Covid Booster. Yes/No? *** The Covid Thread ***

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Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Psamathe »

reohn2 wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 7:55pm There are currently over 100 people dying in the UK from Covid!
Why are the government acting as if the pandemic is over or at least that the country's out of danger?
And a new variant found in the UK (though experts are not unduly concerned that it is spreading and on the increase)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/19/fears-grow-in-england-over-rise-of-new-covid-delta-variant wrote:Fears grow in England over rise of new Covid Delta variant
A newly detected coronavirus variant is on the rise in England, with the virus believed to be an offshoot of Delta.

According to a briefing from the UK Health Security Agency, released on Friday, “a Delta sublineage newly designated as AY.4.2 is noted to be expanding in England”, with the body adding that the variant is being monitored and assessed.

The report states that in the week beginning 27 September – the last week for which complete sequencing data was available – AY.4.2 accounted for about 6% of sequenced coronavirus cases and is “on an increasing trajectory”.

AY.4.2 contains two mutations in its spike protein, called A222V and Y145H. The spike protein sits on the outside of the coronavirus and helps the virus to enter cells.

However, Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, told the Guardian these mutations were not of particular concern. “A222V has been seen in other lineages of Delta,” he said. “It doesn’t have a really large effect on the virus.”

Gupta added similar mutations to Y145H had been seen in the Alpha variant and other variants. While these appear to have an effect on the binding between antibodies and the virus, Gupta said the effect was, at most, modest.

“But in my mind, these are not really significant mutations,” he said. “We need to look further at what the non-spike mutations are.”
Ian
Pebble
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Joined: 7 Jun 2020, 11:59pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Pebble »

the way I see many people dropping their guard as if the pandemic is something from the past - I will be having my booster the moment I am offered it.
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by reohn2 »

Hellbound
What do you mean by moving on?
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by reohn2 »

Pebble wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 8:04pm the way I see many people dropping their guard as if the pandemic is something from the past - I will be having my booster the moment I am offered it.
I agree on both counts.

It seems to me that when people in the UK get fed up of something,the pandemic restrictions in this case,they simply discard it,in this case masks and other safety restrictions.

IMO Johnson is incapable of any kind of leadership role his cabinet similarly so and the numptie element of the population just follow suit.

With winter just around the corner and potential flu and covid with it,my concern is if the NHS can cope.

I tire and fear a rudderless ship heading for the rocks on so mamy levels not just Covid! :evil:
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Psamathe »

reohn2 wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 8:50pm ....
With winter just around the corner and potential flu and covid with it,my concern is if the NHS can cope.
....
In my opinion NHS are currently not coping. They may be able to find a bed for the next Covid patient but many of the other disciplines have horrendous waiting lists. I was referred to NHS consultant 20 months ago as an urgent referral. I've been deteriorating since then and still have no NHS diagnosis and no NHS treatment. Got a useless ENT consultant and another hospital department decided he was not up to my case and ask I be transferred to somebody else and looks like I'm now facing minimum 12 months before an appointment!

NHS "coping" these days seems to be whether they can find beds for more Covid patients and completely overlooks the vast number of people suffering with little prospect of any care from NHS in the foreseeable future.

Ian
Pebble
Posts: 1934
Joined: 7 Jun 2020, 11:59pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Pebble »

reohn2 wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 8:50pm
Pebble wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 8:04pm the way I see many people dropping their guard as if the pandemic is something from the past - I will be having my booster the moment I am offered it.
I agree on both counts.

It seems to me that when people in the UK get fed up of something,the pandemic restrictions in this case,they simply discard it,in this case masks and other safety restrictions.

IMO Johnson is incapable of any kind of leadership role his cabinet similarly so and the numptie element of the population just follow suit.

With winter just around the corner and potential flu and covid with it,my concern is if the NHS can cope.

