Well Drakeford has announced that Wales won’t be completely restriction free on June 21st even if England is.

When they "restriction-free" does that literally mean that? As in none of this hassle with scanning aps when going into pubs or just no limits on numbers i.e. no rule of 6.

I’d probably say it’s just restrictions on numbers being lifted and it being a “choice” as to wearing masks, socially distancing etc.

 

I’d imagine that the track and trace app will still be in place with isolating if you develop symptoms still.

Over 5k new infections today - suspect this is the impact of indoor hospitality showing through, which was to be expected. The good news is the infections seem to be in the Under 40s but Christ, you get the feeling if we go mental on June 21st then it's going to be chaotic.

 

Are people not already going mental?

 

Don’t get why youd book a holiday at the moment anyway so like last summer find it hard to sympathise with those who have!

I’d probably say it’s just restrictions on numbers being lifted and it being a “choice” as to wearing masks, socially distancing etc.

 

I’d imagine that the track and trace app will still be in place with isolating if you develop symptoms still.

 

Yeah they really need to make it clearer (maybe they have and I've missed it, but doubtful knowing this government).

 

No point saying things like nightclubs can reopen without mentioning the added stings attached...

 

Are people not already going mental?

 

Don’t get why youd book a holiday at the moment anyway so like last summer find it hard to sympathise with those who have!

 

After the year everyone has it's not hard at all to see why people want a holiday, rightly or wrongly.

 

Everyone (well most people) accepted last year was off the cards but how many summers do we have to axe?

Just go on holiday then but pay for your quarantine after? I understand the year everyone has had everyone’s went through it but I find it hard to have sympathy when people book holidays as soon as restrictions end.

Holidays are expensive enough without an extra £2K for essentially living as a prisoner!

 

I agree however that people who do book to go away known the risks and have no grounds to complain if their country swaps colour whilst their away. I'm debating going away somewhere at the end of the month and know full well shit can quickly hit the fan.

Most "beach" holidays won't ever be on the Red list I suspect. The problem with holidays right now is the cost of private testing too, anywhere between £45 to £200.

 

Look at what happened with the Champions League final, held in Porto and at least 4-5 flights have had most people get the self notification app. Unless you're Gove of course who is now part of "pilot" scheme- what's the point in paying for a private test if you're just going to be asked to self isolate? The system they have is complete dross. If there is some form of vaccination certificate scheme between airlines and countries then it's fine, but the whole thing right now is just a mess, confusing and downright ridiculous.

Is it not £240 of tests if you arrive from an amber country? I thought you had to show proof of having bought two £120 tests from friends of Tories a list of government-approved providers on your arrival to England.

 

Of course private tests can be bought for like £50 and then here testing is free and accessible regardless of purpose or social security status.

Yeah it is insanely expensive to come back into the UK from an Amber country.

 

I would happily take the blacklisting mandatory quarantine in Germany if I could get into the UK without paying so far over the odds for tests. I can get a PCR test for 40€ round the corner from the house and I can spit at 5 different rapid test centres that are all free. Infuriating for me that it is so expensive to do things in the UK that are key to unlocking.

 

But then again, we also made it a requirement to have a negative test to do outside dining and that whereas the UK just let it be a free for all mass spreader event.

Not good.. :(

 

Oh fan f***ing tastic. *strikes off a trip home in September from the planner*

This is completely on Johnson. There was so much he could have done.

Welp, that's 2021 cancelled.

I don't think the PHE assessment is that bad, sure the vaccinate effectiveness is not as good but we'd have taken the same rate this time last year. The problem is one shot against the Delta/Indian variant isn't that great, so while our strategy paid off in winter/spring, it's a bit sketchy now until you get that second jab and the extra immunity kicks in.

 

Over 6k cases today too, could easily creep up to 10k next week. Just can't see a way June 21st happens until we get a bit further along with vaccines.

And apparently secondary schools are a hotspot for spread. I can’t wait to get back next week now.

And apparently secondary schools are a hotspot for spread. I can’t wait to get back next week now.

 

Does appear that way looking at the age spreads. I must say, getting rid of masks from school was ridiculous. I can imagine it is not great but that combined with dithering about with India just seem like two massive own goals right now.

Does appear that way looking at the age spreads. I must say, getting rid of masks from school was ridiculous. I can imagine it is not great but that combined with dithering about with India just seem like two massive own goals right now.

 

Mandating masks was only half the battle. Getting the kids to actually wear them when you can’t officially tell them to is a nightmare. And I’m not even convinced masks were enough. No effort whatsoever over the past 18 months has been put into to making schools safer and I’m now worried we won’t be able to get back to normal in September like I’d hoped, I won’t get my classroom back and I’ll be back 3 weeks before I get my second dose.

 

Luckily there is a better picture in Wales right now (we also still mandate masks) but that won’t stay that way for long at this rate.

I don't think the PHE assessment is that bad, sure the vaccinate effectiveness is not as good but we'd have taken the same rate this time last year. The problem is one shot against the Delta/Indian variant isn't that great, so while our strategy paid off in winter/spring, it's a bit sketchy now until you get that second jab and the extra immunity kicks in.

 

Over 6k cases today too, could easily creep up to 10k next week. Just can't see a way June 21st happens until we get a bit further along with vaccines.

 

Effectiveness of two doses is also in contention.

 

They found that in people who had been fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, levels of neutralising antibodies were more than five times lower* against the B.1.617.2 variant when compared to the original strain, upon which current vaccines are based.

 

Importantly, this antibody response was even lower in people who had only received one dose. After a single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, 79% of people had a quantifiable neutralising antibody response against the original strain, but this fell to 50% for B.1.1.7, 32% for B.1.617.2 and 25% for B.1.351.

 

B.1.1.7, the variant first discovered in Kent, UK (Alpha)

B.1.351, the variant first discovered in South Africa (Beta)

B.1.617.2, the newest variant of concern, first discovered in India (Delta)

 

Link

 

This is all for the Pfizer vaccine. Data for the Astra-Zeneca one won't likely come out for a few weeks or so as they're currently trying to get a lot of volunteers to study.

 

Hopefully the vaccines will at least be effective enough to prevent severe illness/death in most cases against the variant.

Edited June 4, 20214 yr by Envoirment

Effectiveness of two doses is also in contention.

 

They found that in people who had been fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, levels of neutralising antibodies were more than five times lower* against the B.1.617.2 variant when compared to the original strain, upon which current vaccines are based.

 

Importantly, this antibody response was even lower in people who had only received one dose. After a single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, 79% of people had a quantifiable neutralising antibody response against the original strain, but this fell to 50% for B.1.1.7, 32% for B.1.617.2 and 25% for B.1.351.

 

B.1.1.7, the variant first discovered in Kent, UK (Alpha)

B.1.351, the variant first discovered in South Africa (Beta)

B.1.617.2, the newest variant of concern, first discovered in India (Delta)

 

Link

 

This is all for the Pfizer vaccine. Data for the Astra-Zeneca one won't likely come out for a few weeks or so as they're currently trying to get a lot of volunteers to study.

 

Hopefully the vaccines will at least be effective enough to prevent severe illness/death in most cases against the variant.

 

Yeah it's weaker than the original, but it's still 60-65% odd vs the Delta variant with 2 doses, which everyone would accept. Essentially, we need the double doses, especially for the over 50s and then we need to make sure all adults are full vaccinated. This is where we are doing well against other countries as we should be able to get to herd through the general adult population.

 

Pretty sure I read the vaccines were being tweaked to the SA variant as that's the real blow for evading vaccines.