SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

tombombadil said:
Well, that gives hope for immunity, i guess. Does that mean those who have recovered should be lower priority for vaccinations?
Click to expand...

Possibly I guess but it was a very small sample size (and I haven't read every word - assuming I'd fully comprehend it all) and it might be easier just to vaccinate everyone anyway.
 
Last edited:
Woken up this morning and can’t smell anything. Everything else seems fine, I can taste things. Can you lose your sense of smell from anything else? Kids have been out of school for 2 weeks already and I’ve not been anywhere apart from the supermarket or met anyone.

Edit - temperature is 36.5
 
Last edited:
Jimble said:
Woken up this morning and can’t smell anything. Everything else seems fine. Can you lose your sense of smell from anything else? Kids have been out of school for 2 weeks already and I’ve not been anywhere or met anyone apart from the supermarket.
Click to expand...

If you’re absolutely sure you’ve lost your sense of smell (also check if taste is affected?) and it’s not just a blocked nose from a head cold, then you should definitely get tested.
 
Jimble said:
Woken up this morning and can’t smell anything. Everything else seems fine. Can you lose your sense of smell from anything else? Kids have been out of school for 2 weeks already and I’ve not been anywhere or met anyone apart from the supermarket.
Click to expand...
Eesh. That's bad timing
 
noodlehair said:
It's not about a "middle ground". It's about people making idiotic assumptions from a position of complete ignorance, and then using them to cast judgement on other people, which there has been too much of going unchallenged in this thread at certain times. Don't get me wrong there's been a lot of good and informative discussion as well, particularly from people who know a lot more about the science than I do, but the ignorance when it crops up is particularly grating.

I'm not really sure what you mean by the rest of your post because, as I explained in the post you quoted, I have not broken any of the rules or guidelines and have stuck to them despite it being a huge and lonely personal struggle. I clearly wouldn't be doing that if I didn't think that was what I and people should be doing. Basically my whole life since March has been about managing a way through this and helping others to do the same. So I consider I have a right to challenge someone who makes stupid accusations against me just because they haven't even bothered to educate themselves before pointing their finger around.

The common problem I have found in this thread isn't what people think we should or shouldn't be doing, or people's different interpretations on the science or government. It's the people who just blatantly have no appreciation of what is actually going on, because presumably it hasn't really affected them and they aren't willing to stick their head above the trench and look.

When the schools were closed for months on end, it meant millions of people couldn't feed, support or educate their children. A situation that was not sustainable for more than a short period. It wasn't as simple as "it's wrong to open them again because covid". This thread was particularly annoying around that time. If you wanted schools to open you were some kind of right wing demon, or something.

Whenever the government change restrictions or move the goalposts without prior warning, it throws a lot of people into a black hole. People then react out of desperation. They don't for the most part react because they are just brazenly doing whatever the feck they like. No one wants to be fighting with all their belongings to try and catch the last train out of town. No one does that unless they are desperate and in a panic. It doesn't make them Hitler. If you announce at 4.30pm that you are quaranteening one of the largest cities in the world later that same day, then there is a 0% chance that some people wont panic and try to leave. Acting like that is unacceptable makes you the irresponsible one, not them.

The problem with the "wartime spirit" analogy is it doesn't really work. During the war things were shit for basically everyone. On Friday some people will be happily spending Christmas with their family as normal having been mildly inconvenienced by this year, while others will have an empty chair where their dad should be, and others will be so lonely and isolated due to the situation that they will take their own life. Showing empathy is not about finding a middle ground or even about what you think people should or shouldn't be doing, it's about understanding a situation and the human aspect of it, instead of acting like it's a maths puzzle and some of the numbers aren't behaving themselves.
Click to expand...
Yes, best post in the thread. Thank you!
The amount of judgment and high horse in this thread is astounding!!

reminds me of a friend who was all for staying in and saving lives and condemned anyone who dared stand in their nans garden against the rules to death, then soon as people could meet ‘officially’ was organising social distance poker parties ffs.

it’s as if peoples own dullness elevates then to a misjudged higher moral code
 
Jimble said:
Woken up this morning and can’t smell anything. Everything else seems fine, I can taste things. Can you lose your sense of smell from anything else? Kids have been out of school for 2 weeks already and I’ve not been anywhere apart from the supermarket or met anyone.