I tire and fear a rudderless ship heading for the rocks on so mamy levels not just Covid! :evil:
I just don't get it - the other day when parliament was sitting mourning the loss of the MP, it was as though the whole tory side of the house were sitting cheek by jowl with very few, if any wearing masks. Are they purposefully sending out some sort of message and why? I don't believe they are collectively stupid or unthinking, so whats going on, there can not be any political gain in covid worsening!

And considering the vast amount of people who have died unnecessarily due to their mishandling of the pandemic.... Do they just not get the loss mere mortals feel when their loved ones needlessly die. Is a stabbing worse than dying alone in a care home from a virus you need not have caught if the MPs had been a little more astute and caring in their duties.

And please don't get me wrong on this, my heart genuinely goes out to the family of David Amess, it must be truly horrible for them, and for what its worth I think he was probably a realy good person (people who care for animals score very highly with me) I just don't find this out pouring of grief from our soulless government to be very genuine.
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by reohn2 »

Pebble wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 11:41pm
I just don't get it - the other day when parliament was sitting mourning the loss of the MP, it was as though the whole tory side of the house were sitting cheek by jowl with very few, if any wearing masks. Are they purposefully sending out some sort of message and why? I don't believe they are collectively stupid or unthinking, so whats going on, there can not be any political gain in covid worsening!

And considering the vast amount of people who have died unnecessarily due to their mishandling of the pandemic.... Do they just not get the loss mere mortals feel when their loved ones needlessly die. Is a stabbing worse than dying alone in a care home from a virus you need not have caught if the MPs had been a little more astute and caring in their duties.
My bold
You don't?
Look at their leadership,then tell me thy're not stupid or unthinking!


These people are clever idiots who care nought for the ordinary wo/man on the street only for their own kind.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
pwa
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by pwa »

Hellhound wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 4:01pm
pwa wrote: 19 Oct 2021, 2:00pm You must have been listening to the wrong stuff. From the very beginning Chris Whitty and the like have been talking about how we will have to gather data to inform us on how long the vaccines will remain sufficiently effective, and if / when a booster will be a good idea. That has been a point of discussion in Government briefings ever since the vaccines first made an appearance. Another constant point of discussion has been whether the booster should be tweaked to take account of new variants. And there is nothing new in any of this. Have you ever had a tetanus jab? I've had quite a few over the years.
The nearest equivalent to a Covid jab that we are already used to is the flu jab, and that is annual.
From what I saw Witty couldn't make his mind up from one day to the next so I stopped watching any of the briefings well over a year ago now.I did what was asked,as I am sure 1000s did,and now it appears they have decided to move the goal posts.I had the two required vaccinations,did the self-isolating and mask wearing and for me it's time to move on.

The flu jab is voluntary if you are the age to qualify.They have made the Covid jab all but compulsory by introducing the so called Covid passport not that I've been asked to prove I've had the vaccine yet.If I could go back 8 months I wouldn't have bothered.
I confess that I don't understand your attitude. The line taken by Whitty about the possibility of boosters being required was always that they would study how immunity stood up in those who had been vaccinated, and make a decision based on that. That is what they have done. Immunity stands up quite well over time, much better than some had feared, but it does taper off and getting people to have a booster will reduce admissions into hospitals at a time when we need to keep hospitals working on other conditions. The point about the flu jab being annual is that flu is a bit like Covid in needing a top up vaccine. We were always told that this would be the case and I am struggling to understand why you are surprised about it. And when you get right down to what you are being asked to do, which is to pop down to a health centre or whatever, roll your sleeve up and have a tiny bit of discomfort for two seconds, then go back to what you were doing, it really is the smallest bit of inconvenience. If us doing that results in hospitals having a bit more space and time to deal with the backlog in work, let's do it.

You will, of course, do what you will do, but I suggest you consider the booster as something you do for society rather than just for yourself. It should help us keep hospitals open for folk who need heart ops, new hips or whatever, and it should reduce the need for restrictions on the way we live our lives.
Jdsk
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Jdsk »

pwa wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 6:02amYou will, of course, do what you will do, but I suggest you consider the booster as something you do for society rather than just for yourself. It should help us keep hospitals open for folk who need heart ops, new hips or whatever, and it should reduce the need for restrictions on the way we live our lives.
Well said.

