So, coronavirus...

[I like neeps]

Which is sounds a bit better but the fuzzy language and information coming out reminds me (as others said) of testing earlier this year.

Honestly I cant believe the government are not aware this really is their chance to save themselves after having an awful epidemic! If I was Boris I would be on this personally 24/7.

Sam Bowman has suggested paying the GPs massive bonuses per vaccine administered - that would get them going.

Boris is a big picture person famously uninterested in minutiae. The best person for this is a real adminstrative bore. The last person we need is Boris Johnson.

[JM2K6]

Please say you're joking there. Who in their right mind will be hosting a party and who in their right mind would think it would be a good idea to go

If you had 70+ parents you'd probably lose your mind too. I only have one left and I can just about deal with her.

Most people just have two.

Yes, that was the joke I was making

[Tichtheid]

Which is sounds a bit better but the fuzzy language and information coming out reminds me (as others said) of testing earlier this year.

Honestly I cant believe the government are not aware this really is their chance to save themselves after having an awful epidemic! If I was Boris I would be on this personally 24/7.

Sam Bowman has suggested paying the GPs massive bonuses per vaccine administered - that would get them going.

Boris is a big picture person famously uninterested in minutiae. The best person for this is a real adminstrative bore. The last person we need is Boris Johnson.

If I were a GP I'd be hugely insulted by the idea that I'd need a bonus to incentivise me to "get the vaccination programme going" - decent working conditions and not deliberately running down the entire health service in order to make the case for profiteering from the general health of the population would be a start.

Lets not pander to the publicity, no one that know him calls him Boris, that is a manufactured public image, "Johnson" will do.

The very least you'd expect from a CEO would be the knowledge of where they need help, where they need the details people etc, Johnson fails on every level, yet people voted for that party in knowledge that he'd be PM.

I've looked at the choice of emojies, there isn't really one for "throwing one's hands up in despair"

[Jb1981]

Which is sounds a bit better but the fuzzy language and information coming out reminds me (as others said) of testing earlier this year.

Honestly I cant believe the government are not aware this really is their chance to save themselves after having an awful epidemic! If I was Boris I would be on this personally 24/7.

Sam Bowman has suggested paying the GPs massive bonuses per vaccine administered - that would get them going.

Boris is a big picture person famously uninterested in minutiae. The best person for this is a real adminstrative bore. The last person we need is Boris Johnson.

If I were a GP I'd be hugely insulted by the idea that I'd need a bonus to incentivise me to "get the vaccination programme going" - decent working conditions and not deliberately running down the entire health service in order to make the case for profiteering from the general health of the population would be a start.

Lets not pander to the publicity, no one that know him calls him Boris, that is a manufactured public image, "Johnson" will do.

The very least you'd expect from a CEO would be the knowledge of where they need help, where they need the details people etc, Johnson fails on every level, yet people voted for that party in knowledge that he'd be PM.

I've looked at the choice of emojies, there isn't really one for "throwing one's hands up in despair"

[Tichtheid]

Ah, Bunk.
and Kima too

Good choice

[fishfoodie]

Ah, Bunk.
and Kima too

Good choice

+1

[C69]

Which is sounds a bit better but the fuzzy language and information coming out reminds me (as others said) of testing earlier this year.

Honestly I cant believe the government are not aware this really is their chance to save themselves after having an awful epidemic! If I was Boris I would be on this personally 24/7.

Sam Bowman has suggested paying the GPs massive bonuses per vaccine administered - that would get them going.

Boris is a big picture person famously uninterested in minutiae. The best person for this is a real adminstrative bore. The last person we need is Boris Johnson.

If I were a GP I'd be hugely insulted by the idea that I'd need a bonus to incentivise me to "get the vaccination programme going" - decent working conditions and not deliberately running down the entire health service in order to make the case for profiteering from the general health of the population would be a start.

