Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I can't help noticing how your trademark insouciance disappears when your own interests are in issue. I am sure if you are not vaccinated you can compensate with strict mask discipline and lashings of vitamin D, just like those Scottish fishermen who can switch to selling frozen product if they can't get fresh to market.
Its exactly what I've done for the past twelve months, yes. But if we're to get back to normal, then a vaccine will be needed and my taxes have gone towards purchasing it.
Interesting comment. You think your right to a vaccine is greater than someone here who does not pay tax?
Everyone in this country pays taxes of one kind or another. Even if its just VAT when they go shopping.
If there's anyone here who has managed to dodge all taxes then I'd have greater questions to ask as would probably HMRC.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Don't tempt me, Philip.
Not tempting you, straight question. If you were in charge would you deny me my vaccine so it could go abroad.
Second question - Are you Toby Young?
2nd question ignored since it's puerile. 1st question, though, ok, that does deserve a straight answer.
Would I deny YOU, a hard working BRITISH taxpayer, YOUR vaccine so that it could go ABROAD to be used to benefit a FOREIGNER?
Maybe. It would depend on circumstances. Also my mood.
But you have still then only made one person (hopefully) immune to Covid. So you haven't helped advance the defeat of Covid or done anything altruistic in any meaningful sense. You've just satisfied a desire for some form of self-mortification that you feel you (and we) deserve. It's a bit odd.
I do find it interesting the the prevailing opinion among a large portion of this board is that we should:
Lockdown in order to save the lives of the elderly, despite the young largely being immune to the virus.
Pay for it (in order to increase compliance) by increasing the deficit (resulting in the young paying more in the future).
Come out of lockdown when the elderly are vaccinated.
Export vaccines destined for the young to other parts of the world.
The fifth step is presumably wonder why there is intense generational resentment towards the boomers.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
I do find it interesting the the prevailing opinion among a large portion of this board is that we should:
Lockdown in order to save the lives of the elderly, despite the young largely being immune to the virus.
Pay for it (in order to increase compliance) by increasing the deficit (resulting in the young paying more in the future).
Come out of lockdown when the elderly are vaccinated.
Export vaccines destined for the young to other parts of the world.
The fifth step is presumably wonder why there is intense generational resentment towards the boomers.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
Exactly.
It's not exactly complex. And it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
And... if we want to discuss what to do with any excess vaccine orders we have, then we can do that then. It's really not very useful to get caught up on hypothetical questions about what to do with additional doses before we've - you know - sorted ourselves out.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
I know that is your view, and he might, but this scenario was it being refused because of Covid. If he gives that as a reason, he has to come up with a new one later when that is no barrier.
He has correctly said from a Tory perspective there should be no indyref2 until 2050, as per the 40 years between the 1975 EEC referendum and the 2016 EU referendum and we Tories will stand by that Covid or no Covid.
There is a Tory majority of 80 at Westminster and will be until 2024 and Sturgeon can do nothing about it until then
Maybe, but you’re quite wrong to take that approach. And a great many of your voters will agree with me. Won’t shift our votes, yet, but it’s one more thing.
You seem not to understand two things which I think are true:
1) Many Brexit voters entirely understand where the SNP is coming from; and
2) I reckon a decent plurality of English voters don’t care one way or the other, and think it’s one for Scotland.
I might be completely out of touch (after all I also don’t see why a British MP should resign if Scotland leaves) but I don’t think I am.
You will be if Sindyref2 ever happens, because the argument will then focus on the economic realities. After Brexit, no one will be satisfied with airy-fairy promises - we have all surely learned that, whether we are Leavers or Remainers. Breaking up unions is arduous, complex and very expensive, and we need to know what the promised outcome is, on the other side, if the split happens.
Scottish independence will - as any sane person knows - cause a massive recession in the UK (and possibly Depression and Default in Scotland) because of the enormous wrench involved, and Scotland's parlous fiscal position, and lack of an alternative currency, Central Bank, etc.
There won't be EU membership to fall back on for Scots. We are now out. Scotland will have to laboriously renegotiate EU re-entry (if it so wants) - with all the haggles over fishing, debt, Schengen, the English border, OMFG. Five-ten more years of nightmare.
