyone I guess you mean either the EU or the German press?
We’ve just spent four years talking about taking back control. It’s not a huge surprise that others are doing the same. Even now we’re playing silly buggers with the EU embassy for some bizarre, unfathomable reason.
Anything but answering the question. The EU is acting like a spoilt child throwing its toys out of the pram and you still want to blame the UK? Pathetic.
Mr Meeks misses the other point which is that since the last vote on independence the constitution of the United Kingdom was irrevocably altered by a referendum against the wishes and vote of the Scottish people. That seems to be a prima facie argument for another referendum.
The criticism of Boris Johnson as 'so often short-sighted' does not square with the UK's vaccine programme. The pre-ordering in bulk from multiple vaccine suppliers is one of the greatest far-sighted decisions of any British Gov't in the history of these isles. Don't make cheap shots where they're not deserved and have the good grace to admit it. Otherwise you just come across as embittered.
Britain has the fourth worst death rate from Covid-19 in the world, behind only San Marino, Belgium and Slovenia. If you laid the bodies of those who died in Britain from Covid-19 end to end, they would stretch from London to Leeds.
If Britain had done as well as France - a country that has not done well in the pandemic - 10,000 people would not have died of Covid-19. If it had done as well as Germany, 50,000 people would not have died.
Those deaths in large part can be attributed directly to Boris Johnson’s inexplicable lethargy in locking down. Even now he dithers about effectively controlling international travel. Even now, as the pandemic rages, he flirts with ending lockdown.
In your eagerness to step over all those corpses to lay into me, you insult the memory of every one of those people who died unnecessarily because of the disgusting failures of the Prime Minister. In the words of Rick & Morty, I welcome your boos, I’ve seen who you cheer.
Many thanks to Alastair for this header - really interesting and has convinced me that SIndy2 is on.
One strategy he doesn't cover is what happens if a boycott happens from the 'No' side. This would undermine the legitimacy of the referendum (I believe a similar tactic was tried with Puerto Rican statehood). The SNP would be hard pushed to get 50%+1 of the electorate voting yes I'd imagine.
A fair way to handle the vaccination problem would be to ensure the elderly in all countries get to go first. I wonder whether we will see a move amongst young people to refuse the vaccine until the more vulnerable elsewhere in the world have been covered.
Um no, the youngsters will want to get on with their lives which means a lot will take the vaccine when it arrives.
If the UK government agrees another referendum now not only is there a large risk of losing Scotland, though no certainty with 49% Yes including DKs on the latest poll but also they would be showing no willingness to stand up for the SNP who even if they lose indyref2 will demand indyref3 the next day exactly as many nationalists refused to accept the result on the 2014 referendum.
Even if a referendum was held by Sturgeon without UK government approval Boris could ignore it exactly as Rajoy ignored the unconstitutional 2017 Catalan referendum even though 92% of Catalan voters voted for independence on a 43% turnout.
That was the right decision by the Spanish PM to uphold the Spanish constitution and the supremacy of the Spanish government and 4 years later Catalonia remains part of Spain
If the Scottish voters don't want to be in the Union anymore then why would you want them to be prisoners trapped in the UK with no legal method of voting to leave?
What does that achieve? Is the union worth more to you than the fact people don't want it? Isn't it better for the union to survive because people want it to survive?
Philip, you should know by now he is not right in the Tattie
This threader is sophistry and pish in equal measure.
The matter will end, maybe after years, with the SCOTUK, which will surely rule in favour of Westminster having reserved powers to allow a binding referendum,
Sturgeon will then have the dilemma of calling a wildcat "advisory" vote (and risking a definite boycott and a Catalan outcome, where support for Catindy has now fallen), or biding her time, and waiting for a parliament more amenable in 2024.
Will this attitude from London provoke increased support for indy? Yes, quite possibly. But then, if London looks likely to lose a vote in 2022-2023, then it has nothing to lose and everything to gain by holding firm, and hoping for a change of mood.
They are going to lose, only decision is do they have the good grace and decency to do it properly and democratically or do they just prove they are nothing other than petty little despots in a banana republic.
Mr. Jonathan, the prevention of vaccine exports during a pandemic from a bloc that has screwed up its own response to a country that has acted more competently is wretched behaviour.
It's utterly immoral, and would poison relations by an order of magnitude more than the comparatively trifling matter of an ambassador's status.
I agree with you. It is entirely bad when countries and blocks pursue a narrow self interest and indulge in divisive rhetoric.
Which bloc do you mean? You can't bring yourself to write it can you? Starts with an E.....
