So, coronavirus...

[Saint]

At least in part it's due to timing. Covid was established as Covid before suddenly Donald started to try and rebrand it as Chynavirus. The motivation was clear - rebrand to make it sound like someone else's fault, especially at a time when the US was struggling to deal with it.

Didn’t it take a while before they got to naming it.?Anyway I was just chatting idly. Call it anything you want.

It was Covid-19/Coronavirus/Novel Coronavirus for months before Donnie tried Chynavirus on for size. Things could have turned out a lot of different ways, but the rebranding attempt was fairly blatant, and actually quite surprising given that at the same time he was attempting to run an attempt at a China foreign and trade policy alongside this

[Fonz]

Scheduled to take the J&J vaccine on the 11th.

Got only about a week to get my affairs in order.

[Rinkals]

At least in part it's due to timing. Covid was established as Covid before suddenly Donald started to try and rebrand it as Chynavirus. The motivation was clear - rebrand to make it sound like someone else's fault, especially at a time when the US was struggling to deal with it.

Didn’t it take a while before they got to naming it.?Anyway I was just chatting idly. Call it anything you want.

It was Covid-19/Coronavirus/Novel Coronavirus for months before Donnie tried Chynavirus on for size. Things could have turned out a lot of different ways, but the rebranding attempt was fairly blatant, and actually quite surprising given that at the same time he was attempting to run an attempt at a China foreign and trade policy alongside this

As far as I'm aware, the media I read refers to it as covid19.

Assigning an ethnic identity to it would seem to be driven by an agenda against that particular ethnic group.

[Fangle]

Didn’t it take a while before they got to naming it.?Anyway I was just chatting idly. Call it anything you want.

It was Covid-19/Coronavirus/Novel Coronavirus for months before Donnie tried Chynavirus on for size. Things could have turned out a lot of different ways, but the rebranding attempt was fairly blatant, and actually quite surprising given that at the same time he was attempting to run an attempt at a China foreign and trade policy alongside this

As far as I'm aware, the media I read refers to it as covid19.

Assigning an ethnic identity to it would seem to be driven by an agenda against that particular ethnic group.

Just like all the variants which are freely named by their assumed source? Of course not ethnic but geographical. But call it what you want as it really means so little to me. I also disagree with Trump. Calling it Covid is fine and I thought it vaguely interesting.

[yermum]

Scheduled to take the J&J vaccine on the 11th.

Got only about a week to get my affairs in order.

just think how good your cell reception will be tho...

[Lobby]

No one got upset over the name of the Australian Flu.

Or Asian, Spanish, Rocky Mountain etc. And according to Politico Trump is now low energy. Hopefully he fades away.

Spanish flu originated in US. First recorded cases in Kansas. Spanish were livid that the flu got tagged with their nationality.

Reports about the flu cases in the US and the other countries involved in WW1 were heavily censored in order to protect morale. Spain was neutral, and so the world press was free to report on cases there, and it’s consequential public association with the pandemic led to it being called the Spanish flu.

[Fangle]

Yep. The big ugly countries can spin it, but places like South Africa get lumbered with the killer variant.

[Sandstorm]

So all members of Indian group of G7 meeting in London are self-isolating after two of their team test positive for Covid.

Fortunately they haven’t turned up at any face-to-face meetings yet.

[Marylandolorian]

By states, %vax democrats vs Republicans, it’s even more obvious by counties.

https://www.axios.com/biden-coronavirus ... 3945d.html

[Fangle]

They are working hard here in Georgia to get to the people by taking the clinics into the black mega churches and areas where the clinics are not easy to get to. Now they must get access to the evangelical churches to pressure them.

My reading of the charts show, that despite low vaccine rates in the south, their new cases loads are still better than the northern states.

[Rinkals]

It was Covid-19/Coronavirus/Novel Coronavirus for months before Donnie tried Chynavirus on for size. Things could have turned out a lot of different ways, but the rebranding attempt was fairly blatant, and actually quite surprising given that at the same time he was attempting to run an attempt at a China foreign and trade policy alongside this

As far as I'm aware, the media I read refers to it as covid19.

Assigning an ethnic identity to it would seem to be driven by an agenda against that particular ethnic group.

Just like all the variants which are freely named by their assumed source? Of course not ethnic but geographical. But call it what you want as it really means so little to me. I also disagree with Trump. Calling it Covid is fine and I thought it vaguely interesting.

Ok, you're talking about the variants?

In that case, I think it's fairly logical to refer to them by their geographic origins. It seems unlikely to be driven by any agenda against the inhabitants of the originating locale

[Rinkals]

The Seychelles seems to be in a bit of a pickle:

World’s Most-Vaccinated Nation Activates Curbs as Cases Rise

Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated more of its population against the coronavirus than any other country, has closed schools and canceled sporting activities for two weeks as infections surge.