Insouciant English persons like you act like Sindy would not impact rUK. Of course it would impact us. Our reputation for stability would be hammered, once again, perhaps even worse, as a third of the country breaks away. The pound would plummet. Many businesses would instantly flee Scotland, for the EU or London, causing extra chaos. The consequences would be grave, for all Britons.
You can't just wish all this difficult stuff away. After Brexit (and I speak as a Leaver) we all know it is true.
Of course, you might think - as a Scot or a Brit or a neutral - that Scottish independence is worth all of this grief, emotionally, democratically, patriotically. And I entirely respect that.
But this stuff will be the essence of any Sindyref2 campaign, if and when it happens.
And with that, goodnight, PB, goodnight.
All of that is true, but none of it matters. I am English, so I don’t get to have a view on Scottish independence. Whenever there is an SNP majority there is a right to a vote. The risk they take is that they don’t win and the time after this they will look silly, and the time after that they’ll look silly and obsessed.
I do find it interesting the the prevailing opinion among a large portion of this board is that we should:
Lockdown in order to save the lives of the elderly, despite the young largely being immune to the virus.
Pay for it (in order to increase compliance) by increasing the deficit (resulting in the young paying more in the future).
Come out of lockdown when the elderly are vaccinated.
Export vaccines destined for the young to other parts of the world.
The fifth step is presumably wonder why there is intense generational resentment towards the boomers.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
Yep, and thankfully it looks like we'll do it, I just felt an obligation to point out the particularly poor optics of the exporting vaccines in the immediate future plan.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
I prefer a good Cognac to whisky at times, but a good Cognac (or Armagnac, I'm not fussy) costs a lot more than a good whisky.
I've never really been exposed to very good cognac, only the average stuff. I find it has a slight metallic taste that I don't enjoy. Been lucky enough to taste a lot of excellent Scotch whisky though.
Complex scotch is - I reckon - significantly better than complex cognac, and still cheaper (tho the rarest scotch whisky is quickly catching up, thanks to brilliant branding and salesmanship).
Looks like Boris is going to offer a jab to all over 50s, claim he is on course to jab U.K. by autumn, and then start sending our vaccines out the country, starting with Ireland quite sensibly as we have a land border.
Have I got it wrong, he is floating this? So there is no political reason why it can’t happen like this?
Looks like Boris is going to offer a jab to all over 50s, claim he is on course to jab U.K. by autumn, and then start sending our vaccines out the country, starting with Ireland quite sensibly as we have a land border.
Have I got it wrong, he is floating this? So there is no political reason why it can’t happen like this?
As Blair said, only out the country when we have enough to spare, but is this definable? A programme to jab all adults by the autumn could be argued can be programme to jab all adults sooner if you didn’t surrender them instead ramped up delivery using them?
Maybe the governments war gamed it, and to be so far ahead is more problematical for U.K. and themselves politically in terms of shutting us off from the world, than slowing and surrendering as WHO demanded? The problem equation being something like more you internally open up the more you have to seal us in. Taking the Prime Ministers words at face value seems to suggest this.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts. ...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
A vaccine which reduced hospitalisations by 80%, and achieved nothing else, would still allow us to get back to normal in a matter of months. Why? Because it would change CV19 to a bad case of flu. The problem with CV19 is that (unchecked) it overwhelms health services.
Let's look at how Pfizer's vaccine is doing in Israel. Of the 128,000 Israelis to have gotten two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (and bear in mind this is an older cohort), exactly 20 got symptomatic Covid, none of them seriously, and none to the extent of even having a fever of 38.5 degrees.
Of course, not everyone is getting the Pfizer vaccine, and it (and Moderna) are the "gold standards". But of the tens of thousands of people who got AstraZeneca/Oxford in trials, do you know how many were hospitalised with CV19?
None.
Johnson & Johnson?
Again, none.
Novavax?
None.
Even the least effective vaccines have a dramatic (i.e. close to 100%) impact on hospitalisations.
That means we could be just seven or eight weeks away from hospitalisations from CV19 dropping to close to zero.
Now, the mutations are a great point. But, you know what? These vaccines still offer substantial protection. Both Moderna and Pfizer have announced only small impacts on efficacy. The others are a little worse. But (again), this isn't a step function where vaccines stop working. This is that they are a little less effective.