Edit - temperature is 65.3
Click to expand...
Well, normal body temperatures are either 98.6 F or 37 C, so I think you should check that again.
 
noodlehair said:
It's not about a "middle ground". It's about people making idiotic assumptions from a position of complete ignorance, and then using them to cast judgement on other people, which there has been too much of going unchallenged in this thread at certain times. Don't get me wrong there's been a lot of good and informative discussion as well, particularly from people who know a lot more about the science than I do, but the ignorance when it crops up is particularly grating.

I'm not really sure what you mean by the rest of your post because, as I explained in the post you quoted, I have not broken any of the rules or guidelines and have stuck to them despite it being a huge and lonely personal struggle. I clearly wouldn't be doing that if I didn't think that was what I and people should be doing. Basically my whole life since March has been about managing a way through this and helping others to do the same. So I consider I have a right to challenge someone who makes stupid accusations against me just because they haven't even bothered to educate themselves before pointing their finger around.

The common problem I have found in this thread isn't what people think we should or shouldn't be doing, or people's different interpretations on the science or government. It's the people who just blatantly have no appreciation of what is actually going on, because presumably it hasn't really affected them and they aren't willing to stick their head above the trench and look.

When the schools were closed for months on end, it meant millions of people couldn't feed, support or educate their children. A situation that was not sustainable for more than a short period. It wasn't as simple as "it's wrong to open them again because covid". This thread was particularly annoying around that time. If you wanted schools to open you were some kind of right wing demon, or something.

Whenever the government change restrictions or move the goalposts without prior warning, it throws a lot of people into a black hole. People then react out of desperation. They don't for the most part react because they are just brazenly doing whatever the feck they like. No one wants to be fighting with all their belongings to try and catch the last train out of town. No one does that unless they are desperate and in a panic. It doesn't make them Hitler. If you announce at 4.30pm that you are quaranteening one of the largest cities in the world later that same day, then there is a 0% chance that some people wont panic and try to leave. Acting like that is unacceptable makes you the irresponsible one, not them.

The problem with the "wartime spirit" analogy is it doesn't really work. During the war things were shit for basically everyone. On Friday some people will be happily spending Christmas with their family as normal having been mildly inconvenienced by this year, while others will have an empty chair where their dad should be, and others will be so lonely and isolated due to the situation that they will take their own life. Showing empathy is not about finding a middle ground or even about what you think people should or shouldn't be doing, it's about understanding a situation and the human aspect of it, instead of acting like it's a maths puzzle and some of the numbers aren't behaving themselves.
Click to expand...
Yep , I was doing my in laws shopping last week and saw a guy I know on the car park . He has been working from home and saved quite a bit of money and showed me his new car , he was upbeat about the whole thing really. I then delivered the shopping to my 77 year old mother in law who hasn`t been out since March with my 80 year old father in law who has Alzheimers and haven`t seen their grandchildren and great grandchildren since the weather got cold. My mother in law is really starting to feel it now. Both sides of the coin really .
 
Berbaclass said:
Interesting thread.

Click to expand...


Most interesting image from that thread was this one:

Ep_OCxWXcAAcRrG
 
noodlehair said:
It's not about a "middle ground". It's about people making idiotic assumptions from a position of complete ignorance, and then using them to cast judgement on other people, which there has been too much of going unchallenged in this thread at certain times. Don't get me wrong there's been a lot of good and informative discussion as well, particularly from people who know a lot more about the science than I do, but the ignorance when it crops up is particularly grating.

