Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[MikeH72]

It sounds a little backwards then if all of this is in aid of reducing spread is it not?

Instead of covid passports you could just make a negative test the requirement no? That way you eliminate the need for any chance of spread in large gatherings.

Just going on the thinking that the spread idea is not one person to another but a chain until it reaches someone it shouldn't, hence the r number. So a negative test would have more value than a passport that is essentially meaningless when it comes to infection?

If the end idea is just flashing a proof of vaccine about then that really doesn't solve the problem at heart , it just makes people more lax in controlling their own behaviour because the importance of a negative result is removed.

If that makes sense!

Yes exactly. If vaccine passports are brought in then we should be able to question the motives of this government without being shouted down as a conspiracy theorist or anything like that, as it clearly isn’t a helpful way of containing the virus and could actually be counter-productive. The option to provide proof of a negative test should at least always be there, for everything.

 

[BlueToff]

A lot of research would suggest mixing and matching may lead to a better anti body response mate: some general info here and links to research:

Which COVID Booster Should I Get? What to Know About Mixing Vaccines

Still need a booster? Thinking about getting a second? Here's what to know.

www.cnet.com

Weirdly I never asked what I got for my third dose, didn’t even think of it until someone asked me!

Pfizer saying today 3 doses of their vaccine boosts antibodies x25 in response to Omricon. Although they would say that, like.

 

[Seanjd]

It sounds a little backwards then if all of this is in aid of reducing spread is it not?

Instead of covid passports you could just make a negative test the requirement no? That way you eliminate the need for any chance of spread in large gatherings.

Just going on the thinking that the spread idea is not one person to another but a chain until it reaches someone it shouldn't, hence the r number. So a negative test would have more value than a passport that is essentially meaningless when it comes to infection?

If the end idea is just flashing a proof of vaccine about then that really doesn't solve the problem at heart , it just makes people more lax in controlling their own behaviour because the importance of a negative result is removed.

If that makes sense!

Yeah like I said, I think it’s largely an incentive to vaccinate and I think a negative test result would be more useful in stopping spread at events, but may have resulted in lower vaccine uptake. Who knows?

 

[Neiler]

Pfizer saying today 3 doses of their vaccine boosts antibodies x25 in response to Omricon. Although they would say that, like.

That was my first reaction to mate, they were very unclear on the protection of two doses against it, so it sounded and came across like a sales pitch for the third.

 

[Seanjd]

I think there's good signs with that. But you know, people - and people on here were guilty of it - scoffing at suggestions and calling people anti-vax etc doesn't help. The two can be mutually exclusive. And stuff has to be tried out in a controlled manner.

Pretty sure Vallance mentioned today that there's two more anti-viral pills in development that look very promising.

It's definitely the way forward. Obviously not saying don't get vaccinated.

Also, if this is the start of the end of COVID-19 being deadly (which the early signs suggest it might be but there's obviously way too long to judge) then are we really going to be insisting on future generations getting vaccinated against what could have become a common cold? Seems a bit mad, doesn't it, if we can have treatments out there that are basically over the counter pills or whatever.

I mean, there's no reason at all that there couldn't be. Cold and flu tablets, lemsip - they all battle the coronaviruses that cause the common cold. Why should this one be any different if the Omricon variant is indeed the start of it starting to mutate towards that.

Well we still vaccinate children en masse against the flu because it can be dangerous. It will probably look something like that in the future.

 

[Seanjd]

It sounds a little backwards then if all of this is in aid of reducing spread is it not?

Instead of covid passports you could just make a negative test the requirement no? That way you eliminate the need for any chance of spread in large gatherings.

Just going on the thinking that the spread idea is not one person to another but a chain until it reaches someone it shouldn't, hence the r number. So a negative test would have more value than a passport that is essentially meaningless when it comes to infection?

If the end idea is just flashing a proof of vaccine about then that really doesn't solve the problem at heart , it just makes people more lax in controlling their own behaviour because the importance of a negative result is removed.

If that makes sense!

And just as an aside to that, as far as I’m aware, vaccination does reduce spread.

 

[BlueToff]

Well we still vaccinate children en masse against the flu because it can be dangerous. It will probably look something like that in the future.

yes possibly, but with new variants etc it would have to be boosters every year unless treatments are developed - and they will be developed

 

[Ghost Rider]

And just as an aside to that, as far as I’m aware, vaccination does reduce spread.

It doesn't eliminate it though which still keeps the issue in hand. Otherwise you can argue all of these restrictions are not needed , as the vast majority of the population have the vaccine now.

As others have said, if everyone is vaccinated for the most part, who are we protecting other than a very small minority of patients, idiots aside. The two aren't going hand in hand, vaccine should remove the need for restrictions , not have us double down on them.

 

[BlueToff]

And just as an aside to that, as far as I’m aware, vaccination does reduce spread.

Well, it does if everyone is vaccinated yes.

I'm happy with either. I don't think vaccinations should be mandatory. So if people want to get a negative test to do something, or be vaccinated to do something, it doesn't matter to me. I don't feel unsafe being around people who aren't vaccinated - and I know 3 people who aren't, for whatever reason (I don't agree with their reasons). But I'm vaccinated. So I don't feel unsafe because I'm with them. And if I was at an event with them and they'd had to have returned a negative test to be there then it'd be fine too.

 

[COYBL25]

Can I still visit establishments such as the Raz?

If you`re a regular in there, particularly downstairs and you also drink the draught ale, you`ll have built up immunity to every known virus on the planet.

So, I`d say it`s a big fat YES.

 

[Seanjd]

yes possibly, but with new variants etc it would have to be boosters every year unless treatments are developed - and they will be developed

I think the flu vaccine is changed each year to tackle new strains and make it more effective etc.

Who knows how this will play out? If we need boosters, we need boosters.

 

[Seanjd]

Well, it does if everyone is vaccinated yes.

I'm happy with either. I don't think vaccinations should be mandatory. So if people want to get a negative test to do something, or be vaccinated to do something, it doesn't matter to me. I don't feel unsafe being around people who aren't vaccinated - and I know 3 people who aren't, for whatever reason (I don't agree with their reasons). But I'm vaccinated. So I don't feel unsafe because I'm with them. And if I was at an event with them and they'd had to have returned a negative test to be there then it'd be fine too.

Would you feel a bit like we’re pandering to the minority who won’t get vaccinated if they changed the rules so that you had to return a negative test to get in anywhere, regardless of vaccination status?

 

[BlueToff]

I think the flu vaccine is changed each year to tackle new strains and make it more effective etc.

Who knows how this will play out? If we need boosters, we need boosters.

A booster for every person every year for the rest of time...

 

[Seanjd]

A booster for every person every year for the rest of time...

A booster for every person who wants one (like current flu jabs) every year until the virus potentially changes and becomes less deadly. One booster a year is really not the end of the world if we can go about our daily activities as normal.

And this is coming from someone who passes out every time I go near a needle!

 

[BlueToff]

Would you feel a bit like we’re pandering to the minority who won’t get vaccinated if they changed the rules so that you had to return a negative test to get in anywhere, regardless of vaccination status?

they haven't changed the rules?

The rules in terms of vaccine pass or negative test are exactly the same as they were. It's just now they are making the COVID pass (which is either vaccine OR negative test result) mandatory for clubs, events etc. Before they weren't mandatory, they were just to the discretion of the venue.

And most places were doing them anyway. I went to 3 gigs at 3 different venues around the country last month and for each one I had to show my vaccine pass or negative test result for entry.