Brexit, for once some facts.

[Danidl]

Interesting that no one wonders why news of the Brexit negotiations aren't given a great deal more media attention, it's effects will last far longer that this dreadful pandemic

There are two reasons.. there is very little information being released in any event and the talks are going nowhere. The EU argument that the latest fishery proposal from the UK was flim flam..when analysed.
I made the comment about 2 weeks ago that for the EU this is about the survival of coastal communities, not a short term financial hit. Or gain.

 

[Nev]

I was listening to David Salisbury on the radio earlier today he made the following suggestion which seems to make a lot of sense. He said the Pfizer vaccine provided 91% protection with one dose and this increased by 4% to 95% protection with a second dose. His idea is while there are not large amounts of this vaccine currently available, is to just administer one dose to people and not two. This will obviously enable us to vaccinate twice the number of people with this vaccine than was originally estimated. Can anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

 

[oyster]

I was listening to David Salisbury on the radio earlier today he made the following suggestion which seems to make a lot of sense. He said the Pfizer vaccine provided 91% protection with one dose and this increased by 4% to 95% protection with a second dose. His idea is while there are not large amounts of this vaccine currently available, is to just administer one dose to people and not two. This will obviously enable us to vaccinate twice the number of people with this vaccine than was originally estimated. Can anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

In the USA, they have been finding that there is sometimes enough vaccine to provide 6, even 7, doses from a bottle that is supposed to have only 5 doses. No-one can see any issues in using these extra doses.

The problem with one dose rather than two is that we do not know much about what happens to immunity if the second dose is never received, or the gap is significantly greater than the tested 21 days. But it certainly would appear to be a sensible thing to suggest.

There are also suggestions that having a second dose of different vaccine could even be advantageous.

 

[oyster]

I was listening to David Salisbury on the radio earlier today he made the following suggestion which seems to make a lot of sense. He said the Pfizer vaccine provided 91% protection with one dose and this increased by 4% to 95% protection with a second dose. His idea is while there are not large amounts of this vaccine currently available, is to just administer one dose to people and not two. This will obviously enable us to vaccinate twice the number of people with this vaccine than was originally estimated. Can anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

Adding that it doesn't just appear to be the quantity but the organisation of the brewery they are trying to arrange the **** up in - from yesterday:

NHS leaders raise concerns over pace of Covid vaccine rollout

Exclusive: more than half of hospital trusts in England yet to receive supplies as variant spreads
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/22/nhs-leaders-raise-concerns-pace-covid-vaccine-rollout

 

[Nev]

Just read the following description of Boris on another forum, made me laugh out loud.

"Still, I am not surprised that a man who dresses like he shops in Age Concern with the lights turned off and brushes his hair with a balloon conducts his professional life in the same carelessly chaotic fashion."

 

[oyster]

Just read the following description of Boris on another forum, made me laugh out loud.

"Still, I am not surprised that a man who dresses like he shops in Age Concern with the lights turned off and brushes his hair with a balloon conducts his professional life in the same carelessly chaotic fashion."

I wish we could still laugh at him. Rather than cry at what he has done and is doing (or not, IYSWIM).

 

[oyster]

I was listening to David Salisbury on the radio earlier today he made the following suggestion which seems to make a lot of sense. He said the Pfizer vaccine provided 91% protection with one dose and this increased by 4% to 95% protection with a second dose. His idea is while there are not large amounts of this vaccine currently available, is to just administer one dose to people and not two. This will obviously enable us to vaccinate twice the number of people with this vaccine than was originally estimated. Can anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

Hopefully:

The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine could be approved by UK regulators “shortly after” Christmas, according to a medical scientist.
Professor Sir John Bell, Oxford University’s regius professor of medicine, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he expects approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) “pretty shortly”.
He said: “They got data quite a long time ago but that was the first set of data. They receive multiple sets of data. So we are getting to be about prime time now, I would expect some news pretty shortly.
“I doubt we’ll make Christmas now, but just after Christmas I would expect. I have no concerns whatsoever that the data looks better than ever.”
Approval of the Oxford vaccine would be a major boost to efforts to control Covid-19 because it is easier to distribute than the Pfizer/BioNTech jab currently being used in the UK.
The government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with around 40 million available by the end of March.

 

[oyster]

Not surprised they are angry:

Anger boils over in Dover as stranded truckers demand to leave UK

Includes this which should be concerning someone, somewhere:

Logistics groups have warned that many European drivers have already refused to come to Britain in the new year when they will have to carry customs paperwork, and the need to secure a COVID-19 test will further compound the situation, pushing up freight prices.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-freight/anger-boils-over-in-dover-as-stranded-truckers-demand-to-leave-uk-idUKKBN28X0SB

 

[Wicky]

I was listening to David Salisbury on the radio earlier today he made the following suggestion which seems to make a lot of sense. He said the Pfizer vaccine provided 91% protection with one dose and this increased by 4% to 95% protection with a second dose. His idea is while there are not large amounts of this vaccine currently available, is to just administer one dose to people and not two. This will obviously enable us to vaccinate twice the number of people with this vaccine than was originally estimated. Can anyone see anything wrong with this idea?

