UK counts on vaccines, 'common sense' to keep virus at bay

Focusing almost exclusively on vaccines is not common sense; well maybe common but ....

Asking for common sense from the country that left the EU and has Johnson as PM? Hmm...

JoeintokyoToday  04:43 pm JST

...but they need to get close, otherwise their basket or trolly won't bash you in the back of the knees.... thank you for your understanding (in line)

RB- emphasis on vaccinations has little to do with health.

I find it interesting that despite the big spike, there have been relatively few deaths in the UK. US has not been so fortunate.

"common sense" ? .... Sadly a thing of the past in the UK.

And nitpicking on people not wearing masks in public or in parliament,when vaccination rates are so high in the UK, is just unnecessary.You can get Covid, jabbed or not,so what's the writer's point?

Perhaps that you're less likely to transmit Covid when wearing a mask, especially in a crowded place such as the House of Commons.

The common people of the UK didn't even have the sense to keep Bojo at bay, never mind Covid. One day the EU will have to come and pull their chestnuts out of the fire the Tory arsonists started.

While keeping the requirement for masks in crowded situations would probably have been helpful and not exactly a vast imposition in the short term (I hate the damned things but still wear one in shops etc.) the rest of the restrictions are not so necessary as they were and the country has to open up at some point.

The important figure at the start of the outbreak was the number of infections, now is the number of deaths. The infection rate is fairly high but the death rate is thankfully low and as full vaccination is approached will decline further. With vaccination this has become more akin to the annual flu (and no this disease is not just a flu) in that it is controllable.

Whether we should be reducing the checks in place on travel yet is perhaps more questionable as there still remains the risk of other perhaps more virulent variants developing and being imported.

Finish your sentence @Raw Beer. I'm intrigued.

"..rely on common sense" - another way of saying we haven't got a clue, but it doesn't matter 'cos it's your fault anyway.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson regularly appears in the packed, poorly ventilated House of Commons cheek-by-jowl with other maskless Conservative lawmakers...

And that means at least four times the number of jowls as Conservative lawmakers. Really can't believe the crass stupidity of thinking you can pretend a pandemic away like this. But then again, you see Boris in the room with Bolsonaro without a mask, and you realise that entitled idiots like this somehow think you can unicorn reality away, and if a near-brush with death doesn't bring you to your senses, nothing will.

Removing the legal requirement to wear masks in shops and on public transport was exceptionally stupid. So many people have become complacent now, The good news is the flu vaccination programme has started, I had mine a few days ago, this helps keep the numbers of winter hospital admissions down. Free to anyone over 50 or those with heart or respiratory problems.

zichi

Imagine how many millions have died, how many hundreds of thousands of people of very young to very old have long covid.

Yes, you have to rely on your imagination, as the figures do not support the exaggerated claims about this virus.

Vaccines are an incredibly powerful tool agains COVID, better than any other thing already developed (hopefully soon to be surpassed by better versions or treatments), but if one thing has become clear is that social distancing measures are still necessary until herd immunity is reached and transmission is slowed down enough.

Cases and deaths are inevitable, and complete eradication of the risk is not a realistic goal, but as the last part of the article says, measures have to be ready to be applied sooner and harder of what seems to be necessary in order for them to be opportune and effective enough. Relaxing the measures at this point may be too premature so a very strong system of vigilance has to be running 24/7 to make sure they can be put again in working order without any delay.

Common sense from a common wealth country ?

Is this comedy ?

God save the queen .

Relying on the covid vaccine eh.

Ah well

Fish n chips .

Why wear masks in the UK when they are no longer necessary?

The virus is no longer a threat in the UK but it takes time for that news to filter through…

I've never heard of vaccines that don't stop you getting a disease, ever.

Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. We're over a year and a half into this now and you are still ignorant on the efficacy of vaccinations, still under the impression that less that 100% effective does not equal 100% ineffective.

The problem lies with your interpretation of what your are hearing rather than what you are actually hearing.

kurisupisuToday  10:34 pm JST

Why wear masks in the UK when they are no longer necessary?

The virus is no longer a threat in the UK but it takes time for that news to filter through…

Only about 1,000 people died from Covid this month in the UK. No big deal, right?

You never hear the anti-vaccine, no-mask people present any solutions to the pandemic. Well, many of them do tell others to get vaccinated and they regret not getting vaccinated just before they die. So, there is that.