I'm not really sure what you mean by the rest of your post because, as I explained in the post you quoted, I have not broken any of the rules or guidelines and have stuck to them despite it being a huge and lonely personal struggle. I clearly wouldn't be doing that if I didn't think that was what I and people should be doing. Basically my whole life since March has been about managing a way through this and helping others to do the same. So I consider I have a right to challenge someone who makes stupid accusations against me just because they haven't even bothered to educate themselves before pointing their finger around.

The common problem I have found in this thread isn't what people think we should or shouldn't be doing, or people's different interpretations on the science or government. It's the people who just blatantly have no appreciation of what is actually going on, because presumably it hasn't really affected them and they aren't willing to stick their head above the trench and look.

When the schools were closed for months on end, it meant millions of people couldn't feed, support or educate their children. A situation that was not sustainable for more than a short period. It wasn't as simple as "it's wrong to open them again because covid". This thread was particularly annoying around that time. If you wanted schools to open you were some kind of right wing demon, or something.

Whenever the government change restrictions or move the goalposts without prior warning, it throws a lot of people into a black hole. People then react out of desperation. They don't for the most part react because they are just brazenly doing whatever the feck they like. No one wants to be fighting with all their belongings to try and catch the last train out of town. No one does that unless they are desperate and in a panic. It doesn't make them Hitler. If you announce at 4.30pm that you are quaranteening one of the largest cities in the world later that same day, then there is a 0% chance that some people wont panic and try to leave. Acting like that is unacceptable makes you the irresponsible one, not them.

The problem with the "wartime spirit" analogy is it doesn't really work. During the war things were shit for basically everyone. On Friday some people will be happily spending Christmas with their family as normal having been mildly inconvenienced by this year, while others will have an empty chair where their dad should be, and others will be so lonely and isolated due to the situation that they will take their own life. Showing empathy is not about finding a middle ground or even about what you think people should or shouldn't be doing, it's about understanding a situation and the human aspect of it, instead of acting like it's a maths puzzle and some of the numbers aren't behaving themselves.
Click to expand...

Let me just try and point to a specific reason for why a middle ground is not such a ridiculous notion::

They don't for the most part react because they are just brazenly doing whatever the feck they like. No one wants to be fighting with all their belongings to try and catch the last train out of town. No one does that unless they are desperate and in a panic. It doesn't make them Hitler.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree it does not make them Hitler. No-one thinks it makes them Hitler. I also don't think it means they are brazenly doing whatever they like. That's one extreme you invent to contrast against the other extreme, which ultimately makes for a disingenuous discussion. I don't try to mischaracterise your views and I think this kind of reductio ad absurdum comes quite close to doing that.

Can you understand why people made that choice out of desperation? Yes. Does that make it an acceptable choice? No. That's where you differ with other people. Because it is such a difficult choice that they were forced to make, you wouldn't encourage that choice, but you wouldn't criticise it. That's fine. Criticising it is also fine. Criticism is a legitimately useful tool in a society to help people make decisions in the best interests of wider society, which often involve making decisions that aren't in your own best interests. Criticising people does not mean they are demonising them.

The rest of my post was not aimed at you but aimed at the people you want to defend against that criticism. It is an obvious truth that millions of people have not agreed with the notion that making those sacrifices for the greater good of society for that length of time was in their best interests. You want to focus on the reasons that can explain it, but it is a legitimate view that there are few reasons that justify that disregard of social responsibility in special moments. Those few reasons do not apply to the majority of those people the majority of the time.

If you speak to them about it they're open about that. You can see the same sentiment in this thread. They do not believe in that idea of self-sacrifice for the society in this moment, because they now distrust the society and the people in charge so much that it does not seem like a worthy sacrifice. I also consider that a legitimate view. But it is not one I agree with, it is one that presents clear danger to society, and it's one that I feel is useful to criticise.

So my point was when you see people criticising others, you think that can only be because they don't see the struggle, they think it's easy. That isn't true. It is because expect them to make the right choices when faced with hard decisions. More so now than normally. If they do not, they make things worse. That's an unfortunate responsibility that they are given, but it's a responsibility all of us are given. It's part of being in a society. If they don't want that societal responsibility then they can live with more freedom but without the protection that society provides.

