I have no faith in our government
SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)
- Thread starter Don't Kill Bill
- Start date
Sigh.
HoW CoNvEniANt
The world didn’t stop anyone from getting vaccines. They just agreed to let the distribution of vaccines be determined by the capitalist policies that the majority of countries, South Africa included, currently subscribe to. Which is what leads to countries like South Africa delaying the delivery of future doses, instead of sharing those surplus doses with nearby countries more in need. There’s a lot you can say about that but that’s obviously a separate discussion.
At the end of the day, South Africa is not suffering from a shortage of vaccines, and even if the full course of vaccines were handed out within the planned timeframe, there’s nothing to suggest that would have prevented the development of a new variant. So your argument amounts to nothing more than a misplaced tit for tat, rather than a sincere attempt to identify cause, effect and appropriate responses.
Let's see:
Has there been a history of racism? Yes
Has South Africa suffered because of it? Yes
As a result, do we have loads of dosh? No
Do vaccines cost money? Yes
Is SA trying to represent Africa as well as we can? Yes
Tell me, what is Africa's vaccination rate? Is it because we are all anti-vaxxers? Has the West hoarded vaccines?
Bloody hell, this isn't tit for tat. I'm not pro-Africa. Or anti-capitalism. I'm just saying Africa deserves an apology. Not from you buddy. From the world.
But, this we all know. And I'm not going to take on this role of fighting for Africa. I don't belong here anyway.
I totally get those concerns but that’s why there needs to be support in data gathering etc when announced to incentivise. You’d hope SA is now getting access to lots of external resources and expertise which they wouldn’t have gotten had they kept quiet. Keeping it secret doesn’t do anyone any good.
Guardian reporting they think we could have hundreds of reported cases in the U.K. within days. What does give me hope is every article I read contains an expert saying we won’t know for definite until a few weeks but it could genuinely be milder. We’ve never had that with other variants I don’t think?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-advisers-brace-confirmed-omicron-covid-cases
I’ve a horrible feeling that the less virulent scenario is a combination of South Africa having such a young population and wishful thinking. You never know though…
I heard a cool (and plausible) biological rationale for why a much more transmissible variant could be less dangerous. Vaccinations trigger lots of IgG but little or no IgA. So a variant that preferentially reproduces in the upper airways could avoid a lot of the immune response and would also be more transmissable (higher viral load in snot, sneezes, salivary droplets etc) but would relatively spare the lungs/kidneys/coagulation pathways etc so causes less of the damage that ends up hospitalising people.
I feel we should do that anyway, not because of covid, just because.
More, more, more, Vaccinations.
You taking me to Sweden too? I’ll get the bags packed..Does this mean you're au fait with rules?After any advice.
Person in household tested positive by PCR Saturday so I went for PCR and had negative result/ok today.
Kept completely separate since (one up, one down), I'm also double jabbed.
Live in Wales, I'm due to fly to Sweden tomorrow, know of any reason I can't? From Govt websites, I think I'm ok as suggests self isolation not needed due to double jabbed (never mind a negative PCR) but can't find anything definitive re overseas travel
@Deery .. as you in convo too
Ohhh you naughty boyThe boxing ring, I hope
Sadly I think you’re right. Hospitalisations in Guateng which is the hotspot are going up:
135 7 day average three weeks ago to 535 now:
https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z...ts/daily-hospital-surveillance-datcov-report/
Wall Street Journal article saying this matches the rise in previous waves. Patients do appear to have less severe disease but an alarming number are under the age of 2 - however the data size is still small and too early to make any conclusions:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/omicro...izations-in-south-africa-hot-spot-11638185629
Bloomberg article saying similar about under 2s but also suggests vaccinations are protecting against severe disease:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-up-10-of-hospital-cases-in-omicron-epicenter
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There was always going to be a rise in hospitalisations associated with that sort of dramatic exponential growth. Even if the CFR for Omicron is a fraction of Delta’s.
Thinking about it, working out the denominator is going to be an absolute cnut. I think I read somewhere that the positivity rate is already >30%. So they’ll be missing an absolute shit-load of cases. With the UK announcing that all the recent restrictions will be released if omicron is less virulent than delta there’s some very tricky and very consequential calculations to be done over the next couple of weeks.