The UK's high early death toll may have been indicative of the virus moving further and faster through the low-hanging fruit - those most likely to suffer the worst. We may now be seeing a weird sort of benefit from that, and also from the vaccines (there are very few anti-vaxxers in the UK). Lockdowns suppress deaths, but delay the movement of the virus through a community and spin out an epidemic. The faster Covid moves through a (vaccinated) community, the better.

Watching the football in the UK, you can play spot the mask rather like spot the ball, so rare are they. It's almost like covid has gone. To some extent, Covid the panic-inducing, world-ending virus has. There is no reason to assume that it will kill more people in winter than in summer - it's not as seasonal as seasonal flu, which it seems to have replaced - and at present, the UK is living with Covid as we do with other viruses.

Unlike the government, I still wear and would encourage the use of a mask in public.

The problems of shortages in the UK largely stem from Brexit, not Covid, and they aren't going to be fixed with a vaccine. However 'open for business' the government say we are, most businesses are increasingly restricted by a range of shortages, a mountain of extra costs and paperwork, and the inability to access labour. Northern Ireland is going to have particular problems with supplies over the next few months and prices for everyone are going to rocket. Rises of 20%, 40% and 100% will be common. The gases required for chilled food have gone up 500% with government intervention required to re-open an American owned factory in the UK to produce them. A sack of cash had to be 'donated' to the company for this to happen. And you all worry about Chinese takeovers!

This is not just a British issue. Given Chinese supplier suppression orders and global shortages, I would suggest that you should now buy spares of any consumer durables that you cannot do without. Everyday consumer goods may soon rise in value as they did when the first lockdown shortages arrived. At the very least, you would be wise to buy a spare TV, printer, and the like, sooner rather than later. The JiT production system has been undermined and globalisation is being taken down, both of which will introduce more shortages and price hikes. At a domestic level, an awful lot of everyday stuff is going to be difficult to get soon and much more expensive.

For those who thought that governments were failing to implement climate change policies, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee (before the shops run out of it). Elected regimes were never going to just ban things - they would become unpopular. Instead they needed to find covert ways of limiting production and availability and increasing cost. They have been successful. When did you last go on holiday? How much extra are you paying for everything? Is what you want even available at the moment? Eh, voila. The consumer economy has been suppressed, the airlines are on an economic IV drip, there are gaps on the supermarket shelves, factories are shutting down due to high energy costs and businesses are shuttering for lack of staff. And with Covid filling the news, you hardly noticed. Maybe our politicians are not as incompetent as we thought they were.

Just read something very interesting and disturbing. A study by Sheffield university says that over a third of patients admitted to hospitals with Covid had DNR’s added to their medical charts.

DNR - Do not resuscitate

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/do-not-resuscitate-orders-were-common-patients-admitted-suspected-covid-19

GBR48

For those who thought that governments were failing to implement climate change policies, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee (before the shops run out of it). Elected regimes were never going to just ban things - they would become unpopular. Instead they needed to find covert ways of limiting production and availability and increasing cost

I do not buy great conspiracy theories like this. As for the Covid hype and the economic damage, never try to explain with malice what can be explained with stupidiy. Plus the sweet smell of power that every bureacratic wannabe authoritarian notices when they look at the CCP model of population control.

I've never heard of vaccines that don't stop you getting a disease, ever.

It's weird to me that you'd express that your ignorant on the matter, and not willing to fact check yourself. I'd be embarrassed at looking this silly myself.

I do not buy great conspiracy theories like this

Well, there's a first for everything.

Why wear masks in the UK when they are no longer necessary?

Another question asked and answered multiple times. To pretend that the answer isn't there and explained with a scientific basis is disingenuous.

Just read something very interesting and disturbing. A study by Sheffield university says that over a third of patients admitted to hospitals with Covid had DNR’s added to their medical charts.

Which part of this do you find disturbing? Do you have a theory of a conspiracy behind this?

the flaw in the government's strategy, which has abandoned most pandemic restrictions and is banking on voluntary restraint and a high vaccination rate to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

What flaw? This is a very biased article. The truth is that R has now fallen below 1, so covid is in retreat. And since the vaccines have been proven to dramatically cut death rates (to amost zero) it is perfectly sensible and reasonable to lift unnecessary restrictions. England is doing fine, thank you very much!