During wartime there were many different struggles. People at home vs people on the front line. People in the bombing areas vs. people in nice quiet villages. There are always injustices in the world, some random, some a factor of the social structure. The experience my granny had on one side was wildly different from the experience my grandad had on another. They both carried that experience with them through the rest of their lives. So yes it is true that some people struggle more than others, that doesn't change the fact we are forced to live with the responsibilities put upon is on our situation. Choosing not to in war hurts other people. Choosing not to now hurts other people. It would be better if the environment didn't force that responsibility on us but it does. We can't just pretend our choices don't have that impact right now.

I will just say I find it very cruel to label someone as unempathetic and inhuman because they don't take your view on the world. I agree with you that everyone has their blindspots as to the struggles other people face. You have exposure to a lot of different struggles, but not all of them. I can absolutely guarantee you I have experienced and witnessed many struggles in this pandemic that you haven't, too. The fact that you think a different approach to tackling the problem does not mean you lack empathy, in my eyes, and I don't at all accept the implication in return. You can see the same broad struggle and disagree on the best way to solve the problems that are creating those struggles.
 
My partner tested positive on the 22nd after a routine test at the hospital. Her only symptoms so far are the loss of taste and smell and a little stuffy. She is 31 weeks pregnant as well which is concerning me but they were adamant that she is at no greater risk of getting seriously ill. I myself have no symptoms but im absolutely sure I'm at least carrying it we have been in close contact.

Pretty bad time to get it over Christmas but at least we knew before we went to my parents and possibly passed it to them. The asymptomatic transmission of this virus is scary.
 
golden_blunder said:
So basically not enough people able to work from home or staying at home, whilst only less than 70% are paying respect to this virus
Click to expand...

It's a mute for me that one, define essential. It's different in most peoples eyes. The one if you're worrying about respect of the virus is the self isolating percentage, this is people who have a higher chance of interaction or transmission with the virus and it's an extremely low number.

The encouraging statistics for me was hand washing and face coverings. There's a lot of chatter on here about face coverings not being worn (and surveys can never give a 100% reflection on society) but a 97% view on people wearing them is very high.
 
Brwned said:
Let me just try and point to a specific reason for why a middle ground is not such a ridiculous notion::



Yes I agree it does not make them Hitler. No-one thinks it makes them Hitler. I also don't think it means they are brazenly doing whatever they like. That's one extreme you invent to contrast against the other extreme, which ultimately makes for a disingenuous discussion. I don't try to mischaracterise your views and I think this kind of reductio ad absurdum comes quite close to doing that.

Can you understand why people made that choice out of desperation? Yes. Does that make it an acceptable choice? No. That's where you differ with other people. Because it is such a difficult choice that they were forced to make, you wouldn't encourage that choice, but you wouldn't criticise it. That's fine. Criticising it is also fine. Criticism is a legitimately useful tool in a society to help people make decisions in the best interests of wider society, which often involve making decisions that aren't in your own best interests. Criticising people does not mean they are demonising them.

The rest of my post was not aimed at you but aimed at the people you want to defend against that criticism. It is an obvious truth that millions of people have not agreed with the notion that making those sacrifices for the greater good of society for that length of time was in their best interests. You want to focus on the reasons that can explain it, but it is a legitimate view that there are few reasons that justify that disregard of social responsibility in special moments. Those few reasons do not apply to the majority of those people the majority of the time.

If you speak to them about it they're open about that. You can see the same sentiment in this thread. They do not believe in that idea of self-sacrifice for the society in this moment, because they now distrust the society and the people in charge so much that it does not seem like a worthy sacrifice. I also consider that a legitimate view. But it is not one I agree with, it is one that presents clear danger to society, and it's one that I feel is useful to criticise.

