International News Covid-19 .....

[Tomox]

I think I read somewhere that once you have the basis of the vaccine, it’s no so difficult to amend it in line with any new strain of the virus, which is good news. In fact I think one company (forget the name) have said it can be done within 10 weeks.

I suppose my concern with this is what is the long term goal here? If it’s to wait until the rest of the world is vaccinated then how long will that be? And if that is the case then will we just get trapped into a cycle of locking down each winter and then gradually opening up again in the spring/summer…and then locking down again every time a new strain is detected?

 

[Oxymoron]

Recently, Australian citizens in India were immediately banned from returning under any circumstances which caused remarkably little kerfuffle - imagine Britain doing that?

I can imagine Britain doing it along with the petitions, legal challenges and protest marches that would follow.....

 

[chuckbert]

I think I read somewhere that once you have the basis of the vaccine, it’s no so difficult to amend it in line with any new strain of the virus, which is good news. In fact I think one company (forget the name) have said it can be done within 10 weeks.

I suppose my concern with this is what is the long term goal here? If it’s to wait until the rest of the world is vaccinated then how long will that be? And if that is the case then will we just get trapped into a cycle of locking down each winter and then gradually opening up again in the spring/summer…and then locking down again every time a new strain is detected?

Yep - that’s how the flu vacc works. New one every year. The mRNA vaccine tech used in Pfizer-bioNtech and modeRNA is pretty quick to modify. The mRNA tech was actually invented as personalised immunotherapy for cancer, to have a vaccine that helps a patients body attacked multiple aspects of a cancer. To be applicable on a patient-to-patient basis it has to be easily and rapidly adjustable.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Recently, Australian citizens in India were immediately banned from returning under any circumstances which caused remarkably little kerfuffle - imagine Britain doing that?

Half every 'news program' taken up with interviews with moaning pensioners, influencers and business executives all of whose lives are too important to be inconvenienced.


I'm thinking of campaigning to have new welcome signs at every port of entry: Welcome to England, Wales, Norn Iron & Scotland*, where you can still hear the whining years after the industry went south"

* Obvs the country names would be removable in order of national disintegration to reduce the costs over the next decade; austerity-friendly.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I think I read somewhere that once you have the basis of the vaccine, it’s no so difficult to amend it in line with any new strain of the virus, which is good news. In fact I think one company (forget the name) have said it can be done within 10 weeks.

I suppose my concern with this is what is the long term goal here? If it’s to wait until the rest of the world is vaccinated then how long will that be? And if that is the case then will we just get trapped into a cycle of locking down each winter and then gradually opening up again in the spring/summer…and then locking down again every time a new strain is detected?

I think the point is to be led by the scientists rather than sticking to dates you came up with months ago just because you don't want people to stop liking you. I'm not sure we know that much about the Indian variety yet though I've seen some hopeful bits about the chances of the vaccine being able to deal with it.

 

[Berliner]

Numbers in the UK are so low now that it shouldn't be a huge issue to trace and isolate cases, wherever they come from and whatever the mutation.

In Germany, for example, last summer showed the then fairly new test and trace system at its best. There was an outbreak in Berlin, for example, where a Romanian door-to-door priest (yes, really) was found to be a COVID superspreader and infected 80 people across Berlin. Houses were put on full lockdown, contacts were traced and isolated, and the outbreak was stopped. Ditto the outbreak among hundreds of meatpacking workers at the Tönnies plant. Then things went doo-lally in October, the system was overwhelmed and couldn't cope anymore.

So you would think that Test and Trace should work at this point, provided of course it hasn't been outsourced to a pal with absolutely no experience in the field. Wait, what? Oh...

 

[chuckbert]

Maybe this explains it all

 

[Oufcrealist]

Maybe this explains it all

That's a real Aussie attempt at getting the message across, fair play.
Can see it being done here now with Boris holding the syringe and a 'give the prick a go' caption!!

 

[Yellow There!]

'Give the prick a go' is what Carrie Symonds thought when she started going out with Boris Johnson

 

[TL@69]

'Give the prick a go' is what Carrie Symonds thought when she started going out with Boris Johnson

Michael gove alleged to have said it to Carrie Symonds on the ending of their affair.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Michael Gove had an affair with Carrie Symonds?

