242 cases of he blood clots and that would only increase as they went through the age gaps. Think it clearly an effective vaccine, but they need to establish the exact link between the blood clots.

 

PHE sound like they are going to uprade the Indian variant to a variant of concern tomorrow too. Sounds a bit like it might be starting to overtake the Kent variant as the "domiant" variant. However, the good news is there was an outbreak in a care home which thankfully had full protection with AZ and only resulted in 4 hospitalisations for non-severe - so very good protection seemingly.

The Independent is reporting that the remaining 30-39 age group will be offered an alternative to AZ in addition to under 30s with an announcement to be made tomorrow. The UK should still have enough Pfizer & Moderna supply to reach its target of end of July for all adults having a first dose.

 

For those who are interested in the maths the latest yellow card data was out today - there have been 242 confirmed rare blood clot cases whilst 22.6m first doses & 5.9m second doses of AZ have been administered in the UK.

 

(Notice how they've waited until after polling day 👀)

Funnily enough, since it got barred from the under 60‘s here (unless you go to the GP and they clear you for it and you take it at your own risk etc etc. Berlin, Bayern and a couple of others have had this policy for a lil while, from tonight it’s country wide) the whole blood clots thing has absolutely vanished from our news cycle.

 

Like poof and it’s gone.

 

Almost as if our media, who are in Priority group 3, wanted to ensure they’d get the mRNA ones 👀

 

Would be interesting tho to see the age breakdown on that stat, the evidence spooked the German lot sufficiently to say that as a 31 yo im more likely to die of AZ‘s jag than Covid.

I'm aware there's a lot of alarmism going on about this whole topic, and while I'd rather not add to it...

 

I do raise an eyebrow at talk of saving doses to give over-50s a THIRD 'booster dose' to up their immunity level from something like 92% to 97% while those of us under a certain age are still waiting (im)patiently for our first one and in the meantime at the full same level of risk we have been since this time last year.

 

It does start to feel like instead of trying to do the best for everyone all resources are being put into super-extra-ringfencing one group while all others are left in the dust.

I'm aware there's a lot of alarmism going on about this whole topic, and while I'd rather not add to it...

 

I do raise an eyebrow at talk of saving doses to give over-50s a THIRD 'booster dose' to up their immunity level from something like 92% to 97% while those of us under a certain age are still waiting (im)patiently for our first one and in the meantime at the full same level of risk we have been since this time last year.

 

It does start to feel like instead of trying to do the best for everyone all resources are being put into super-extra-ringfencing one group while all others are left in the dust.

 

Tbf the priority should be maximum protection for the top 9 priority groups given they account for 99% of deaths. Vaccinating beyond that is a bonus and privilege, especially when so many countries around the world cannot even vaccinate their priority groups.

PHE sound like they are going to uprade the Indian variant to a variant of concern tomorrow too. Sounds a bit like it might be starting to overtake the Kent variant as the "domiant" variant. However, the good news is there was an outbreak in a care home which thankfully had full protection with AZ and only resulted in 4 hospitalisations for non-severe - so very good protection seemingly.

 

This care home incident turned out to be a reckless science experiment of vaccines vs variants that should never have happened anyway, the UK should have tried harder through travel restrictions to stop the Indian variant entering the UK in the first place.

 

The fact everyone at the care home was OK after the vaccine with this variant does give me hope though.

 

I'm aware there's a lot of alarmism going on about this whole topic, and while I'd rather not add to it...

 

I do raise an eyebrow at talk of saving doses to give over-50s a THIRD 'booster dose' to up their immunity level from something like 92% to 97% while those of us under a certain age are still waiting (im)patiently for our first one and in the meantime at the full same level of risk we have been since this time last year.

 

It does start to feel like instead of trying to do the best for everyone all resources are being put into super-extra-ringfencing one group while all others are left in the dust.

 

Tough decision, but if this Indian variant is going to become dominant in the UK and the vaccine is less effective against it then a third booster may be needed to prevent Covid deaths amongst the over 50s.