The measures, which include bans on the intermingling of households and the early closure of bars, come even as the country has fully vaccinated more than 60% of its adult population with two doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The curbs are similar to those last imposed at the end of 2020.

“Despite of all the exceptional efforts we are making, the Covid-19 situation in our country is critical right now, with many daily cases reported last week,” Peggy Vidot, the nation’s health minister, said at a press conference Tuesday.

[fishfoodie]

The Seychelles seems to be in a bit of a pickle:

World’s Most-Vaccinated Nation Activates Curbs as Cases Rise

Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated more of its population against the coronavirus than any other country, has closed schools and canceled sporting activities for two weeks as infections surge.

The measures, which include bans on the intermingling of households and the early closure of bars, come even as the country has fully vaccinated more than 60% of its adult population with two doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The curbs are similar to those last imposed at the end of 2020.

“Despite of all the exceptional efforts we are making, the Covid-19 situation in our country is critical right now, with many daily cases reported last week,” Peggy Vidot, the nation’s health minister, said at a press conference Tuesday.

The Chinese had already admitted that their vaccine wasn't great; but this isn't great.

Hopefully it still significantly reduces the severity of cases.

[Margin__Walker]

Some context

[laurent]

30% of the adult population vaccinated today (1st shot) 25% of total in France

infection numbers still dropping and hospitals emptying slowly.

[Enzedder]

Why are we happy to speak about the lethal variants for the virus according to their supposed source, like the Brazil variant, the South African variant, and the UK variant, but not allowed to refer to covid-19 as a Chinese or Wuhan virus? Fears of Xenophobia?

Because it has a name. It's not a variant (the main bugger that is)

[Fangle]

I’m on my own, so probably wrong. I stand down completely.

[laurent]

Got my appointment for both shots.

Will be fully vaccinated for the summer holidays

[BnM]

Got my appointment for both shots.

Will be fully vaccinated for the summer holidays

Fantastic stuff.

[laurent]

Got my appointment for both shots.

Will be fully vaccinated for the summer holidays

Fantastic stuff.

Well my brother and sister in law are going to be able to fight over cancelled appointments (under 50 both) and latest announcement is that everyone can get a shot if there is available appointments on the next day.

1/2 million shot these past 2 days and average daily is over 400 000 (despite last week Saturday being a Bank holiday)
jansen vaccine coming in slowly however they will need to lower the age for the AstraZeneca as we are running out of old people eligible ;)

[BnM]

Looking forward to the announcement.

[BnM]

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany ... ll-adults/

BERLIN — Germany Thursday opened up the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for everyone over the age of 18 in order to speed up immunization efforts, Health Minister Jens Spahn announced.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin following talks with Germany's 16 state-level health ministers, Spahn said the vaccine should become available to all, regardless of their medical history.

"We agreed today to completely abolish the prioritization of AstraZeneca's vaccine — this means that when vaccinations are administered in doctors' offices, it is the doctors who decide who is to be vaccinated and when, at their own discretion," he said, adding that "the vaccine can only be administered after the patient has been informed [about potential risks] by the doctor and an individual decision has been made."

The move came after AstraZeneca's vaccine experienced a drop in popularity in Germany earlier this year following reports of rare blood clots in some patients and a subsequent recommendation by national health authorities to only administer the jab to those over the age of 60. The European Medicines Agency has backed continued use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in all adults, while confirming a "possible link" to "very rare" cases of blood clotting.

Doctors in Germany will now also be able to decide on the length of time a patient should wait before getting a second dose, an interval which health experts recommend may range from four to 12 weeks in the case of AstraZeneca.

Earlier in the day, lawmakers in the Bundestag approved a proposal that offers more rights to those who are fully vaccinated. Spahn said given this decision, "many are asking themselves ... when they will get their second vaccination."

"That's why we want to leave the flexibility in the hands of the doctors and the patients," he said.

[Sandstorm]

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany ... ll-adults/

BERLIN — Germany Thursday opened up the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for everyone over the age of 18 in order to speed up immunization efforts, Health Minister Jens Spahn announced.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin following talks with Germany's 16 state-level health ministers, Spahn said the vaccine should become available to all, regardless of their medical history.

"We agreed today to completely abolish the prioritization of AstraZeneca's vaccine — this means that when vaccinations are administered in doctors' offices, it is the doctors who decide who is to be vaccinated and when, at their own discretion," he said, adding that "the vaccine can only be administered after the patient has been informed [about potential risks] by the doctor and an individual decision has been made."

