Here we go again...toys coming out the pram again.
Germany’s government on Sunday threatened legal action against laboratories failing to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the European Union on schedule, amid tension over delays to deliveries from AstraZeneca.
AFP reports:
“If it turns out that companies have not respected their obligations, we will have to decide the legal consequences,” economy minister Peter Altmaier told German daily Die Welt.
“No company can favour another country over the EU after the fact,” he added.
Die Welt has a hit job on AstraZeneca too, saying that they don't know what they're doing with vaccines.
The German establishment seem to have some sort of collective meltdown. Perhaps all these lockdown is getting to them, but it is most unusual behaviour.
I think the lockdown is altering all our behaviour in curious ways. The PM has come over almost all diplomatic and sensible for example .
He responds to whoever sat on him last. Now that the weirdos have gone maybe he is at last getting some sensible advice?
So let's say Truss pulls this off and gets the UK into the CPTPP.
And then let's say Biden brings the US back into the CPTPP - as a big trade bloc to huddle together against China.
And let's say that one of the big gains from that is Scotch whisky having its 25% tariffs into the US ended.
And then let's say that if Scotland becomes independent and then joins the EU, it can no longer get the benefit of CPTPP membership.
At that point, an independent Scotland might then be significantly less attractive to the Scots.
Could Liz Truss single-handedly save the Union?
Sadly, I don't think there's much (if any) appetite in the US to join the CPTPP. That was very much an Obama era project.
Edit to add: I don't think CPTPP removes tariffs on alcoholic beverages, although I grant you that this is from memory and I could be wrong. CPTPP is amazing for intermediate and finished manufactured goods, but it isn't as all encompassing as NAFTA, Mercosur or the EU's Single Market.
If we join successfully, I think that America would definitely look at it again - I don't think they'd want us to be part of something that they weren't party to.
Well they never showed any sign of wanting to join the Commonwealth.
Not welcome after what they did to all that tea.
What’s with the “did”? If you have been to the US you would know that they are still dropping tea into cold water to this day.
Getting there. The UK bought the farm, stocked it with cattle, fed them long enough that there is meat on them, trained the butcher, and paid the butcher. The EU just went down to the market at the end of the day and found that the butchers had all sold most of the meat.
A paper in Nature studying antibodies in convalescent plasma of Ebola survivors shows us how much we still have to learn about the immune system and what acquired 'immunity' to a disease means:
While the virus appears gone in these recovered patients (no viremia), the IgG levels in their plasma show signs of repeated antigen challenge creating spikes in antibody levels, followed by decay until the next challenge and subsequent spike. All this happens without the person becoming ill. But it implies they never get rid of the virus.
At this rate, some EU countries will only be using it on 18-21 year olds.
We wait with bated breath for the NHS clinical data. Shouldn't be too many weeks before effectiveness in the elderly can be more accurately assessed. Now,
1. We must hope that we don't get the infamous 8% figure, or anywhere close. I know there's been some dispute on the site today as to how much of a role vaccination has or hasn't played in the especially steep drop off in cases seen in our oldest citizens, but early indications appear encouraging to me 2. Assuming that AZ is good enough to pass muster, it will be fascinating to see how long it takes some of these more sceptical national authorities to perform U-turns, if they do at all
If there is no doubt about the efficacy of AZ for over 65s I am genuinely struggling to understand why these European medical agencies are deliberately not approving it for that age group. What is there to be gained? The decisions are made by medical and scientific professionals not politicians.
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While the virus appears gone in these recovered patients (no viremia), the IgG levels in their plasma show signs of repeated antigen challenge creating spikes in antibody levels, followed by decay until the next challenge and subsequent spike. All this happens without the person becoming ill. But it implies they never get rid of the virus.