Unfortunately, common sense stopped being common a long time ago. We live in an age where people just don't care about consequences anymore, where people doubt the experts just because expert advice is inconvenient. So many people only wore masks because they were required to, not because they wanted to. They then spent the following months complaining bitterly about wearing masks for 20-30 minutes, right in front of shop workers and other essential workers who have to wear masks for hours a day. If it provides even the most minor of inconvenience, people will reject it unless legally required. Regardless of what common sense might suggest, people will frequently do the exact opposite with a "what's the worst that can happen?" attitude.

While our death toll has been unusually low and our vaccine rate fairly high, that doesn't excuse us for letting our guards down too soon. We did that after the first lockdown and ended up having to have a second one. If we'd acted faster and with greater efficiency, we could have lessened the impact of the second wave at the very least, shortening the second lockdown and avoiding the infection and death rates we saw. While not the worst response to COVID, we didn't exactly have the best response to it either. We still could be doing things better, particularly in schools and the NHS, but also in other public locations.

England is doing fine, thank you very much!

England might be, but Wales certainly isn't. The recent summer holidays brought a third wave of coronavirus out here, brought in by English tourists. We're still struggling with that, and the NHS in Wales is not at all equipped to handle a third wave. Especially not in North Wales, where an 8 hour wait for an ambulance is considered normal and where hospitals are very few and far apart, and this is where the majority of English tourists have brought COVID to. Despite the Welsh government holding onto stricter rules, we've still seen a sharp spike in COVID rates out here over the summer. Which is probably why it seems like England is doing fine: because they've brought COVID to Wales instead. If these tourists had any common sense at all, they'd have worn face masks, observed social distancing rules, and avoided dumping a third wave of the pandemic on a region that cannot handle it and is still battered by the previous waves.

the NHS in Wales is not at all equipped to handle a third wave

Well, that's what comes from electing a Labour administration ...

Bill Adams

What flaw? This is a very biased article. The truth is that R has now fallen below 1, so covid is in retreat. And since the vaccines have been proven to dramatically cut death rates (to amost zero) it is perfectly sensible and reasonable to lift unnecessary restrictions. England is doing fine, thank you very much!

And yet 140 people are dying of Covid every day in the UK. Doesn't sound like close to zero to me. Also the R is 0.8 to 1.0, so still not a good situation.

The UK really need to put some effort into getting people vaccinated. 65% fully vaccinated rate is too low.

2020hindsights

And yet 140 people are dying of Covid every day in the UK. Doesn't sound like close to zero to me. Also the R is 0.8 to 1.0, so still not a good situation.

The UK really need to put some effort into getting people vaccinated. 65% fully vaccinated rate is too low.

If you had read my post properly you would have realised that my reference to the death rate having been cut to almost zero referred to those who have been vaccinated. And by the way, your figure of 140 refers to the whole UK, but I was specifically talking of England. And an R below one is "a good situation", as covid is in retreat.

But my main objection is to your reference to "65% fully vaccinated". This is extremely misleading as it refers to the entire population, whereas it is only adults who matter, as they are the only ones dying. Yes, children can get covid, and pass it on, but they are not dying, so their infections don't matter.

And it is not 65% of the adult population that has been double jabbed, but 100% - of those who want the vaccine. Ever since June, any adult who wanted to be vaccinated was vaccinated. So what do you expect the government to do about those who refuse it? Break down their front doors, arrest them, hold them down and forcibly inject them? No, in a free country people must be able to decide for themselves what medication they wish to take.

Of course, I readily admit that you could use a slightly less violent approach. In Italy, for instance, those who have not been vaccinated are barred from entering any restaurant, bar, cinema, etc, and cannot even go to work. This has forced many who are wary of the vaccine to get it nevertheless. But is such a totalitarian approach justified? After all, if you believe in the vaccine (as I do, I want to stress) then you will get it and then you will be safe. So if you are safe, why should you worry if others, who choose not to be vaccinated, get infected? They cannot harm you, as you are vaccinated, so their infection is their problem.

I have been vaccinated. I am bulletproof. If others choose not to be jabbed that's up to them. I am not bothered.

Imagine a vaccine so safe that you have to be threatened to take it for a disease so deadly that you have to be tested to know you have it.