Edited May 6, 20214 yr by TheSnake

And what about covid deaths among the NON over 50s? The people who have also overwhelmingly worked frontline all the way through this for no extra pay and much increased hardship...

And what about covid deaths among the NON over 50s? The people who have also overwhelmingly worked frontline all the way through this for no extra pay and much increased hardship...

 

A very valid point. There is also the fact that if case numbers increase amongst 18-30 year olds too much because they haven't been vaccinated yet, it gives the virus a small chance to mutate again too which would be dangerous for everyone.

Surprised that Portugal is on the UK's green travel list - I thought its links with Brazil would have made it an amber list country.

Edited May 7, 20214 yr by TheSnake

Surprised that Portugal is on the UK's green travel list - I thought its links with Brazil would have made it an amber list country.

The government has done a complete u-turn over Portugal. It used to be considered particularly unsafe (because of its links with Brazil) but is now considered to be relatively safe.

Think they make it up as they go along. The links to India were open up to just a few weeks ago. Understand the historic imperial links to the country meaning there’s a big proportion of the country have famial links but the things that are happening there mean it’s highly irresponsible to only close flights so recently.

India reports over 4,000 deaths for the first time today. We still likely have many weeks until the peak. :(

@1391724253440008198

 

Some excellent news today from the mRNA camp.

Today is the first time since 4th March last year where England has gone without a covid death

Edited May 10, 20214 yr by Hadji

My brother is getting his first dose on Wednesday! The local vaccination centre opened up slots for 18-39 year olds to call up and they were all gone within an hour. So the rhetoric of ‘young people aren’t accepting the vaccine’ is a load of bollocks.

Of course but that's the narrative consistent with everything that young people are to blame for everything covid-related.

Think quite a lot of 'keen' young people have already got their vaccines too as there is a loophole with the 'responsible carer' option. I know quite a few people that have done that after the priority groups had been given them.

 

No doubt we will all be blamed if covid does spread a little in early June though..

Of course but that's the narrative consistent with everything that young people are to blame for everything covid-related.

 

Why stop there, everything in society surely? Now don't ask any questions about where retired people were picking up covid from when they weren't going to work back in January.

I don’t think we should fall into the same trap of blaming age groups for anything. You can be an idiot at any age. I tend to blame the government instead.

Now don't ask any questions about where retired people were picking up covid from when they weren't going to work back in January.

 

Supermarkets, or public transport to the supermarket?

I think it's incredibly concerning that pubs can open indoors and we can legally hug people again next Monday. The virus has clearly evolved over the last year and the new variants could cause massive illness and deaths within days of contact, maybe even as far as 1.9 metres apart. We could have horrifying scenes shown live on the news of bodies being lifted from restaurants within hours of opening and stories of children hugging their grandmas only for her to suddenly fall to the ground dead in front of them, traumatising them for the rest of their short lives until they too succumb to this demonic pandemic. We MUST all stay indoors at all costs and potentially never leave our houses if we want to live like we did in 2019 again.

 

I worry that death zone countries like India could be wastelands by Christmas, just acres of abandoned ghost towns like Chernobyl and that evil young Instagram influencers could go over and take selfies there only to bring the deadly variants back to the UK and cause total destruction across the country. The very air that we breathe could "test positive" and start contaminating even the double-Pfizer'd of us, burning through even the most expensive of face masks and leading to stampedes as we all try and run away from each other only to reach the other side of the planet and collide in the middle. Drivers of cars could slump over their wheels and motorway pileups could lead to huge petrol explosions, steadily growing until uniting into one massive blast that completely blows a hole in our planet and causes the great 'reverse bang' of our solar system, wiping out all life and the few survivors suffocating from lack of oxygen as they float around the vastness of empty space without masks. Millions of years could pass until Covid levels reduce to a safe amount and the evolution of our species from the tiny slugs that remain on this earth can start again, only reading about Covid in history books and old posts on Twitter, worshiping as a religion the mythical figure of a blonde, scruffy-haired man who sacrificed himself to try and save the world.

 

But I think as long as we keep washing our hands we'll be fine.