Lets not pander to the publicity, no one that know him calls him Boris, that is a manufactured public image, "Johnson" will do.

The very least you'd expect from a CEO would be the knowledge of where they need help, where they need the details people etc, Johnson fails on every level, yet people voted for that party in knowledge that he'd be PM.

I've looked at the choice of emojies, there isn't really one for "throwing one's hands up in despair"

GPs have in the past refused to carry out activities such as vaccines etc with out incentivisation.
I know a few practice nurses who found out how much the GP surgeries got and had a few words.


All part of the QOF

[Glaston]

Which is sounds a bit better but the fuzzy language and information coming out reminds me (as others said) of testing earlier this year.

Honestly I cant believe the government are not aware this really is their chance to save themselves after having an awful epidemic! If I was Boris I would be on this personally 24/7.

Sam Bowman has suggested paying the GPs massive bonuses per vaccine administered - that would get them going.

Boris is a big picture person famously uninterested in minutiae. The best person for this is a real adminstrative bore. The last person we need is Boris Johnson.

If I were a GP I'd be hugely insulted by the idea that I'd need a bonus to incentivise me to "get the vaccination programme going" - decent working conditions and not deliberately running down the entire health service in order to make the case for profiteering from the general health of the population would be a start.

Lets not pander to the publicity, no one that know him calls him Boris, that is a manufactured public image, "Johnson" will do.

The very least you'd expect from a CEO would be the knowledge of where they need help, where they need the details people etc, Johnson fails on every level, yet people voted for that party in knowledge that he'd be PM.

I've looked at the choice of emojies, there isn't really one for "throwing one's hands up in despair"

Lot of part time GP's

My local surgery, none of them do more than 2 days a week

[frodder]

Keep up.

Boom Boom

Ok....how much Pfizer stock do we have

It was meant as a Viagra joke.

I’ve no idea.

It was a terrible joke

Regarding Viagra SmithKline Beecham discovered it first when running clinical trials for headache tablets. The affect on the males in the study was reported and the drug was not taken any further.

Pfizer picked up on the API a year later and reaped the benefits.

[SaintK]

Some strong words from the frontline

People who do not follow social distancing rules or wear masks "have blood on their hands", an intensive care doctor has warned.
Prof Hugh Montgomery told BBC Radio 5 Live hospitals were facing a "tsunami" of Covid cases and he feared it would get worse after New Year's Eve.
He urged people to accept that it was going to be a "miserable" occasion this year and not to gather in groups.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55479018

[I like neeps]

https://t.co/IqMGpRWGOE?amp=1

30% of the student athletes at Ohio State who had covid now have heart damage. Eeesh that's bad.

[Uncle fester]

Some strong words from the frontline

People who do not follow social distancing rules or wear masks "have blood on their hands", an intensive care doctor has warned.
Prof Hugh Montgomery told BBC Radio 5 Live hospitals were facing a "tsunami" of Covid cases and he feared it would get worse after New Year's Eve.
He urged people to accept that it was going to be a "miserable" occasion this year and not to gather in groups.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55479018

Have enormous sympathy for frontline workers dealing with the consequences of people's stupidity. My sector is busy and the last year has been the most stressful of my life but it's nothing compared to the people who are directly in harm's way.

[Slick]

Just been in my local Sainsbury’s and there were 3 different groups, already pissed, getting their booze for parties. Not young either

[fishfoodie]

https://t.co/IqMGpRWGOE?amp=1

30% of the student athletes at Ohio State who had covid now have heart damage. Eeesh that's bad.

So if they didn't have a pre-existing condition for Round 1; they will have for Round 2.

Shows the madness of even contemplating a herd immunity, plan, at the start of this; when the medical community had zero idea of what the long term consequences of even a mild infection would be.

[tc27]

Single digit numbers of ventilators and cpac machines left in the trust my wife works at in Kent.

[Uncle fester]

https://t.co/IqMGpRWGOE?amp=1

30% of the student athletes at Ohio State who had covid now have heart damage. Eeesh that's bad.