And this is even ignoring the impact that vaccines will have on transmission. We know from Pfizer and Moderna, that even symptomatic CV19 vaccinated people have lower viral loads. That means the virus will find it harder to get around.
Now, sure, will we all likely need booster shots in October to deal with new variants? Yes, of course. But by that time world capacity for the mRNA vaccines (which can be incredibly easily tweaked) will be 10x the current level. CV19 and its decendents will just be like flu, something that we get from time to time, and which doesn't kill or maim us.
Looks like Boris is going to offer a jab to all over 50s, claim he is on course to jab U.K. by autumn, and then start sending our vaccines out the country, starting with Ireland quite sensibly as we have a land border.
Have I got it wrong, he is floating this? So there is no political reason why it can’t happen like this?
As Blair said, only out the country when we have enough to spare, but is this definable? A programme to jab all adults by the autumn could be argued can be programme to jab all adults sooner if you didn’t surrender them instead ramped up delivery using them?
Maybe the governments war gamed it, and to be so far ahead is more problematical for U.K. and themselves politically in terms of shutting us off from the world, than slowing and surrendering as WHO demanded? The problem equation being something like more you internally open up the more you have to seal us in. Taking the Prime Ministers words at face value seems to suggest this.
I think the question the UK will have will be a bit more subtle. Say we have 10 million Pfizer jabs arriving in each of April and May, and also 10 million AZN ones.
The question then becomes, do you give people the AZN jab in April, or wait for the (more effective) Pfizer one in May? If cases are already down below 500/day, then I suspect that many people would prefer to wait the extra month for the more effective vaccine.
In any case, this is all irrelevant: the government is not going to be giving up British doses of CV19 vaccines until the pandemic is under control in the UK.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
A vaccine which reduced hospitalisations by 80%, and achieved nothing else, would still allow us to get back to normal in a matter of months. Why? Because it would change CV19 to a bad case of flu. The problem with CV19 is that (unchecked) it overwhelms health services.
Let's look at how Pfizer's vaccine is doing in Israel. Of the 128,000 Israelis to have gotten two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (and bear in mind this is an older cohort), exactly 20 got symptomatic Covid, none of them seriously, and none to the extent of even having a fever of 38.5 degrees.
Of course, not everyone is getting the Pfizer vaccine, and it (and Moderna) are the "gold standards". But of the tens of thousands of people who got AstraZeneca/Oxford in trials, do you know how many were hospitalised with CV19?
None.
Johnson & Johnson?
Again, none.
Novavax?
None.
Even the least effective vaccines have a dramatic (i.e. close to 100%) impact on hospitalisations.
That means we could be just seven or eight weeks away from hospitalisations from CV19 dropping to close to zero.
Now, the mutations are a great point. But, you know what? These vaccines still offer substantial protection. Both Moderna and Pfizer have announced only small impacts on efficacy. The others are a little worse. But (again), this isn't a step function where vaccines stop working. This is that they are a little less effective.
And this is even ignoring the impact that vaccines will have on transmission. We know from Pfizer and Moderna, that even symptomatic CV19 vaccinated people have lower viral loads. That means the virus will find it harder to get around.
Now, sure, will we all likely need booster shots in October to deal with new variants? Yes, of course. But by that time world capacity for the mRNA vaccines (which can be incredibly easily tweaked) will be 10x the current level. CV19 and its decendents will just be like flu, something that we get from time to time, and which doesn't kill or maim us.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
A vaccine which reduced hospitalisations by 80%, and achieved nothing else, would still allow us to get back to normal in a matter of months. Why? Because it would change CV19 to a bad case of flu. The problem with CV19 is that (unchecked) it overwhelms health services.
Let's look at how Pfizer's vaccine is doing in Israel. Of the 128,000 Israelis to have gotten two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (and bear in mind this is an older cohort), exactly 20 got symptomatic Covid, none of them seriously, and none to the extent of even having a fever of 38.5 degrees.
Of course, not everyone is getting the Pfizer vaccine, and it (and Moderna) are the "gold standards". But of the tens of thousands of people who got AstraZeneca/Oxford in trials, do you know how many were hospitalised with CV19?
None.
Johnson & Johnson?
Again, none.
Novavax?
None.
Even the least effective vaccines have a dramatic (i.e. close to 100%) impact on hospitalisations.