The move came after AstraZeneca's vaccine experienced a drop in popularity in Germany earlier this year following reports of rare blood clots in some patients and a subsequent recommendation by national health authorities to only administer the jab to those over the age of 60. The European Medicines Agency has backed continued use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in all adults, while confirming a "possible link" to "very rare" cases of blood clotting.

Doctors in Germany will now also be able to decide on the length of time a patient should wait before getting a second dose, an interval which health experts recommend may range from four to 12 weeks in the case of AstraZeneca.

Earlier in the day, lawmakers in the Bundestag approved a proposal that offers more rights to those who are fully vaccinated. Spahn said given this decision, "many are asking themselves ... when they will get their second vaccination."

"That's why we want to leave the flexibility in the hands of the doctors and the patients," he said.

Any movement from the Danes yet?

[mat the expat]

Got my appointment for both shots.

Will be fully vaccinated for the summer holidays

Same - I had my AZ shot cancelled and had to wait a month but now have my Pfizer shot booked - it's right next to my office

[TheNatalShark]

Any movement from the Danes yet?

They've upped the anti-Anglo rhetoric and also dropped the J&J vaccine from its rollout, as no-one told them where it was developed.

[TheNatalShark]

Well my brother and sister in law are going to be able to fight over cancelled appointments (under 50 both) and latest announcement is that everyone can get a shot if there is available appointments on the next day.

It's an absolute farce that nearly 5 months into the rollout Macron's team was promoting the use of the non-state Vitemadose in order to help achieve this, that they've given them so little time for developers to rework to facilitate it and haven't put pressure on all providers to submit data to feed all slot data into it.

Really is pushing 2nd gear to the limit whilst Spain/Germany/Italy are going into 4th/3rd.

[laurent]

Well my brother and sister in law are going to be able to fight over cancelled appointments (under 50 both) and latest announcement is that everyone can get a shot if there is available appointments on the next day.

It's an absolute farce that nearly 5 months into the rollout Macron's team was promoting the use of the non-state Vitemadose in order to help achieve this, that they've given them so little time for developers to rework to facilitate it and haven't put pressure on all providers to submit data to feed all slot data into it.

Really is pushing 2nd gear to the limit whilst Spain/Germany/Italy are going into 4th/3rd.

Not really much in this the site above is an agregator the booking applications allow you to book in one place at a time (IE your doc / pharmacist or vacc center).

France is vaccinating as much as the others however cancelled appointments and no shows are the reason some slots reopen this are these slots that can and have been used by people under the elligibility window.

Over 50 are fully elligible from monday and so far 30% of the adult population has had 1 shot at least.
My brother and sister in Law are very eager to get in especially as they want to go to la Réunion to visit family. What Macron did was make official what was happening already: people showing up at the vacc centers for leftovers.

PS not defending Macron on this they gambled with the English variant and an earlier shutdown was called for and would have seen us in a better situation now (not in terms of vaccines but contamination level).

[laurent]

Well my brother and sister in law are going to be able to fight over cancelled appointments (under 50 both) and latest announcement is that everyone can get a shot if there is available appointments on the next day.

It's an absolute farce that nearly 5 months into the rollout Macron's team was promoting the use of the non-state Vitemadose in order to help achieve this, that they've given them so little time for developers to rework to facilitate it and haven't put pressure on all providers to submit data to feed all slot data into it.

Really is pushing 2nd gear to the limit whilst Spain/Germany/Italy are going into 4th/3rd.

Not really much in this the site above is an agregator the booking applications allow you to book in one place at a time (IE your doc / pharmacist or vacc center).

France is vaccinating as much as the others however cancelled appointments and no shows are the reason some slots reopen this are these slots that can and have been used by people under the elligibility window.

Over 50 are fully elligible from monday and so far 30% of the adult population has had 1 shot at least.
My brother and sister in Law are very eager to get in especially as they want to go to la Réunion to visit family. What Macron did was make official what was happening already: people showing up at the vacc centers for leftovers.

PS not defending Macron on this (or pretty much anything) they gambled with the English variant and an earlier shutdown was called for and would have seen us in a better situation now (not in terms of vaccines but contamination level).

[FalseBayFC]

Have enjoyed the UK vs EU vaccine soap opera immensely. Lots of displaced Brexit anxiety and anger on display. Helps to distract from SA's vaccine disaster.

[Lemoentjie]

LOL, watching the poms and europeans fight it out over 25% vs 50% vaccination rates... meanwhile in SA we are pathetic in this.

If we had their vaccination level, we could guarantee fans in stadiums for Lions tour.

[Biffer]

Initial indications are that vaccination is effective against the Indian variant

[Paddington Bear]

Initial indications are that vaccination is effective against the Indian variant

Fantastic news.

