Although to be fair, it IS the failure by certain countries to bring transmission down to low levels that has allowed the virus to mutate into strains that can reduce the efficacy of the vaccines being produced. Likewise the richest nations blocking proposals to help developing nations increase their vaccine manufacturing capabilities is certainly not helping matters.

 

The UK is one of these countries. Countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, China are actually the heroes in this story..

 

So I think it is entirely fair to blame certain states, remembering that 'nobody is completely safe until everyone is safe'.

 

It depresses me that as a world we can barely cooperate on something that threatens us immediately, and yet something like Climate Change that is a lot more difficult to show the increasing impact of (and yet is a much greater threat to humanity's survival) will require much greater and concerted effort over the next few decades/

0 deaths in Scotland today.

 

Still a month til anything opens.

 

Anyone else frustrated with this overly-cautious approach now? Literally everyone I know irl is just breaking the rules now. Went upstairs to deliver a package to my neighbours over the weekend and they had friends over, chatting and laughing.

0 deaths in Scotland today.

 

Still a month til anything opens.

 

Anyone else frustrated with this overly-cautious approach now? Literally everyone I know irl is just breaking the rules now. Went upstairs to deliver a package to my neighbours over the weekend and they had friends over, chatting and laughing.

 

No not really, I mean patience with a lot of people is wearing thing (myself included) but a slow and steady approach is the way to go. And even then imo, I suspect some of the dates are going to get pushed back. Quite simply we are still not there in our vaccine rollout and have a massive third wave on our doorstep.

 

People will break rules regardless, always happens and always will. But if you just open everything up then we're literally going to be back at square one again. Obesity is definitely a factor in covid, so the hospitals are just going to be full still if we have another wave.

It peeves me a bit when people complain ‘nothing’ is open when schools are open. I’m very ok with this cautious approach, we have to see if anything being opened is having an effect. I’m in Wales and schools, garden centres and hairdressers are all open and we can travel within the country. Things are reopening but we don’t want to end up where we did after last Summer.

 

Why don’t you break the rules a little? Have someone over? You know whether you can trust someone. I had two friends over the other week, very spontaneous, they’ve just moved house and wanted to see my blinds. I work with one of them and the other is also a teacher so we’re being regularly tested and so we thought, why not? One of them I hadn’t seen in a year.

 

Not sure about Scotland but in England and Wales you can now meet in gardens and in larger numbers in public.

Yeah I’ve never had so many invites for this weekend! :lol: I think there are people who are taking the opportunity this time after having been more cautious when everything opened up last summer?

0 deaths in Scotland today.

 

Still a month til anything opens.

 

Anyone else frustrated with this overly-cautious approach now? Literally everyone I know irl is just breaking the rules now. Went upstairs to deliver a package to my neighbours over the weekend and they had friends over, chatting and laughing.

Theres been zero deaths on a bunch of mondays recently. Mainly because most of the registrar offices are shut on Sunday. It’s a useless measure

And also...

 

@1376482539431415808

 

Pretty astonishing stuff!

There's more good news from Scotland - where case rates (after an initial spike) following the reopening of schools have flattened out in younger age groups:

 

 

The data from Israel (most successful vaccine rollout in the world) shows that even with restrictions lifted the number of new cases has plummetted and remains low - gives hope for the UK to achieve similar outcomes in next month or so.

 

Things are going so well in Israel!!

 

The data from Scotland, given the vaccination rates of the over 50’s just really goes to show how much schools are responsible for spreading COVID and why their reopening shouldn’t be prioritised when it’s diametrically opposed to achieving zero Covid. Also shows that schools being closed over summer as they normally are was a big help in Scotlands near elimination last year

Yeah the cautious approach is definitely the right way to go else we'll be back in another lockdown quicker than you can say covid.

45-49 year olds now being offered the vaccine in Northern Ireland. Inching ever closer to me getting a prick.

France going back in the lockdown, looks like Germany might follow too.