That means we could be just seven or eight weeks away from hospitalisations from CV19 dropping to close to zero.
Now, the mutations are a great point. But, you know what? These vaccines still offer substantial protection. Both Moderna and Pfizer have announced only small impacts on efficacy. The others are a little worse. But (again), this isn't a step function where vaccines stop working. This is that they are a little less effective.
And this is even ignoring the impact that vaccines will have on transmission. We know from Pfizer and Moderna, that even symptomatic CV19 vaccinated people have lower viral loads. That means the virus will find it harder to get around.
Now, sure, will we all likely need booster shots in October to deal with new variants? Yes, of course. But by that time world capacity for the mRNA vaccines (which can be incredibly easily tweaked) will be 10x the current level. CV19 and its decendents will just be like flu, something that we get from time to time, and which doesn't kill or maim us.
I really admire your optimism.
It may be optimistic, but it is informed optimism. I generally agree, but I do think 7-8 weeks is going to be hard to achieve.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
A vaccine which reduced hospitalisations by 80%, and achieved nothing else, would still allow us to get back to normal in a matter of months. Why? Because it would change CV19 to a bad case of flu. The problem with CV19 is that (unchecked) it overwhelms health services.
Let's look at how Pfizer's vaccine is doing in Israel. Of the 128,000 Israelis to have gotten two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (and bear in mind this is an older cohort), exactly 20 got symptomatic Covid, none of them seriously, and none to the extent of even having a fever of 38.5 degrees.
Of course, not everyone is getting the Pfizer vaccine, and it (and Moderna) are the "gold standards". But of the tens of thousands of people who got AstraZeneca/Oxford in trials, do you know how many were hospitalised with CV19?
None.
Johnson & Johnson?
Again, none.
Novavax?
None.
Even the least effective vaccines have a dramatic (i.e. close to 100%) impact on hospitalisations.
That means we could be just seven or eight weeks away from hospitalisations from CV19 dropping to close to zero.
Now, the mutations are a great point. But, you know what? These vaccines still offer substantial protection. Both Moderna and Pfizer have announced only small impacts on efficacy. The others are a little worse. But (again), this isn't a step function where vaccines stop working. This is that they are a little less effective.
And this is even ignoring the impact that vaccines will have on transmission. We know from Pfizer and Moderna, that even symptomatic CV19 vaccinated people have lower viral loads. That means the virus will find it harder to get around.
Now, sure, will we all likely need booster shots in October to deal with new variants? Yes, of course. But by that time world capacity for the mRNA vaccines (which can be incredibly easily tweaked) will be 10x the current level. CV19 and its decendents will just be like flu, something that we get from time to time, and which doesn't kill or maim us.
Yep, catching covid after vaccination doesn't worry me as my body will have rocket boosters to deal with the infection. Unless I'm unbelievably unlucky the worst it should be is basically a hard flu ( And that would be unlucky as I'm v healthy and youngish). What covid unvaxxed has done to people I know scares me a bit tho tbh. Death and damage a year on. These aren't old or even people with pre existing conditions.
Mr. Voter, indeed. During the Rohingya[sp] business I thought, I think I posted here but can't recall, it was impossible to say if Kyi was a huge letdown or doing her best in very difficult circumstances to try and mitigate the excesses of the army.
Guardian: With more than 50 unique vaccination plans across the United States, one’s access to the Covid-19 vaccine depends in large part on where one lives. In Wisconsin, mink farmers are being considered for the next phase of vaccine prioritization. In New Jersey, smokers can get priority access to the vaccine. In Colorado, journalists fall under the category of frontline workers.
This complex system has given rise to a new type of pandemic travel – dubbed “vaccine tourism” – in which people cross state or even country lines to get earlier access. Without standardized protocol, and because of the fractured American health system, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people have gotten vaccines outside their home states.
Guardian: With more than 50 unique vaccination plans across the United States, one’s access to the Covid-19 vaccine depends in large part on where one lives. In Wisconsin, mink farmers are being considered for the next phase of vaccine prioritization. In New Jersey, smokers can get priority access to the vaccine. In Colorado, journalists fall under the category of frontline workers.