So my point was when you see people criticising others, you think that can only be because they don't see the struggle, they think it's easy. That isn't true. It is because expect them to make the right choices when faced with hard decisions. More so now than normally. If they do not, they make things worse. That's an unfortunate responsibility that they are given, but it's a responsibility all of us are given. It's part of being in a society. If they don't want that societal responsibility then they can live with more freedom but without the protection that society provides.

During wartime there were many different struggles. People at home vs people on the front line. People in the bombing areas vs. people in nice quiet villages. There are always injustices in the world, some random, some a factor of the social structure. The experience my granny had on one side was wildly different from the experience my grandad had on another. They both carried that experience with them through the rest of their lives. So yes it is true that some people struggle more than others, that doesn't change the fact we are forced to live with the responsibilities put upon is on our situation. Choosing not to in war hurts other people. Choosing not to now hurts other people. It would be better if the environment didn't force that responsibility on us but it does. We can't just pretend our choices don't have that impact right now.

I will just say I find it very cruel to label someone as unempathetic and inhuman because they don't take your view on the world. I agree with you that everyone has their blindspots as to the struggles other people face. You have exposure to a lot of different struggles, but not all of them. I can absolutely guarantee you I have experienced and witnessed many struggles in this pandemic that you haven't, too. The fact that you think a different approach to tackling the problem does not mean you lack empathy, in my eyes, and I don't at all accept the implication in return. You can see the same broad struggle and disagree on the best way to solve the problems that are creating those struggles.
Click to expand...
You forgot the stupid people who are too dumb to realise they are passing and spreading COVID but within the government rules but look down on others who break these rules but safely. That’s what gets to me more than anything I think, people’s thoughts of superiority while putting others down too stupid to realise what they’re doing
 
Compton22 said:
My partner tested positive on the 22nd after a routine test at the hospital. Her only symptoms so far are the loss of taste and smell and a little stuffy. She is 31 weeks pregnant as well which is concerning me but they were adamant that she is at no greater risk of getting seriously ill. I myself have no symptoms but im absolutely sure I'm at least carrying it we have been in close contact.

Pretty bad time to get it over Christmas but at least we knew before we went to my parents and possibly passed it to them. The asymptomatic transmission of this virus is scary.
Click to expand...
Your wife did have symptoms though, loss of taste and smell is a common one.

I wish you both good luck and hope you both recover quickly.
 
The US has vaccinated (or given first jab) to over a million people whilst we're at 400k or something despite starting a week before.

How many did we order again?
 
golden_blunder said:
Your wife did have symptoms though, loss of taste and smell is a common one.

I wish you both good luck and hope you both recover quickly.
Click to expand...

I meant myself having no symptoms, I must have it right because her symptoms started a few days ago and I have had no symptoms. It's possible I could have been asymptomatic and passed it on to her. She doesn't really go anywhere.
 
Zlatan 7 said:
You forgot the stupid people who are too dumb to realise they are passing and spreading COVID but within the government rules but look down on others who break these rules but safely. That’s what gets to me more than anything I think, people’s thoughts of superiority while putting others down too stupid to realise what they’re doing
Click to expand...

This is very true. A lonely/depressed university student who isn't coming into contact with any vulnerable people for months on end having a beer with another student in their flat is less risky than a care worker going to a packed shopping centre on Xmas eve. However the rhetoric surrounding the former would be almost wholly derogatory (the comments on young people in general have been pretty awful) whilst the latter being responsible for a dozen deaths in the new year wouldn't get a mention.
 
Compton22 said:
I meant myself having no symptoms, I must have it right because her symptoms started a few days ago and I have had no symptoms. It's possible I could have been asymptomatic and passed it on to her. She doesn't really go anywhere.
Click to expand...
Gotcha. Good luck fella
 
Zlatan 7 said:
You forgot the stupid people who are too dumb to realise they are passing and spreading COVID but within the government rules but look down on others who break these rules but safely. That’s what gets to me more than anything I think, people’s thoughts of superiority while putting others down too stupid to realise what they’re doing
Click to expand...