So if they didn't have a pre-existing condition for Round 1; they will have for Round 2.

Shows the madness of even contemplating a herd immunity, plan, at the start of this; when the medical community had zero idea of what the long term consequences of even a mild infection would be.

And this is one of the reasons I gave up on most social media (incl PR).

[Hal Jordan]

Just been in my local Sainsbury’s and there were 3 different groups, already pissed, getting their booze for parties. Not young either

My wife went into Waitrose yesterday (John Lewis click and collect combined with the need for a bottle of cider for the gammon I'm cooking at the moment - it's furious about Lewis Hamilton - and some sundries) and there were people loading up on the booze, the thick end of 20 wine bottles on several trollies.

I know Waitrose customers are often retirees who are too refined to be alcoholics even though they plough through the drink like Prohibition is coming back but no way were they buying for just themselves.

[Sandstorm]

https://t.co/IqMGpRWGOE?amp=1

30% of the student athletes at Ohio State who had covid now have heart damage. Eeesh that's bad.

Boom! Headshot for that tool Bimbo, plus idiot Scots like NL and OS.

“It won’t kill people under 80 or even harm them”

[SaintK]

Just been in my local Sainsbury’s and there were 3 different groups, already pissed, getting their booze for parties. Not young either

My wife went into Waitrose yesterday (John Lewis click and collect combined with the need for a bottle of cider for the gammon I'm cooking at the moment - it's furious about Lewis Hamilton - and some sundries) and there were people loading up on the booze, the thick end of 20 wine bottles on several trollies.

I know Waitrose customers are often retirees who are too refined to be alcoholics even though they plough through the drink like Prohibition is coming back but

no way were they buying for just themselves

.

I'm a retiree and I do if they've got 25% off the really good stuff and stock up my wine store

[Saint]

Just seen my 70 year old neighbours daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids pull-up and walk straight into their house. Utter madness

[Sandstorm]

Fools! They know the only wine on the shelves next month will be Saffer Pinotage and over-priced Yank Zinfandel.

Get shopping now before all the good French stuff is gone forever!

[yermum]

Some strong words from the frontline

People who do not follow social distancing rules or wear masks "have blood on their hands", an intensive care doctor has warned.
Prof Hugh Montgomery told BBC Radio 5 Live hospitals were facing a "tsunami" of Covid cases and he feared it would get worse after New Year's Eve.
He urged people to accept that it was going to be a "miserable" occasion this year and not to gather in groups.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55479018

Hugh supervised my MSc

really really clever guy.

[tc27]

Just seen my 70 year old neighbours daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids pull-up and walk straight into their house. Utter madness

Dob em in.

Seriously

[Saint]

Mrs Saint has pointed out they may be a childcare bubble. So possibly legal, even if extremely stupid.

In other news, 944,500 people received at least 1 dose of vaccine up to Dec 27th

[Margin__Walker]

Childcare bubble or not, the adults shouldn't be going in.

[tc27]

Mrs Saint has pointed out they may be a childcare bubble. So possibly legal, even if extremely stupid.

In other news, 944,500 people received at least 1 dose of vaccine up to Dec 27th

332 in France with 50% saying they will refuse vaccine in polls.

[Ymx]

Mrs Saint has pointed out they may be a childcare bubble. So possibly legal, even if extremely stupid.

In other news, 944,500 people received at least 1 dose of vaccine up to Dec 27th

Why would someone need them for childcare if they’re staying in?

[Jock42]

Mrs Saint has pointed out they may be a childcare bubble. So possibly legal, even if extremely stupid.

In other news, 944,500 people received at least 1 dose of vaccine up to Dec 27th

332 in France with 50% saying they will refuse vaccine in polls.

Polls are shite though. Less chance of people participating if they are getting it imo.