This complex system has given rise to a new type of pandemic travel – dubbed “vaccine tourism” – in which people cross state or even country lines to get earlier access. Without standardized protocol, and because of the fractured American health system, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people have gotten vaccines outside their home states.
Oh, it's completely mad here. A friend of mine is the lawyer for a cannabis company, which apparently makes him a frontline worker and eligible for the vaccine.
I see there may well be a coup in Myanmar. Perhaps Suu Kyi can seek asylum in Bangladesh
whilst not wanting to be an apologist for ASSK, I dont think people understood how fragile her situation was....
She's still completely Ratnered her brand. The way she has dealt with the Rohingya Muslims is a disgrace and she chose to go along with it and justify it.
It's a Sin has been widely praised but it's another example of a watered-down and weak version of a better American one, in this case Angels in America. (Roadkill to House of Cards is another example). The problem is lack of character development. It's all so superficial and breakneck that you never get a chance, properly, to plumb into the characters. It's a series of impressionistic vignettes with even some Aunt Sally lampoon figures thrown in to bash us over the head in case we don't quite get the message.
Brits are rushing out dramas at the moment and they're superficial.
BBC - Cardboard shortage intensifies: "There is a shortage of the pulp used to make the cardboard boxes that is affecting all retailers. These plastic ones are 100% recyclable but we hope to go back to the cardboard ones as soon as we can," Asda responded on Twitter.
Axl Barber, boss of packaging firm Rightbox, says the problems started back in October but now "it's really crazy". "A standard box with flaps at top and bottom can get made up in days and delivered in a week in a normal times," he says. "At the moment it's two months, three months."
Looks like Boris is going to offer a jab to all over 50s, claim he is on course to jab U.K. by autumn, and then start sending our vaccines out the country, starting with Ireland quite sensibly as we have a land border.
Have I got it wrong, he is floating this? So there is no political reason why it can’t happen like this?
As Blair said, only out the country when we have enough to spare, but is this definable? A programme to jab all adults by the autumn could be argued can be programme to jab all adults sooner if you didn’t surrender them instead ramped up delivery using them?
Maybe the governments war gamed it, and to be so far ahead is more problematical for U.K. and themselves politically in terms of shutting us off from the world, than slowing and surrendering as WHO demanded? The problem equation being something like more you internally open up the more you have to seal us in. Taking the Prime Ministers words at face value seems to suggest this.
I think the question the UK will have will be a bit more subtle. Say we have 10 million Pfizer jabs arriving in each of April and May, and also 10 million AZN ones.
The question then becomes, do you give people the AZN jab in April, or wait for the (more effective) Pfizer one in May? If cases are already down below 500/day, then I suspect that many people would prefer to wait the extra month for the more effective vaccine.
In any case, this is all irrelevant: the government is not going to be giving up British doses of CV19 vaccines until the pandemic is under control in the UK.
Give them AZN and boost with Pfizer. That might well be more effective than two Pfizer shots.
BBC - Cardboard shortage intensifies: "There is a shortage of the pulp used to make the cardboard boxes that is affecting all retailers. These plastic ones are 100% recyclable but we hope to go back to the cardboard ones as soon as we can," Asda responded on Twitter.
Axl Barber, boss of packaging firm Rightbox, says the problems started back in October but now "it's really crazy". "A standard box with flaps at top and bottom can get made up in days and delivered in a week in a normal times," he says. "At the moment it's two months, three months."
Probably because everything comes in a cardboard box from Amazon* nowadays. Buy anything at all, even just a tiny replacement USB cable and it seems to always come in a cardboard box, never a paper envelope or packaging.
Our council refuses to take cardboard in the mixed recycling wheely bin and instead uses these fiddly small plastic boxes as the cardboard recycling bins. I've taken recently to using the big green garden waste wheely bin instead for cardboard since we're not using that for garden waste at the minute and over Christmas especially could fill that up within a fortnight from just cardboard.
It does seem that the massive vaccination efforts are bearing fruit, although naturally there will be hiccups along the way. I suggest that one major advantage that the UK (as presently constituted) has is the NHS, with it's registration of 99%+ of the population with a GP practice, and therefor being easily contactable. In passing, an excellent reasonfor the Conservatives not to damage it any more.
Looking to the future, we now have a multiple ingredient vaccines for children, MMR being the prime example. I wonder whether work is being done on combine ng 'flu vaccine with a coronavirus one?