I just don’t agree with the assessment that any of these people are stupid. These are difficult decisions to weigh up and it is natural to be resentful that we are forced to make these decisions for reasons outside of our control, and it is reasonable to question which rules to follow given the government is not just incompetent but corrupt.

I just think in that scenario people have to judge their own choices by how it impacts on other people. Is the thing I’m doing so important that it justifies putting others at risk? Very few decisions we make in every day life meet that threshold, so cognitive dissonance kicks in. Then we make unwise choices. That isn’t stupidity but other kinds of human frailty, IMO. But it is necessary to call people up on their flawed decision making because otherwise we live in a world that is unreasonably dangerous and compromises too much on society’s wider priorities.

You can’t reject social responsibility while demanding social respect and support. They are part of the same package, you can choose none of them or all of them, but picking and choosing is selfish and irresponsible. That is judgmental and also an accurate judgment. We all do things that are selfish and irresponsible. And it is socially useful that other people point it out, even if we find it unpleasant.

However I agree with you that some people do it purely for mean spiritedness. They don’t like people and they like criticising people. Old curmudgeons have always been about and it has been easy to become one of those as people became more isolated. There is a stereotype for a reason, social disconnection makes it easier. And people in general are hypocrites. Those are all fine judgments too.

The main thing I’m arguing against is the notion that you shouldn’t judge others because it is not empathetic. Judgment has always been a part of society as a tool for social conditioning. In emergencies it plays a bigger role. You can feel what other people feel and still judge their actions critically. Whether you should or not depends a lot on your perspective but it isn’t in and of itself wrong.

Or put simply, the fact we don’t like that people judge our actions critically is not a good reason for it not to happen. Many things we don’t like are necessary for our existence.
 
F-Red said:
It's a mute for me that one, define essential. It's different in most peoples eyes. The one if you're worrying about respect of the virus is the self isolating percentage, this is people who have a higher chance of interaction or transmission with the virus and it's an extremely low number.

The encouraging statistics for me was hand washing and face coverings. There's a lot of chatter on here about face coverings not being worn (and surveys can never give a 100% reflection on society) but a 97% view on people wearing them is very high.
Click to expand...

If that is the same survey I was given on the doorstep while they swabbed me then I would not put a lot of stock in the data about face coverings. It isn't a measure of how often they wore face coverings, it doesn't define the parameters for acceptable use, and it is especially prone to the social desirability bias. We know 97% of people do not wear it just by walking about the town centres. All that tells you is 97% of people say they do when they're asked on the spot and they are pressured to give the answer the interviewer wants to hear. There is a reason why many, many fewer people say they don't wear face coverings when it is asked anonymously.
 
Brwned said:
I just don’t agree with the assessment that any of these people are stupid. These are difficult decisions to weigh up and it is natural to be resentful that we are forced to make these decisions for reasons outside of our control, and it is reasonable to question which rules to follow given the government is not just incompetent but corrupt.

I just think in that scenario people have to judge their own choices by how it impacts on other people. Is the thing I’m doing so important that it justifies putting others at risk? Very few decisions we make in every day life meet that threshold, so cognitive dissonance kicks in. Then we make unwise choices. That isn’t stupidity but other kinds of human frailty, IMO. But it is necessary to call people up on their flawed decision making because otherwise we live in a world that is unreasonably dangerous and compromises too much on society’s wider priorities.

You can’t reject social responsibility while demanding social respect and support. They are part of the same package, you can choose none of them or all of them, but picking and choosing is selfish and irresponsible. That is judgmental and also an accurate judgment. We all do things that are selfish and irresponsible. And it is socially useful that other people point it out, even if we find it unpleasant.

However I agree with you that some people do it purely for mean spiritedness. They don’t like people and they like criticising people. Old curmudgeons have always been about and it has been easy to become one of those as people became more isolated. There is a stereotype for a reason, social disconnection makes it easier. And people in general are hypocrites. Those are all fine judgments too.