 

Anyone catch the BBC News today? 80 year old woman in hospital with covid cos she wouldn't take the AstraZeneca vaccine and waited for the Pfizer one. Would she take it after having covid? Nope. Well done Macron!

45-49 year olds now being offered the vaccine in Northern Ireland. Inching ever closer to me getting a prick.

 

Got mine last week and I’m 38 :P

anyone looking for an analysis of the last year or so and is looking for some light-reading might be interested in this:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/...e-plague-island

So seems like vaccine passports ARE being rolled out in the UK and are being introduced pretty soon.

 

With less than 4,000 people testing positive daily (and that number is quickly decreasing) out of 66 million people, and 31 million people (and rising) vaccinated, and deaths/hospital admission numbers also falling off a cliff with every passing day I really can't see the need for domestic purposes anytime soon, let alone by the summer. Slippery slope and I'm pretty uncomfortable about it.

 

Thoughts?

 

It won’t work. They’ll throw money at one of their mates to sort it out and it won’t be successful and most businesses won’t want to take it on, at least not before everyone has had offer of vaccination. If young people get excluded because they haven’t even be offered the vaccine, they won’t make the money they’d hope to. The biggest issue is that they’ll waste billions of pounds on a system that won’t work.

 

 

Im for vaccine passports. They’re being discussed here too. Under current German rules I need to show negative tests to do anything that isn’t essential shops and while the rapid testing is free it’s not so great for spur of the moment stuff but fully jagged folks will be able to flash their vax proof instead which will help as we transition back into more normality. We would also exempt vaccine passport holders from quarantine requirements. That is pretty much the big reason I am firmly in favour. My sister is fully vaccinated and my parents have had their first dose so should get dose two by my birthday and if Scotland also exempts fully vaccinated folks from the quarantine hotels then my parents can finally come visit again and as we head towards later in the year my friends can visit and I will be able to get home as well.

 

If I need a special app in order to see my family and friends back home again you can bet your house I’m getting it.

If a negative test counts Then I think that’s fair enough for people who’ve not been offered the vaccine. I'm not hopeful any app will work going off our government past efforts but proof of vaccine/negative test could help us get back quicker and it’s only really a concern for people who refuse the vaccine/can’t be bothered taking a test.

So seems like vaccine passports ARE being rolled out in the UK and are being introduced pretty soon.

 

With less than 4,000 people testing positive daily (and that number is quickly decreasing) out of 66 million people, and 31 million people (and rising) vaccinated, and deaths/hospital admission numbers also falling off a cliff with every passing day I really can't see the need for domestic purposes anytime soon, let alone by the summer. Slippery slope and I'm pretty uncomfortable about it.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

I’m actually surprised at how it’s been stuck at 4-6000 infections daily for so long.

 

Not sure vaccine passport due to the fact it’ll be unworkable as businesses wouldn’t want restrictions on their ability to make a profit and people would just get fake passports. I’m all for hitting the jokers who refuse vaccines but then again who am I to tell people what to do!

I’m actually surprised at how it’s been stuck at 4-6000 infections daily for so long.

 

Not sure vaccine passport due to the fact it’ll be unworkable as businesses wouldn’t want restrictions on their ability to make a profit and people would just get fake passports. I’m all for hitting the jokers who refuse vaccines but then again who am I to tell people what to do!

 

I think that is largely down to the vaccines, it is surprising the infections have not massively creeped up. Really does seem to be having an impact on terms of reducing infections and stopping the transmission train.

 

Personally I have 100% for some form of covid passport (which will be proof of vaccine, negative PCR test or recent immunity). Helps companies be less liable for any outbreaks and projects confidence. I get the point about infections are so low but imagine if 25,000 people go to Ascot Races and one person has covid, it can spread like wildfire and create a mass outbreak. We don't know enough about the virus longer term or how long immunity lasts so I'm all for it. I'm not so sure of the ethics of having to make people pay for a test who haven't been offered a vaccine yet, seems a little unfair. But for the next 18 months, it seems really sensible and I'm sure it's the only way we're going to get back to some form of normality.