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer look inevitable. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Navalny was brilliant in his delivery in that documentary. Aping John Oliver style piss taking.
My (Russian-speaking) wife was quite surprised at the excessive use of sarcasm in the documentary. As you say, it's just what you'd expect from John Oliver, but quite alien to Russian discourse in general.
I see there may well be a coup in Myanmar. Perhaps Suu Kyi can seek asylum in Bangladesh
whilst not wanting to be an apologist for ASSK, I dont think people understood how fragile her situation was....
It is a while since I was in Burma, perhaps 15 years and at that time it was a military state with ASSK under house arrest. Because of the police informers etc it was difficult to discuss politics openly at the hospital and university that I was teaching at. I did try to get some feel for it though.
The situation with the various civil wars is very complex, with various factions along religious, ethnic, democracy and drug lord divides. The root problem though is that the country is dominated by the ethnic Burmese numerically and economically, and all the minorities seen with various degrees of suspicion. That is the power imbalance that drives the conflict, something that drives separatism closer to home too.
One strong feature though is suspicion of Indian minorities, and Bengali in particular. Under the British Raj Burma was administered as part of the Indian Empire, largely by Bengalis, and used as a granary. Most fled in 1941. Whipping up anti Indian or anti Muslim pogroms is an easy way to keep the people onside.
One of my oldest friends is a Burmese Muslim and fled in 1988 after the student protests. Burmese are lovely people and great to work with, but like some other lovely peoples, suckers for divisive flag waving populism against foreigners.
Increasingly though Burma seems to be aligning with China, which wants its resources, and money talks.
George Orwell once wrote every face over 40 tells it story and anyone who analyses Sturgeons face will see a very nasty mean spited persona which came out on the last election when she was jumping for joy at Jo Swinson losing her seat and then Sturgeon quickly realised a camera was on her and removed her gleeful expresssion
George Orwell once wrote every face over 40 tells it story and anyone who analyses Sturgeons face will see a very nasty mean spited persona which came out on the last election when she was jumping for joy at Jo Swinson losing her seat and then Sturgeon quickly realised a camera was on her and removed her gleeful expresssion
I am hoping an equally unpleasant Scotsman will wipe the smile off her face permanently.
Comments
If there's anyone here who has managed to dodge all taxes then I'd have greater questions to ask as would probably HMRC.
It's not exactly complex. And it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
And... if we want to discuss what to do with any excess vaccine orders we have, then we can do that then. It's really not very useful to get caught up on hypothetical questions about what to do with additional doses before we've - you know - sorted ourselves out.
https://twitter.com/c2des/status/1355647489735618563
And it shows!
Have I got it wrong, he is floating this? So there is no political reason why it can’t happen like this?
Maybe the governments war gamed it, and to be so far ahead is more problematical for U.K. and themselves politically in terms of shutting us off from the world, than slowing and surrendering as WHO demanded? The problem equation being something like more you internally open up the more you have to seal us in. Taking the Prime Ministers words at face value seems to suggest this.
The solution is to get the entire adult population vaccinated over the next 70 days or sooner. Then we wont have to worry about these intergenerational conflicts.
...... it can be done in less than two months.
At which point, we won't need the lockdown, and as economic activity will resume, we won't be so worried about the deficit.
That of course assumes that the vaccine is 100% effective and that the mutations/new varieties are kept under control, I am really doubtful that will be the case.....
Let's look at how Pfizer's vaccine is doing in Israel. Of the 128,000 Israelis to have gotten two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (and bear in mind this is an older cohort), exactly 20 got symptomatic Covid, none of them seriously, and none to the extent of even having a fever of 38.5 degrees.
Of course, not everyone is getting the Pfizer vaccine, and it (and Moderna) are the "gold standards". But of the tens of thousands of people who got AstraZeneca/Oxford in trials, do you know how many were hospitalised with CV19?
None.
Johnson & Johnson?
Again, none.
Novavax?
None.
Even the least effective vaccines have a dramatic (i.e. close to 100%) impact on hospitalisations.
That means we could be just seven or eight weeks away from hospitalisations from CV19 dropping to close to zero.