944,501

[frodder]

Really shite numbers from the UK today. It's not as if it's up to early March when there were no restrictions

[yermum]

https://t.co/IqMGpRWGOE?amp=1

30% of the student athletes at Ohio State who had covid now have heart damage. Eeesh that's bad.

Boom! Headshot for that tool Bimbo, plus idiot Scots like NL and OS.

“It won’t kill people under 80 or even harm them”

I posted the study on the 6th of december....

High prevalence of cardiac imaging anomalies in otherwise healthy college athletes recovering from COVID.

Although the immediate and long-term clinical relevance of these findings remains unclear, our study underscores that mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 is not a benign illness, considering that more than one-half of the younger individuals showed subclinical myocardial and pericardial disease.

https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.10.023



Raises some interesting questions about long term screening.

[The Druid]

Is this the beginnings of another UK government balls up or a risky attempt to get around production/supply issues?
There are well-qualified posters on here that may be able to give a decent view of this.

LONDON (Reuters) - British doctors have said a government decision to delay giving a coronavirus vaccine booster shot to vulnerable patients who have already had a first dose will be distressing and disruptive, their trade union said on Thursday.The government said on Wednesday it wanted to give a first dose to as many people as possible before starting to administer boosters at 12 weeks, in an effort to provide more people with a degree of protection more quickly.

But Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) committee for local family doctors, said it was “grossly and patently unfair to tens of thousands of our most at-risk patients to now try to reschedule their appointments”.

For the newly approved vaccine developed by Oxford University and made by AstraZeneca being rolled out in Britain next week, the plan is consistent with a finding that waiting 12 weeks maximises protection against the virus.

But in the case of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot that is already being given, the manufacturer said the shot had not been evaluated on dosing schedules different from the recommended 21 days.

The BMA said scores of doctors had told it that the new approach would distress vulnerable patients and create logistical problems for healthcare staff.

“The BMA believes these are patients that have already been promised ... that they will receive a second dose of Pfizer vaccination next week; they have given their consent to receive it and, quite rightly, are expecting to have it,” the BMA said.

More than 616,000 people had been given the Pfizer vaccine by Dec. 20, and the first follow-up injections were given this week, at an interval of 21 days.

The BMA said it would support any doctors who decided to honour existing booster appointments, and urged the government to provide a “scientifically validated justification” for its new approach.

After the British government’s announcement on Wednesday, Pfizer said it had no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose was sustained after 21 days.

A spokeswoman for the National Health Service said the new guidance would “increase the number of vulnerable people protected against COVID over the next three months, potentially saving thousands of lives”.

She said financial and practical help was being provided to help accelerate vaccinations.

[Sandstorm]

2nd round of vaccine clearly much harder to manufacture.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Is this the beginnings of another UK government balls up or a risky attempt to get around production/supply issues?
There are well-qualified posters on here that may be able to give a decent view of this.

LONDON (Reuters) - British doctors have said a government decision to delay giving a coronavirus vaccine booster shot to vulnerable patients who have already had a first dose will be distressing and disruptive, their trade union said on Thursday.The government said on Wednesday it wanted to give a first dose to as many people as possible before starting to administer boosters at 12 weeks, in an effort to provide more people with a degree of protection more quickly.

But Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) committee for local family doctors, said it was “grossly and patently unfair to tens of thousands of our most at-risk patients to now try to reschedule their appointments”.

For the newly approved vaccine developed by Oxford University and made by AstraZeneca being rolled out in Britain next week, the plan is consistent with a finding that waiting 12 weeks maximises protection against the virus.

But in the case of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot that is already being given, the manufacturer said the shot had not been evaluated on dosing schedules different from the recommended 21 days.

The BMA said scores of doctors had told it that the new approach would distress vulnerable patients and create logistical problems for healthcare staff.

“The BMA believes these are patients that have already been promised ... that they will receive a second dose of Pfizer vaccination next week; they have given their consent to receive it and, quite rightly, are expecting to have it,” the BMA said.