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
By everyone I guess you mean either the EU or the German press?
We’ve just spent four years talking about taking back control. It’s not a huge surprise that others are doing the same. Even now we’re playing silly buggers with the EU embassy for some bizarre, unfathomable reason.
Because our laws (dating back to the 60s) don't allow it and we won't change them to be nice to the EU.
Sad day. This is what happens when everyone pursues a narrow national self interest. We will see more and more of this politically expedient finger pointing and threats. Far easier than solving underlying problems and working together.
By everyone I guess you mean either the EU or the German press?
We’ve just spent four years talking about taking back control. It’s not a huge surprise that others are doing the same. Even now we’re playing silly buggers with the EU embassy for some bizarre, unfathomable reason.
Anything but answering the question. The EU is acting like a spoilt child throwing its toys out of the pram and you still want to blame the UK? Pathetic.
I’m blaming corrosive nationalism in the EU that has always been a problem. The fact we are seeing more politicians across the channel indulge in it for short term gain is an entirely predictable side effect of the new political settlement. Depressing.
Also back on topic (yes, I know...), the trump card the SNP can play is simple. A manifesto which explicitly states that a vote for an SNP government is a vote for a new referendum on independence.
The Unionist parties can then campaign against the SNP on their various versions on support for the Union. Should the SNP secure a working majority then the will of the people is clear.
For me this is an absolute bear trap that the Tories are walking into. Supposedly someone has handed Boris paperwork proposing a "kick it into the long grass" commission on the constitution. As he is also trying to reshape constituencies in his favour and abolish an entire tier of local government to centralise even more power, it is obvious what the agenda is.
Should the commission be rejected in favour of a referendum then we're back down to colonialism. 'Yes you Scotch people with your kilts and your deep fried mars bars, you can vote if you want to, but unfortunately if you're going to vote wrong we will ignore your clear wishes and do the opposite because we matter and you don't.'
An advisory referendum and the "will of the people" became the word of God. The manifesto pledge to Get Brexit Done a literal instruction. Its politically impossible for this government to credibly try to claim the opposite is true in Scotland. They'll try because they aren't politically credible, but it won't stick.
Their only hope is to muster a Scottish election campaign where Labour, the Tories and the LibDems beat the SNP. Yeah, I know...
Mr. Jonathan, I'm not talking about rhetoric. I'm talking about the credible threat of preventing the export of life-saving medicine because the EU failed its response to the pandemic.
If the roles were reversed - would you be keen to see the UK export vaccine it desperately needed?
I'm conflicted on this. I wish there was enough to go around for everyone. Clearly the UK has paid for X and so should get X. But there is surely a point at which that breaks down...
If the UK was vaccinating 30y/olds like myself while Italy had shortages for those in the 65+ category... would it really be so unreasonable for them to refuse to export?
Comments
It has announced a pilot that allows people to submit notes on tweets that may be false or misleading.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55806002
I think I have a suggestion where it might be needed....
Where do they make it? I am aware of I think 2 factories in the UK, one the NL and one in CZ.
Perhaps one UK future is to offer safe haven from posturing Eurocrats. We know that they are often willing to drive a bus through their own laws.
So it looks like most of the press realise that it’s probably not a good idea to run with an unsubstantiated story for the sake of getting some hits.
Last year I had rats in my kitchen. Pest control called, baited and killed the buggers, patched up the entry points. They were getting into my sub-floor through a burrow into my neighbour's, who said they would contact their landlord. All quiet for three months.
Tonight, as I lie in bed, I hear... gnawing.
--AS
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1353910207970037760
Talking about supply is one thing, but the day they actually start blocking them is the day they start to seriously upset a number of countries and companies.
I voted to leave the EU because they’re an inward-looking and protectionist organisation that falsely preaches free trade and global co-operation - here’s a great example of that in action.
https://twitter.com/washingtonski/status/1353841883840184320
Turns out there are two reasons for this figure.
One is that on the whole teachers are younger than the population at large (something to do with 40% of staff leaving the profession within five years of qualifying).
The other is that the government deliberately excluded all staff over the age of 64, which meant they excluded half of all deaths among school staff, but compared the rate to the population as a whole.
Which is extraordinary. Not only is that blatantly criminal - even by the dreadful standards set by Williamson and Gibb - but were they really so dumb as to think nobody would notice?
I can only hope that the judge gives them all life sentences.
https://www.tes.com/news/covid-teacher-deaths-double-when-over-64s-are-added
The thing about the EU story is not so much they're putting themselves first, it's that they might be about to do something really dumb that actually makes things worse for themselves.