I Don't click on bitchute.. And nor should anybody else. It's an extreme right wing forum for those banned from more mainstream sites to express rather bizarre views and theories. It's also connected to racism and anti semitism. Nasty people.

So, 65% of Brits have been inoculated with vaccines that do not prevent transmission or infection. I guess the rest are waiting for one that at least works.

Imagine a vaccine so safe that you have to be threatened to take it for a disease so deadly that you have to be tested to know you have it.

Can we try to deal with the real-world virus we have right now instead of hypotheticals?

So, 65% of Brits have been inoculated with vaccines that do not prevent transmission or infection.

No, that's wrong.

Some more facts…

https://freewestmedia.com/2021/09/23/norway-reclassifies-covid-19-no-more-dangerous-than-ordinary-flu/

That's right @Doc: Thanks to vaccines. It's looking that way. Key word :, Vaccines.

https://freewestmedia.com/2021/09/23/norway-reclassifies-covid-19-no-more-dangerous-than-ordinary-flu/

Yet more Bovine Feces. Influenza has a fatality rate of approximately 0.1%, The original Covid 19 variant was 2 times as infectious and had a mortality rate of up to 2.5 %. The Delta variant is as infectious as Chicken Pox and is up to twice as lethal as the original variant.

And that does not even take into account the 1 in 3 chance of long-haul symptoms or the economic cost of treating a single patient.

Clearly vaccines, which have been proven both safe and effective are a far better choice.

It's hard to believe that sentient beings could be so stubbornly, willfully ignorant of the facts.

Bill Adams

If you had read my post properly you would have realised that my reference to the death rate having been cut to almost zero referred to those who have been vaccinated. 

Umm, I did read your post properly, but if that's what you wanted to say, then you didn't write it properly. ;-)

So if you are safe, why should you worry if others, who choose not to be vaccinated, get infected? They cannot harm you, as you are vaccinated, so their infection is their problem.

The problem with that approach is that it doesn't reduce infection rates and keeps the virus circulating and potentially mutating. The UK have 35,000 infections a day! The higher the percentage vaccinated greatly reduces this until around 85% of vaccination will start to look like herd immunity.

So soft encouragement first and then mandates.

Zaphod

Imagine a vaccine so safe that you have to be threatened to take it for a disease so deadly that you have to be tested to know you have it.

15 million people worldwide didn't need to be tested to know they had it. They died.

2020hindsights

15 million people worldwide didn't need to be tested to know they had it. They died.

I have no idea how many people "worldwide" have died, as accumulated world-wide figures are completely unreliable.

The actual death rate for this infection is extremely low (as I assume you know) and the vast majority of people have no or very light symptoms, so by definition they do not know they have it.

2020hindsights

The problem with that approach is that it doesn't reduce infection rates and keeps the virus circulating and potentially mutating.

The vaccination does not prevent infection (seriously, you did not know that?), and as many concerned virologists point out, and mass vaccination at this time actually favours more resistant virus strains.

In any case, this thing is now endemic, it will stay in human and animal populations and mutate towards less virulent forms, and the idea that a corona type virus can be totally eliminated is ludicrious. You wan to elimiate the flu too?

Zaphod

The problem with that approach is that it doesn't reduce infection rates and keeps the virus circulating and potentially mutating.

The vaccination does not prevent infection (seriously, you did not know that?), and as many concerned virologists point out,

Pure misinformation. The vaccine reduces infection by about 1/5.

and mass vaccination at this time actually favours more resistant virus strains.

No it doesn't. The opposite in fact. Mass vaccination means less infections which mean less ability to mutate.

In any case, this thing is now endemic, it will stay in human and animal populations and mutate towards less virulent forms,

Although, I didn't say that we could eradicate it easily, we can achieve herd immunity. It's still around, but infections are rare. A bit like measles.

and the idea that a corona type virus can be totally eliminated is ludicrious. You wan to elimiate the flu too?

Umm, why not? Many viruses have been corona type eradicated. SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV for starters.

I have no idea how many people "worldwide" have died, as accumulated world-wide figures are completely unreliable.

An admittance that he doesn't know anything, followed by:

The actual death rate for this infection is extremely low

A conclusion that he "knows".

Hmmm.... I wonder if he realized the problem with this, or if he honestly thought this post made sense.