 

[Oufcrealist]

I see Boris is saying he's anxious about the Indian variant. He is going to be prudent and cautious in the days ahead. Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted!! Unbelievable

 

[Essexyellows]

I see Boris is saying he's anxious about the Indian variant. He is going to be prudent and cautious in the days ahead. Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted!! Unbelievable

Imagine if we had closed the borders and locked people out, UK citizens who can legally enter the country.
Nobody would complain, protest or get angry would they?

Imagine if we had tried to remove people here illegally and mob rule took over......oh

Police release men from immigration van blocking Glasgow street

Ch Supt Mark Sutherland says the pair had to be let go to protect safety and public health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Far better to up the vaccination pace in the areas highlighted by test and trace........ and implement local restrictions if needed.

 

[SteMerritt]

Imagine if we had closed the borders and locked people out, UK citizens who can legally enter the country.
Nobody would complain, protest or get angry would they?

Imagine if we had tried to remove people here illegally and mob rule took over......oh

Police release men from immigration van blocking Glasgow street

Ch Supt Mark Sutherland says the pair had to be let go to protect safety and public health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Far better to up the vaccination pace in the areas highlighted by test and trace........ and implement local restrictions if needed.

Imagine... Imagine... You aren't bloody John Lennon you know.

 

[holdsteady]

Imagine if we had closed the borders and locked people out, UK citizens who can legally enter the country.
Nobody would complain, protest or get angry would they?

Imagine if we had tried to remove people here illegally and mob rule took over......oh

Police release men from immigration van blocking Glasgow street

Ch Supt Mark Sutherland says the pair had to be let go to protect safety and public health.

www.bbc.co.uk

Far better to up the vaccination pace in the areas highlighted by test and trace........ and implement local restrictions if needed.

Or just make them isolate as soon as they got off the plane rather than give them five days to come back and spread it?

We are about to find out how lucky Boris Johnson is, if the vaccine works against this then he has dodged a bullet, if not then he has fucked the country up when it was just getting back on its feet, has to go and will go down as the worst prime minister this country has ever had. Let’s hope he finds a four leaf clover or something.

 

[TL@69]

We have a reactive government when we need a proactive one& don’t mention the vaccine because that was the Jenna institute being proactive, they had the vaccine while this government was going to “ take it on the chin”

 

[Tomox]

Some reassuring news amongst all the reports on the Indian variant.

'Prof Robert Dingwall, a scientist on the government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said it seemed people who have been vaccinated "have only a very low risk of infection" from the Indian variant - and infection was "likely to be mild".
He said it "seems to be slightly more transmissible" than the UK and South African variants and could become the dominant variant in the UK.
"The consequence of this would be a greater number of mild illnesses with little risk of a surge in hospitalisations or deaths,".

 

[Oxymoron]

Prof Dingwall aserts that any statements attributed to him are his personal opinion.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1393112873342275585

 

[Essexyellows]

Australia go "hard" and people are complaining.

"The Australian government announced the flights following an outcry over a three-week ban on all arrivals from India - a country dealing with one of the world's largest outbreaks of coronavirus.
But critics have said the proposed rescue effort is too small and excludes most Australians stuck in India. They've called on the government to allow more commercial airlines to fly from India to Australia."

Covid: First Australian repatriation flight from India lands in Darwin

Many of the intended passengers on the repatriation flight were barred after positive Covid tests.

www.bbc.co.uk

For context, 50% of the first flight weren`t allowed to travel as they failed the boarding checks

 

[chuckbert]

Australia go "hard" and people are complaining.

"The Australian government announced the flights following an outcry over a three-week ban on all arrivals from India - a country dealing with one of the world's largest outbreaks of coronavirus.
But critics have said the proposed rescue effort is too small and excludes most Australians stuck in India. They've called on the government to allow more commercial airlines to fly from India to Australia."

Covid: First Australian repatriation flight from India lands in Darwin

Many of the intended passengers on the repatriation flight were barred after positive Covid tests.

www.bbc.co.uk

For context, 50% of the first flight weren`t allowed to travel as they failed the boarding checks

The amount of complaining has been remarkably little, mostly based around opposition MPs trying to score points.