More than 616,000 people had been given the Pfizer vaccine by Dec. 20, and the first follow-up injections were given this week, at an interval of 21 days.

The BMA said it would support any doctors who decided to honour existing booster appointments, and urged the government to provide a “scientifically validated justification” for its new approach.

After the British government’s announcement on Wednesday, Pfizer said it had no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose was sustained after 21 days.

A spokeswoman for the National Health Service said the new guidance would “increase the number of vulnerable people protected against COVID over the next three months, potentially saving thousands of lives”.

She said financial and practical help was being provided to help accelerate vaccinations.

The bottleneck is the ability to vaccinate, not the vaccines (hopefully) Twice as many people with a lower level of protection should give a better outcome WRT deaths/hospitalisations.

[Sandstorm]

So what does low level protection look like? Only 50% chance you’ll catch Covid? What Tier is that exactly?

[Dinsdale Piranha]

So what does low level protection look like? Only 50% chance you’ll catch Covid? What Tier is that exactly?

From what I have read, the vaccine provides >50% protection with a single dose however that's misleading as if effectively provides almost no protection for the first couple of weeks after vaccination. So, provided you can avoid catching it then, it's >80% effective and also reduces the severity if you do catch it.

Overall effects of just using a single dose, or increasing the time between 1st and 2nd doses hasn't been tested much and so isn't currently known.

Looks like jabbing everybody in the UK ASAP is the best strategy for the current circumstances.

[Sandstorm]

Jab everyone over 18. Keep kids at home 24/7 until it’s done.

Economy up and running ASAP, vulnerable safe, NHS secure, restaurants kid-free until June. Win-win.

[frodder]

Jab everyone over 18. Keep kids at home 24/7 until it’s done.

Economy up and running ASAP, vulnerable safe, NHS secure, restaurants kid-free until June. Win-win.

Keeping kids at home 24 x 7 - interesting

[Sandstorm]

Jab everyone over 18. Keep kids at home 24/7 until it’s done.

Economy up and running ASAP, vulnerable safe, NHS secure, restaurants kid-free until June. Win-win.

Keeping kids at home 24 x 7 - interesting

I have heard they are our future and parents would do anything to give them the best start in life....

[Saint]

So what does low level protection look like? Only 50% chance you’ll catch Covid? What Tier is that exactly?

From what I have read, the vaccine provides >50% protection with a single dose however that's misleading as if effectively provides almost no protection for the first couple of weeks after vaccination. So, provided you can avoid catching it then, it's >80% effective and also reduces the severity if you do catch it.

Overall effects of just using a single dose, or increasing the time between 1st and 2nd doses hasn't been tested much and so isn't currently known.

Looks like jabbing everybody in the UK ASAP is the best strategy for the current circumstances.

Apparently, so far unpublished data from the AZ study that MHRA have access to shows that a larger gap between dose 1&2 produces a much higher level of efficacy. The reason that the data exists is partly down the the holds that went into place during the study, which forced a large percentage of participants to receive their second dose outside of planned period.

The Pfizer study though went exactly to plan. There is literally zero data on efficacy for Pfizer for receiving a second dose outside of the planned 21 day period.

[Hal Jordan]

Just been in my local Sainsbury’s and there were 3 different groups, already pissed, getting their booze for parties. Not young either

My wife went into Waitrose yesterday (John Lewis click and collect combined with the need for a bottle of cider for the gammon I'm cooking at the moment - it's furious about Lewis Hamilton - and some sundries) and there were people loading up on the booze, the thick end of 20 wine bottles on several trollies.

I know Waitrose customers are often retirees who are too refined to be alcoholics even though they plough through the drink like Prohibition is coming back but

no way were they buying for just themselves

.

I'm a retiree and I do if they've got 25% off the really good stuff and stock up my wine store

Let the record show that the witness made the "drinky drinky" motion.