Now, the mutations are a great point. But, you know what? These vaccines still offer substantial protection. Both Moderna and Pfizer have announced only small impacts on efficacy. The others are a little worse. But (again), this isn't a step function where vaccines stop working. This is that they are a little less effective.
And this is even ignoring the impact that vaccines will have on transmission. We know from Pfizer and Moderna, that even symptomatic CV19 vaccinated people have lower viral loads. That means the virus will find it harder to get around.
Now, sure, will we all likely need booster shots in October to deal with new variants? Yes, of course. But by that time world capacity for the mRNA vaccines (which can be incredibly easily tweaked) will be 10x the current level. CV19 and its decendents will just be like flu, something that we get from time to time, and which doesn't kill or maim us.
The question then becomes, do you give people the AZN jab in April, or wait for the (more effective) Pfizer one in May? If cases are already down below 500/day, then I suspect that many people would prefer to wait the extra month for the more effective vaccine.
In any case, this is all irrelevant: the government is not going to be giving up British doses of CV19 vaccines until the pandemic is under control in the UK.
What covid unvaxxed has done to people I know scares me a bit tho tbh. Death and damage a year on. These aren't old or even people with pre existing conditions.
The replacement within the GOP of those who believe in democratic norms continues
Great posts from Robert (rcs1000) below. There are very good reasons to be optimistic.
Mr. Voter, indeed. During the Rohingya[sp] business I thought, I think I posted here but can't recall, it was impossible to say if Kyi was a huge letdown or doing her best in very difficult circumstances to try and mitigate the excesses of the army.
This complex system has given rise to a new type of pandemic travel – dubbed “vaccine tourism” – in which people cross state or even country lines to get earlier access. Without standardized protocol, and because of the fractured American health system, tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people have gotten vaccines outside their home states.
Brits are rushing out dramas at the moment and they're superficial.
Sorry if this annoys anyone.
Axl Barber, boss of packaging firm Rightbox, says the problems started back in October but now "it's really crazy". "A standard box with flaps at top and bottom can get made up in days and delivered in a week in a normal times," he says. "At the moment it's two months, three months."
I think this is being trialled, and it’s not completely impossible that there might be some useful data on immune response by then.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/08/covid-mixed-vaccine-trial-likely-to-begin-in-uk-next-month
Animal experiments have certainly shown it’s more effective.
Ten Senate Republicans Propose $600 Billion Counteroffer to Biden’s $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/senate-republicans-compromise-biden-covid-relief-bill.html
Aka attempted sabotage.
Our council refuses to take cardboard in the mixed recycling wheely bin and instead uses these fiddly small plastic boxes as the cardboard recycling bins. I've taken recently to using the big green garden waste wheely bin instead for cardboard since we're not using that for garden waste at the minute and over Christmas especially could fill that up within a fortnight from just cardboard.
* other delivery companies are available.
It does seem that the massive vaccination efforts are bearing fruit, although naturally there will be hiccups along the way. I suggest that one major advantage that the UK (as presently constituted) has is the NHS, with it's registration of 99%+ of the population with a GP practice, and therefor being easily contactable. In passing, an excellent reasonfor the Conservatives not to damage it any more.
Looking to the future, we now have a multiple ingredient vaccines for children, MMR being the prime example. I wonder whether work is being done on combine ng 'flu vaccine with a coronavirus one?
How did everyone's "Sturgeon to be replaced by the end of the year" bets do in 2020? It was heavily tipped here if I recall.
Are people recommending a double or nothing strategy?
The situation with the various civil wars is very complex, with various factions along religious, ethnic, democracy and drug lord divides. The root problem though is that the country is dominated by the ethnic Burmese numerically and economically, and all the minorities seen with various degrees of suspicion. That is the power imbalance that drives the conflict, something that drives separatism closer to home too.
One strong feature though is suspicion of Indian minorities, and Bengali in particular. Under the British Raj Burma was administered as part of the Indian Empire, largely by Bengalis, and used as a granary. Most fled in 1941. Whipping up anti Indian or anti Muslim pogroms is an easy way to keep the people onside.
One of my oldest friends is a Burmese Muslim and fled in 1988 after the student protests. Burmese are lovely people and great to work with, but like some other lovely peoples, suckers for divisive flag waving populism against foreigners.
Increasingly though Burma seems to be aligning with China, which wants its resources, and money talks.