Current Affairs EU In or Out

[Jebus_lives]

And you can kinda understand how for the EU an attitude of "you can have it when we're done in Germany..." wouldn't really be viable. That's not to say that huge mistakes weren't made, of course.

No, it would be naive to imagine a situation where there would be an egalitarian approach to vaccination.

Im not suggesting either that the UK are in the wrong or should be singled out as an exception, for our vaccination programme. It's been successful thus far...and our pace will allow us to send the vaccines we purchased overseas (I'd hope at no increased cost).

 

[Bruce Wayne]

No, it would be naive to imagine a situation where there would be an egalitarian approach to vaccination.

Im not suggesting either that the UK are in the wrong or should be singled out as an exception, for our vaccination programme. It's been successful thus far...and our pace will allow us to send the vaccines we purchased overseas (I'd hope at no increased cost).

It does seem somewhat baffling really. You can see what happened at the Serum Institute, where a fire at a single plant seems to screw a whole bunch of countries that were dependent on it. We had a near flooding at the facility here in the plant in Wales, and you wonder why on earth so much is being put through so few facilities where an "act of God" can cause so much damage.

 

[Jebus_lives]

It does seem somewhat baffling really. You can see what happened at the Serum Institute, where a fire at a single plant seems to screw a whole bunch of countries that were dependent on it. We had a near flooding at the facility here in the plant in Wales, and you wonder why on earth so much is being put through so few facilities where an "act of God" can cause so much damage.

Precisely. We are being particularly ballsy considering how reliant we are on single site(s) to produce these vaccines.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Precisely. We are being particularly ballsy considering how reliant we are on single site(s) to produce these vaccines.

You're grateful that no terrorist or cybercriminal hasn't decided to do some damage aren't you?

 

[peteblue]

We had a positive influence on the EU over the years, and I'm sure would have continued to do so. Having said that, I kind of suspect that had Germany or France or the Netherlands acted independently they might have achieved similar results to us, but the point of the EU is that it tries to look after all members, not just have a dog-eat-dog where the strong look after themselves and the poorer nations are forced to feed off of scraps. I think that's an admirable goal, but it has unfortunately contributed to vaccinations across Europe being glacier speed.

No one argues that it was an admirable goal, but why did they waste an additional 3 months pratting around with contracts while the U.K. and USA didn’t ........

 

[edge]

No one argues that it was an admirable goal, but why did they waste an additional 3 months pratting around with contracts while the U.K. and USA didn’t ........

It goes deeper than that Pete they basically went 50/50 for vaccine orders on Germany/France companies so as not to give the German pharmaceutical industry an edge, look up the original vaccines orderd by the EU as there main source of vaccines think it was 300 million each.
it backfired spectacularly as the French company didn't infact have a vaccine ready.
They also warned several countries this week about closing there borders and restricting freedom of movement during a pandemic , whats that about ?
Also after some posturing the citizens of the EU are choosing not to take the Oxford version , the take up at some of the centre's is very low, that means people could now die, as vaccines are left useless on shelves.
I hope the UK helps the people of Europe/world out as time goes by as the sooner we get this under control the better for everyone.
Hopefully Spain and Greece as a matter of urgency as I want to go on holiday

 

[peteblue]

It’s also nice to see that the U.K. has been sending vaccines to its overseas territories such as the Falkland Islands...and using the military to transport and to give injections....

 

[Bruce Wayne]

No one argues that it was an admirable goal, but why did they waste an additional 3 months pratting around with contracts while the U.K. and USA didn’t ........

There was talk around the new year of the UK taking what has happened during the pandemic and significantly shortening the approval process for new drugs, which would be interesting.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Some good news at last, no moaning from me, less lorries on the road.

Brexit: Why Irish freight trade is avoiding Britain

Irish freight is being shipped directly to Europe to avoid Brexit bureaucracy.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Kurt.]

Some good news at last, no moaning from me, less lorries on the road.

Brexit: Why Irish freight trade is avoiding Britain

Irish freight is being shipped directly to Europe to avoid Brexit bureaucracy.

www.bbc.co.uk

Not all good I’m afraid , the port here is now like a ghost town. It’s only a small town and a lot of local people are employed both on the ferries and on the docks, these jobs are not very safe at the moment.

 

[peteblue]

There was talk around the new year of the UK taking what has happened during the pandemic and significantly shortening the approval process for new drugs, which would be interesting.

Bruce, these are just Eu excuses for their own failings. The U.K. has provided more vaccines than Germany, France, Italy and Spain combined. Just think about that for a minute. Eu politicians are desperate to undermine whatever the U.K. does, we’ve seen the lies, the sly digs at AZ, the suggestions that the U.K. isn’t doing things in a proper manner, purely to save face. So how come the USA has now delivered twice as many vaccinations as the whole of the EU, did they too play fast and loose with approvals...No, and neither did we. The EU has now compounded its original contract failings by deliberately undermining faith in the AZ vaccine, and Germany and France in particular should be ashamed of themselves. Even this week, Merkel stated she would not have the AZ because she is 66...digging a lot of holes, and many of them will be filled with people who refuse the vaccine......it’s criminal tbh....

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Bruce, these are just Eu excuses for their own failings. The U.K. has provided more vaccines than Germany, France, Italy and Spain combined. Just think about that for a minute. Eu politicians are desperate to undermine whatever the U.K. does, we’ve seen the lies, the sly digs at AZ, the suggestions that the U.K. isn’t doing things in a proper manner, purely to save face. So how come the USA has now delivered twice as many vaccinations as the whole of the EU, did they too play fast and loose with approvals...No, and neither did we. The EU has now compounded its original contract failings by deliberately undermining faith in the AZ vaccine, and Germany and France in particular should be ashamed of themselves. Even this week, Merkel stated She would not have the AZ because she is 66...digging a lot of holes, and many of them will be filled with people who refuse the vaccine......

This was in the UK Pete

UK to fast-track drug trials to boost post-Brexit life sciences

Companies will need to apply separately to register new medicines when Britain leaves EMA

www.ft.com

 

[peteblue]

This was in the UK Pete

UK to fast-track drug trials to boost post-Brexit life sciences

Companies will need to apply separately to register new medicines when Britain leaves EMA

www.ft.com

But what is the issue. Doing things quickly does not mean doing things badly.....any views on the USA v EU numbers?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

But what is the issue. Doing things quickly does not mean doing things badly.....any views on the USA v EU numbers?

Sorry, you responded to my post with a completely different point. Europe has made a mess of vaccinations, I don't think there would be anyone denying that. The US isn't out of the woods though as the latest data from Johns Hopkins suggests a decline in those wanting the vaccine to around 60-65%, which is some way short of the level Fauci has said need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. This is going to be a long haul I suspect.

 

[peteblue]

Sorry, you responded to my post with a completely different point. Europe has made a mess of vaccinations, I don't think there would be anyone denying that. The US isn't out of the woods though as the latest data from Johns Hopkins suggests a decline in those wanting the vaccine to around 60-65%, which is some way short of the level Fauci has said need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. This is going to be a long haul I suspect.

This anti-vaxer situation is difficult to understand tbh. For people of my age group, vaccines were given at school and there was no such thing as not wanting it. This needs to be played more as civic duty rather than a lifestyle choice. If people deliberately refuse a Covid vaccine and then actually catch the damn thing what then ? Are the rest of us supposed to just pick up a tab of tens of thousands of pounds because they couldn’t be bothered getting a £3 jab. I would make them pay for their own treatment and they should be informed of this when the jab is first offered. There is a time and a place for being ultra liberal, now is not that time...anyway this is really for the Covid thread......