They’ve already pledged to donate the rest to poor countries (such as France), as it’s in everyone’s interest to have everyone in the world vaccinated as quickly as possible - so we can irradiate this damn virus for good.
Yes, we are at the initial argy-bargey stage now as Western nations compete to be able to open up their own economies, but the worldwide vaccination programme to come will be humanity’s greatest hour.
Note that the vaccines developed by two of the world’s leading vaccine companies - Sanofi and Merck - have failed.
I agree with your sentiment, though. And it is massively in the economic interests of rich counties to ensure provision of vaccines to poorer ones, even if they were to ignore humanitarian considerations. An early end to the global pandemic is in all our interests.
The UK has actually done reasonably well on this score, being an early proponent and funder of the COVAX effort.
If there is a problem, it is that rich countries haven’t spent enough on vaccine production, and have been insufficiently generous.
The criticism of Boris Johnson as 'so often short-sighted' does not square with the UK's vaccine programme. The pre-ordering in bulk from multiple vaccine suppliers is one of the greatest far-sighted decisions of any British Gov't in the history of these isles. Don't make cheap shots where they're not deserved and have the good grace to admit it. Otherwise you just come across as embittered.
Downside is that it has to be administered intravenously. Upside is that it seems to have few side effects (needs far lower dosage than for its originally intended purpose of treating cancer), and appears from early results to be very effective.
https://twitter.com/sfchronicle/status/1353780179202662402
The behaviour of the EU these past few weeks has made me, a Remainer, considerably less pro-EU. If there were another referendum held today I would possibly vote Brexit based on their appalling vaccine response.
They're lashing out because they have right-royally screwed up. And the idea that the EU has to buy in all the vaccine supplies on behalf of its member nations is horrendous.
It's everything that is the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith.
The conventional media being (mostly) responsible doesn't help very much if there's a tidal wave of misinformation spreading through Facebook and its various tentacles, scaring the shit out of credulous old people or their hysterical relatives.
It is no wonder that one reads that Biden wants it cutting right down to size.
https://twitter.com/Atul_Gawande/status/1353787903168684032
Astra Zeneca have a factory at Pune in India and most of these vaccines are going to be supplied globally under licence.
There's a particular problem with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine storage which makes them less readily available for most developing countries.
Three points you might want to bear in mind.
Mr. Singing, you have my sympathy. Rats scuttling is an irksome thing to endure.
Utterly OT: finished Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb yesterday. Very good book indeed.
'the stinking bureaucratic putrid heap of dung that embodies the over-centralised EU monolith'
Golly, the scales have pinged off your eyes at some rate.
Sorry for your loss.
The Commission wants to stick its fingers into all the pies. Coronavirus offered it an opportunity to butt in on health policy, which has traditionally been reserved mostly to the member states and where one would therefore assume that its pre-existing capabilities are somewhat limited. They persuaded the 27 to let them take over and leverage their collective strength to get the vaccine project done efficiently and at scale, to the benefit of all.
It then proceeded to make a sluggish, inflexible, bureaucratic screw-up of procurement under the direction of Stella Kyriakides, a politician from the doubtless lovely but very small member state of Cyprus, whose professional background is in child psychiatry. From what I can glean through a quick Google, her past leadership experience consists of chairing some Council of Europe committees, and running a breast cancer charity.
Quite simply, the Commission has bitten off more than it can chew.
It's one of the failings of analysts that they assume Brexiteers and Remainers were all diehards. Many of us were genuinely torn.
In my view the EU has some real pros. It also has some serious cons. Every so often the EU does something really stupid to bring those cons to the fore. This is one such occasion.
All this talk of the over 65s and the idea yesterday's what appears to be German fake news might scare off the over 65s from getting vaccinated . . . we must have a significant proportion of over 65s having already received the first dose already surely? The 14 million by 14 February refers to the first 4 priority groups which includes everyone 70+ so only 65-69 would be left after that I am guessing? How many more people fall in the 65-69 category?
If the EU carry on like they are, and the UK continues to make a success of its vaccine rollout and Brexit life, then we might go through all the palaver of setting up indyref2 only to find the Scots don't want independence. Again.
There are advantages to Brexit. They may come increasingly into focus.
If the Scottish public vote to stay in the UK, post-Brexit, then the issue is settled - and like the second Quebec referendum there's every chance it will be final.
If the Scottish public vote to leave the UK, then that is their choice - why should they be held prisoners if they choose otherwise?
Either way the issue is resolved.
What then happens to those needing their second injection?