I’ve posted the link already..just days before the new variant was confirmed South Africa asked J&J to stop sending vaccines as it had enough. It’s really not the job the U.K. to get the South African population to get vaccinated just like it’s not the job of Germany to get Americans to take up the vaccines.
in fact I’m certain if foreign countries started trying to encourage the citizens of other countries to get vaccinated we’d see complaints and an increase in conspiracy theories or talk about colonialism returning or the USA trying to play world police or Russia/China trying force its way onto others.
The only assistance western or wealthier nations can offer comes in the form of researching the new variant and that I’m sure they will do as it’s in our own interest.. but obviously it takes time. People have to accept that with every new outbreak there will be an element of each country first taking care of itself in the immediate uncertainty that follows
So they are reducing the booster time down to 3 months - that bit I can understand.
What about if you have recently had covid though? Do you still wait the recommended 28 days before you can have the booster anyone know?
Might be too early to ask mind I get that.
What about if you have recently had covid though? Do you still wait the recommended 28 days before you can have the booster anyone know?
Might be too early to ask mind I get that.
It's been a nightmare just getting ME done (especially with the changes in tests for when I come back) never mind you too!
Sorry. I'll take a pic of something for you.. male or female?Been googling stuff all day, THINK I'm ok but will feel a lot better when on plane.
Under 2s?? Under 2-year-olds? That is feckin awful. I have two young kids...
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I'm afraid the only way we can reach our vaccination target is to make it mandatory. And that's really going to upset many over here. I'm all for it.
Yeah. 10% of admissions have been under the age of two.
Yeah get a pic of something for me, enjoy your holidays mateIt's been a nightmare just getting ME done (especially with the changes in tests for when I come back) never mind you too!
Been googling stuff all day, THINK I'm ok but will feel a lot better when on plane.
Fecking hell.
A lot of air freight travels in the hold of tourist flights.
Seems like it’s much more transmissible than previous variants
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59465983
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59465983
Also sounds like very mild symptoms/none at all.
Same as previous variants when it comes to sports teams outbreaks. Vast majority get off lightly.
Alright Debbie Downer
Travel round the country following this shit team we are all meant to follow, give me some hope!
Isn’t this best case scenario, and potentially our only way out of crisis mode (if true)?
From a purely observational perspective I’m fascinated to see how it pans out when it takes hold in western countries.
I think it’s still too early in its lifecycle to know how dangerous it is. Even in Africa where it was identified and taken hold it hasn’t really been long enough since the first patients were infected to know if it is going to kill many of them?
Then you have the African demographic which is younger with much fewer obese, then you have the low vaccination numbers and it’s virtually impossible to infer anything about how it might effect wester countries other than the likelihood that it’s going to spread like wildfire.
Ah, that makes sense.
Yeah, exactly. Plus it can be a lot less lethal than Delta but if it’s more transmissible and evades previous immunity (even partially) it can still end up causing overall higher mortality.
Basically, you can see why everyone is shitting themself and it’s going to be really difficult to know when you have enough data to make confident decisions about next steps.
Having said all that, there’s still a slim chance this is all a big fuss about nothing. Which would be awesome.
Wtf, this is farcical. No way am I getting jabbed every 3-months
I don’t think yer man understands the word minimum. He definitely does not recommend everyone gets one every 3 months.
He halved the min rec time for a booster from 6 months to 3 months - not ideal mate, I've been to 3 pharmacies today and the waiting list for a booster is 3-weeks long. Logistically it's going to be a shitshow managing that
They’re not recommending a booster every 3 months. They’re recommending a single booster, 3 months after the first two doses.
Nobody, anywhere in the world, has any idea how soon any more doses will be needed after that third one. Or if any more doses will be needed.
EDIT. Jesus. The replies to that tweet. So much stupid.
I see, thanks!
I wonder whether people will consider waiting until they hear whether this will evade the current vaccines before getting a booster? If it ain’t going to work, might as well for the new vaccine. If it does work, it’s just a few weeks which is probably the waiting time anyway.
Yeah, but he doesn't recommend more than one booster (at least in that video clip)
edit: sorry for adding to multiple answers - hadn't refreshed page