The main thing I’m arguing against is the notion that you shouldn’t judge others because it is not empathetic. Judgment has always been a part of society as a tool for social conditioning. In emergencies it plays a bigger role. You can feel what other people feel and still judge their actions critically. Whether you should or not depends a lot on your perspective but it isn’t in and of itself wrong.

Or put simply, the fact we don’t like that people judge our actions critically is not a good reason for it not to happen. Many things we don’t like are necessary for our existence.
Click to expand...
I agree with probably all of your post, and boy can you type :D

My gripe wasn’t against judging others but more the people who judge others while having no sense of self awareness. See my post earlier about the guy who spends most of the time criticising people for breaking rules and killing people then holds a socially distanced poker party
 
I travelled 6 and a half hours over the Scottish Border to get home to see my family.

And I'm glad I did, as my brother lay there getting 'bagged' through his trachy to keep him alive. His smile when he opened his eyes and saw me, proved I made the right decision.

Some risks are worth taking.
 
bsCallout said:
That's quite something . .
Click to expand...
It is when the situation in London is about to become an absolute shitshow apparently...

In an email to clinicians on Tuesday night the deputy medical director, Victoria Jones, told staff their modelling of expected Covid demand was going to get a lot worse in coming days. Dr Jones told staff: “The actual admissions are mirroring the predictions in the model very closely and if this continues our number of Covid inpatients will have tripled by Monday compared to a fortnight ago.
Click to expand...
 
Zlatan 7 said:
I agree with probably all of your post, and boy can you type :D

My gripe wasn’t against judging others but more the people who judge others while having no sense of self awareness. See my post earlier about the guy who spends most of the time criticising people for breaking rules and killing people then holds a socially distanced poker party
Click to expand...

Yeah I would just call people like that straight up dickheads
 
LARulz said:
The US has vaccinated (or given first jab) to over a million people whilst we're at 400k or something despite starting a week before.

How many did we order again?
Click to expand...

Anyone?

Is this a case of the US being more efficient? Having more doses?
 
So much of this is down to lack of central leadership
On a friday afternoon late about a few weeks ago we got a call saying we've got until the Monday afterwards to agree whether our surgery would vaccinate program for the older than 80s and ready to go within the week.

GP practices were initially told that even if they couldn't sign up that wouldn't be a problem because their patients would still be vaccinated (by other surgeries within the primary care network) but that turned out not to be true and practices signing up had priority

So we signed up. Visited the vaccination place. 3 small cubicles in a urgent care centre, one disabled toilet for cleaning in between patients on the 3rd floor between the 3 of them. Lifts we were told would need a thorough clean in between each patient, then after signing up we were told patient need observing 15 minutes after for anaphylaxis symptoms. Then we had to change our appt times as word went out that vaccine after thawing is only recommended for fridge temps for 3 days rather than 5.

Sourced covid marshalls to guide patients on the day. Logistical nightmare because of anticipated parking trouble too. Appointments sent out, comms sent to care homes etc, went on radio station to advertise vaccine, allay/answer concerns in punjabi, gujrati, hindi, english. A few days prior - told shipment issue and no vaccine, please tell your patients not to come.

Having had to rearrange everything now after all that for first week of January and contact all patients ourselves.

In the mean time I am seeing patients face to face who despite symptoms are ever increasingly are testing positive for covid later on despite having symptoms so I'm at risk because I'm examining throats of infectious patients.

All the while sent out dozens of messages to occupational health because I also work in hospital to get me a vaccination but no reply when I know senior managers, admin types who have minimal clinical consults have had it ahead of me. In addition, patient caseload and morbidity from covid and everything else increasing but our hospital trust currently working on black alert, OPEL 4 (meaning bed capacity challenged due to bed restrictions and high occupancy)

The fact that in a national emergency we are not having the army giving our vaccines en masse is beyond me with everything that is happening

P.S. Happy christmas everybody, look after yourselves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.