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/25/uk/coronavirus-uk-variant-lockdown-gbr-intl/index.html
"But despite the harsh restrictions, case numbers are not dropping as fast as experts have hoped. Deaths continue to rise and public health experts and government are starting to warn people that the country will be in this battle for the long run ... The UK is a cautionary tale of what could happen elsewhere."
Like America, for instance?
In fact, case numbers are dropping very fast, our vaccine rollout is world-leading, and the death rate does not 'continue to rise.' Obviously deaths continue to rise until we reach 0 a day so it's a fatuous remark.
The EU have cocked up massively and if they do end up behaving in this way because the UK's had the temerity to actually be competent in a critical area it'll rightly provoke significant anger.
At that stage, there'd be a higher chance of their 'ambassador' being expelled than recognised as worthy of full diplomatic status.
If we didn’t, that would be a very serious matter - potentially a criminal matter against the relevant EU body although you’d know more about that than me - but it would not of course help those who needed the second dose.
Even the hint may force an abrupt switch by the government though.
Very competitive market in any case on PB once you remove all the patriotic British fig leaves.
And that is what has happened here - a batch needs to be written off (for which the EU isn't paying) and lack of raw ingredients is making ramping up impossible.
Neither are items AZ has much control over.
You can see that conversation as well.
"Yes, it looks efficacious, but we don't really have useful efficacy data for the over 65s. It should be efficacious, but to what degree? Only 8% of the sample were over 65s"
"Should be efficacious... to what degree... only 8%... STORY!"
It's utterly immoral, and would poison relations by an order of magnitude more than the comparatively trifling matter of an ambassador's status.
Edited extra bit: *would be
Taking responsibility for your own actions works. See: UK vaccine procurement.
Blaming others doesn't work. The EU are doing that now, lashing out, because they failed and want a scapegoat.
https://www.devex.com/news/uk-joins-covax-scheme-on-deadline-day-98132
We're now offering up to £250m in matched funding, though, which looks pretty good.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-raises-1bn-so-vulnerable-countries-can-get-vaccine
https://twitter.com/pedanticdave/status/1353960323443785728?s=21
One strategy he doesn't cover is what happens if a boycott happens from the 'No' side. This would undermine the legitimacy of the referendum (I believe a similar tactic was tried with Puerto Rican statehood). The SNP would be hard pushed to get 50%+1 of the electorate voting yes I'd imagine.
A fair way to handle the vaccination problem would be to ensure the elderly in all countries get to go first.
I wonder whether we will see a move amongst young people to refuse the vaccine until the more vulnerable elsewhere in the world have been covered.
https://www.power-technology.com/comment/uk-electricity-generation-greenest-year-2020/
If Britain had done as well as France - a country that has not done well in the pandemic - 10,000 people would not have died of Covid-19. If it had done as well as Germany, 50,000 people would not have died.
Those deaths in large part can be attributed directly to Boris Johnson’s inexplicable lethargy in locking down. Even now he dithers about effectively controlling international travel. Even now, as the pandemic rages, he flirts with ending lockdown.
In your eagerness to step over all those corpses to lay into me, you insult the memory of every one of those people who died unnecessarily because of the disgusting failures of the Prime Minister. In the words of Rick & Morty, I welcome your boos, I’ve seen who you cheer.
It's petty but hey that's our Government for you.
The Unionist parties can then campaign against the SNP on their various versions on support for the Union. Should the SNP secure a working majority then the will of the people is clear.
For me this is an absolute bear trap that the Tories are walking into. Supposedly someone has handed Boris paperwork proposing a "kick it into the long grass" commission on the constitution. As he is also trying to reshape constituencies in his favour and abolish an entire tier of local government to centralise even more power, it is obvious what the agenda is.
Should the commission be rejected in favour of a referendum then we're back down to colonialism. 'Yes you Scotch people with your kilts and your deep fried mars bars, you can vote if you want to, but unfortunately if you're going to vote wrong we will ignore your clear wishes and do the opposite because we matter and you don't.'
An advisory referendum and the "will of the people" became the word of God. The manifesto pledge to Get Brexit Done a literal instruction. Its politically impossible for this government to credibly try to claim the opposite is true in Scotland. They'll try because they aren't politically credible, but it won't stick.
Their only hope is to muster a Scottish election campaign where Labour, the Tories and the LibDems beat the SNP. Yeah, I know...
I'm conflicted on this. I wish there was enough to go around for everyone. Clearly the UK has paid for X and so should get X. But there is surely a point at which that breaks down...
If the UK was vaccinating 30y/olds like myself while Italy had shortages for those in the 65+ category... would it really be so unreasonable for them to refuse to export?