Jonathan
Oldjohnw
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Oldjohnw »

The government has said they are not moving to Plan B. Which presumably means they are but, as ever, late.
John
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Oldjohnw wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:32am The government has said they are not moving to Plan B. Which presumably means they are but, as ever, late.
Plan B will be implemented just after the point at which Plan C is too late (or plan D maybe).

Of course all of that assumes that there is plan at all, rather than the current modus operandi which appears to be attempts to shape the answer to the question "What will the headlines be tomorrow?"
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by reohn2 »

pwa wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 6:02am I confess that I don't understand your attitude. The line taken by Whitty about the possibility of boosters being required was always that they would study how immunity stood up in those who had been vaccinated, and make a decision based on that. That is what they have done. Immunity stands up quite well over time, much better than some had feared, but it does taper off and getting people to have a booster will reduce admissions into hospitals at a time when we need to keep hospitals working on other conditions. The point about the flu jab being annual is that flu is a bit like Covid in needing a top up vaccine. We were always told that this would be the case and I am struggling to understand why you are surprised about it. And when you get right down to what you are being asked to do, which is to pop down to a health centre or whatever, roll your sleeve up and have a tiny bit of discomfort for two seconds, then go back to what you were doing, it really is the smallest bit of inconvenience. If us doing that results in hospitals having a bit more space and time to deal with the backlog in work, let's do it.

You will, of course, do what you will do, but I suggest you consider the booster as something you do for society rather than just for yourself. It should help us keep hospitals open for folk who need heart ops, new hips or whatever, and it should reduce the need for restrictions on the way we live our lives.
The voice of reason.Spot on!
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
reohn2
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by reohn2 »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:52am
Oldjohnw wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:32am The government has said they are not moving to Plan B. Which presumably means they are but, as ever, late.
Plan B will be implemented just after the point at which Plan C is too late (or plan D maybe).

Of course all of that assumes that there is plan at all, rather than the current modus operandi which appears to be attempts to shape the answer to the question "What will the headlines be tomorrow?"
And is what you get with mindless morons more concerned with headlines and soundbites than sound headworx.
The moronic lunacy of this government beggars belief daily!
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Psamathe
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by Psamathe »

I can understand increasing scepticism in the "official line" from Gov. Nothing to do with vaccine mistrust but rather that the "official line" is coming from a Government who have repeatedly lied, not followed their own advice, completely mismanaged the pandemic causing many thousands of deaths, repeatedly made bad and/or late decisions - basically a complete disaster. Add in that the supposed "Chief xxx Officers" are paid by the Gov. so whilst they can raise objections behind the scenes they are pretty well obliged to show public support for the Gov. policy. e.g.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-chief-nurse-dominic-cummings-ruth-may-daily-briefing-downing-street-a9562741.html wrote:Chief nurse dropped from Downing Street coronavirus briefing 'after refusing to back Dominic Cummings'
.

Would you trust these people? And if you wouldn't how do you decide you will for some things and not for others.

Not suggesting people should not get offered booster or 3rd dose vaccination but I can increasingly understand why some are questioning more and more suspicious.

Ian
gbnz
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Re: Covid Booster. Yes/No?

Post by gbnz »

Oldjohnw wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 9:32am The government has said they are not moving to Plan B. Which presumably means they are but, as ever, late.
Suppose at a certainl level, one's personal actions are of greater importance. Just as the lower socio economic groupings tend to be over represented in covid hospitalisations/deaths, they tend to die of cigarette, alcohol and junk food use, due to personal choice.

So one's personal actions matter. Suppose it's time to return to a "covid" approach I.e. give the shops, buses, trains and town a miss, take a booster shot asap, take a booster shot asap
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