[tc27]

Under 40s to be able to specify MRNA based vaccine:

[BnM]

Any movement from the Danes yet?

Not read anything, I check Politico at least once a day and they'd report it. The French had the video of the Dr having to throw away AZ vaccines that people would have used. I think it's great that the powers that be have allowed people to make their own choices and will hopefully speed things up even more and save lives.

[BnM]

Love this

[Tichtheid]

There was an anti-vaxxer, anti-mask parade marching through central Brighton today.

There have been "kill the bill" marches here in recent weeks and vigils for women's issues, but today this lot carried a completely different vibe with them, they were aggressive and intimidating. I saw two of them initiate physical confrontation with people because they were wearing masks. The local rag has videos of them harassing people and the comments section is full of first-hand accounts of intimidation towards people wearing masks.

They reminded me of the EDL, BNP and NF (and all variants thereof) who have had marches through the streets here in the 25 years or so that I've lived here.

[Tichtheid]

Love this

That's terrific, and I'll admit to getting a bit of dust in my eye when I walked through the city centre and saw people eating and talking and drinking and coming out of the library and going into shops and buskers playing music and seagulls pinching food from tables and just the general hubub....

[TheNatalShark]

Not really much in this the site above is an agregator the booking applications allow you to book in one place at a time (IE your doc / pharmacist or vacc center).

My point isn't that the resource will or won't change the rollout materially, but that it is bad and easily avoidable misdirection to an incomplete resource at a late stage that could have been state managed - and that it is symptomatic of the lackadaisical approach to managing the rollout. Back in December it seemed an interesting strategy comparison of France local administrations vs German vaccindromes, but by way of administration %s it's turned out the opposite (at the moment).

France is vaccinating as much as the others however cancelled appointments and no shows are the reason some slots reopen this are these slots that can and have been used by people under the elligibility window.

Disagree on rate of administrations as seen over the last two weeks as supply bottleneck has really eased. Of ESP/ITA/DEU/FRA (which seem to have obtained similar vax portfolios) France has by far the lowest rate as % of pop, has yet to hit a day of +1% of pop administered (as ESP/DEU have) and despite 2 months of saying "we will fix it", comparatively terrible numbers on weekends and holidays. Italy hasn't either hit +1% but makes up over weekends. Given the holidays now doesn't look like France will hit 20mm 15 May target - though obviously the 600k+ on Thursday & Friday are good to see.

Particularly concerned by the time it takes for distribution of each vaccine delivery to centres and getting things moving - eg Spain has already administered 66% of it's 270k J&J jabs, whilst France has only done circa 20% of 500k (obviously this isn't being mentioned in 'UK media' when AZ usage is brought up). It was the same with each of Pfizer/Moderna/AZ, so doesn't look like lessons are being learnt overall. Invariably J&J may run into same issue as AZ referenced re not having a market if age limits maintain, so not optimistic this will improve much. It would be great if they formally published what they have and are donating to west Africa from received stocks along with the other data vs scrounging around, it's leading to bad comparatives on %s used being made by lazy journalists.

What Macron did was make official what was happening already: people showing up at the vacc centers for leftovers.

Going back to the rule change I'm sure you're aware that the no show/unused appointment issues weren't restricted to France, but to me it seems other countries (Germany excluded) have by and large sought to formally address the issue a while ago - albeit without having been as pervasive as in France.

PS not defending Macron on this they gambled with the English variant and an earlier shutdown was called for and would have seen us in a better situation now (not in terms of vaccines but contamination level).

To clarify my comment was on Macron's comms team - haven't actually seen him reference the site. As you say he lost his 'third way' gamble but I'm more interested in the logistics above so don't have knowledge to comment on other areas.

[tc27]

Looking at numbers over the last few days:

Everyone has the same stock to draw from at UK level but Wales and to a lesser extent Scotland going for much faster on first doses whereas England and NI really pushing the second dose.

My gut feeling is with lockdown coming to an end getting as many as possible the first dose will be as beneficial now as it was in the winter as long the second comes within 12 weeks - clearly Welsh public health officials feel they have enough reserved for 2nd jabs to do this.

[Biffer]

Looking at numbers over the last few days:

Everyone has the same stock to draw from at UK level but Wales and to a lesser extent Scotland going for much faster on first doses whereas England and NI really pushing the second dose.

My gut feeling is with lockdown coming to an end getting as many as possible the first dose will be as beneficial now as it was in the winter as long the second comes within 12 weeks - clearly Welsh public health officials feel they have enough reserved for 2nd jabs to do this.

It lines up with what was happening twelve weeks ago. If you look at the numbers at the end of last month, Scotland was doing hardly any first doses, all second doses.