Might be forced by what ever happens with the vaccination system - It'll be interesting to see if the system can cope with getting the correct follow up second dosage, person and staff into the same place after 21 days.

Plus 21 days between jabs may not be strictly adhered say if they got first one on 10th Dec...

 

[flecc]

NHS leaders raise concerns over pace of Covid vaccine rollout

Exclusive: more than half of hospital trusts in England yet to receive supplies as variant spreads
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/22/nhs-leaders-raise-concerns-pace-covid-vaccine-rollout

Our Croydon University Hospital was featured on TV as the first in the UK to receive and cold store the Pfizer vaccine on 5th December.

It was forecast that with enough received, the NHS key staff, care home survivors and the over 80s in the community of our borough could receive their first jab by Xmas with GPs already organising for this. Now 18 days later and in my mid 80s I've heard nothing from them.

Given the customary UK shambles when organisation is necessary, I'm betting and fully expecting that I'll still be waiting to hear something at the end of January. The health trust is already posting backtracking documents online with some vague mentions of "in the New Year".
.

 

[flecc]

Plus 21 days between jabs may not be strictly adhered say if they got first one on 10th Dec...

Latest information from my health trust is that the second appointment will be 21 or 28 days later.
.

 

[Wicky]

A continuing pattern here

Saturday — Boris Johnson said he hopes border chaos will be sorted "in a few hours"

Today Wednesday Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said "a few days"

it was all in his CV

In 1986, Johnson ran successfully for Oxford Union president, but his term was not particularly distinguished or memorable and questions were raised regarding his competence and seriousness.

...whilst at The Telegraph and The Spectator he was consistently late in delivering his copy, forcing many staff to stay late to accommodate him; some related that if they went ahead and published without his work included, he would get angry and shout at them with expletives.

Covid demands seriousness, not this government's theatre of the absurd | Rafael Behr

Even Boris Johnson’s attempts to reassure look like distress flares from a clown marooned on a fantasy island, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

www.theguardian.com

 

[oyster]

A continuing pattern here

2 days ago Saturday — Boris Johnson said he hopes border chaos will be sorted "in a few hours"

Today Wednesday Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said "a few days"

it was all in his CV

In 1986, Johnson ran successfully for Oxford Union president, but his term was not particularly distinguished or memorable and questions were raised regarding his competence and seriousness.

...whilst at The Telegraph and The Spectator he was consistently late in delivering his copy, forcing many staff to stay late to accommodate him; some related that if they went ahead and published without his work included, he would get angry and shout at them with expletives.

Maybe leopards can't change their spots. But at least they are very attractive creatures.

 

[oldgroaner]

Maybe leopards can't change their spots. But at least they are very attractive creatures.

Skunks appear pretty too.......but.......

 

[oldgroaner]

I read somewhere that Lufthansa will be ferrying in perishable items to help out.
Been trying to find the post again as the author misspelled the airlines names as "luftwaffe"

Shades of Stalingrad eh?

 

[oldgroaner]

A yuletide poem
"
Tom Scott@Tom___Scott
·

While hedge funds shorted stocks by night And bet against the pound, A WhatsApp from BoJo came down,
And glory shone around...

 

[Wicky]

Make Raab Minister of Dover.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1341718021493108736

...they will not move as they do not want to go to the back of the queue and cannot move anyway as the road is blocked in both directions. Central Dover is completely gridlocked.

Manston is now full - so there'll be some pressure on the authorities to get as many tests done as quickly as possible to clear space for any new arrivals.

 

[Wicky]

 

[oyster]

Did you see:

Essex lorry deaths: Trial was halted after Priti Patel tweet
Published
1 day ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-55403058

 

[Barry Shittpeas]

Our Croydon University Hospital was featured on TV as the first in the UK to receive and cold store the Pfizer vaccine on 5th December.

It was forecast that with enough received, the NHS key staff, care home survivors and the over 80s in the community of our borough could receive their first jab by Xmas with GPs already organising for this. Now 18 days later and in my mid 80s I've heard nothing from them.

Given the customary UK shambles when organisation is necessary, I'm betting and fully expecting that I'll still be waiting to hear something at the end of January. The health trust is already posting backtracking documents online with some vague mentions of "in the New Year".
.

It was always going to be a shambles, it's inevitable. The vaccination programme will be another test and trace fiasco with Matt Handcock and Boris Johnson doing laps of honours telling each other what a top job they've done.

I'm already hearing reports of Hospital managers and clerical staff being prioritised for vaccination over surgeons, doctors and nurses.

Getting things wrong and screwing up even the simplest of tasks is what the Uk does best.