Brexit, for once some facts.

Woosh

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So we now have second reason EU will not be going to court.
They would lose.
the problem with covid vaccination in the EU is mainly down to the Pfizer vaccine is seen as the best and AZ as second best.
Both Germany and France have substantial stock of the AZ vaccine, however, their populations prefer to wait for Pfizer supplies.
Only 15% would choose the AZ, the rest prefer to wait for the Pfizer.
They can afford to wait because their daily death tolls are about same as here.
So yes, they have a problem but it's a result of more people's choice and less the EU's deal with AZ.
 

Zlatan

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We did lose it, at Dunkirk.

Fortunately the Americans and Russians took on the task and won it for us.

We did a mini re-run of Dunkirk in Iraq at Basra where our army ran away from their angry civilians and negotiated a retreat to back home.
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We lost the battle but not the war. Besides, it's irrelevant to point I was making. Few people had organisational skills required to get production up to required level, especially after losses at Dunkirk.. So I, ll let Dowding answer. Think he knew rather more than us.
Screenshot_20210310_112354.jpg

Point is he was a mate of Churchill with similar politics, extremely rich (was a millionaire before he was 30) and could easily have been overlooked in that his appointment was "cronyism". Turned out to have been an inspired choice.
Boris and even Hancock will have friends who are capable,agreed not all of them but to my mind Kate Bingham certainly is and Liz Truss ain't doing bad either. (jury still out on that tho)
 
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Zlatan

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the problem with covid vaccination in the EU is mainly down to the Pfizer vaccine is seen as the best and AZ as second best.
Both Germany and France have substantial stock of the AZ vaccine, however, their populations prefer to wait for Pfizer supplies.
Only 15% would choose the AZ, the rest prefer to wait for the Pfizer.
They can afford to wait because their daily death tolls are about same as here.
So yes, they have a problem but it's a result of more people's choice and less the EU's deal with AZ.
Agreed but they are tied together somewhat. Macron hadn't helped with his comments either. And it does depend where you look with regard to cases in EU. There are areas going under much more stringent restrictions that would benefit now from the vaccine. Personally don't think any countries have time to waste with roll out.
(France had 23,000 new cases yesterday, 1000 more than previous week)
They need vaccine just as quick as anyone. I wish we, d had it 6 months ago.
 
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Jesus H Christ

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the problem with covid vaccination in the EU is mainly down to the Pfizer vaccine is seen as the best and AZ as second best.
Both Germany and France have substantial stock of the AZ vaccine, however, their populations prefer to wait for Pfizer supplies.
Only 15% would choose the AZ, the rest prefer to wait for the Pfizer.
They can afford to wait because their daily death tolls are about same as here.
So yes, they have a problem but it's a result of more people's choice and less the EU's deal with AZ.
The AZ being the second best vaccine nonsense is a myth perpetuated by the EU because they view that vaccine as being a British product. It’s as simple and as stupid that.

They’ll be using it soon. Things are heading in the wrong direction in some EU states.
 

flecc

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Point is he was a mate of Churchill with similar politics, extremely rich (was a millionaire before he was 30) and could easily have been overlooked in that his appointment was "cronyism". Turned out to have been an inspired choice.
I didn't disagree with this, it was a good point. But we lost WW2 and had to be rescued from or stupidity and incompetence, just as we would have failed in WW1 without the rest of the world helping, remember the saying "Heroes led by donkeys".

It's only when we British finally accept that we are no good at waging war and lose on almost every occasion in modern times that we'll see sense and stop getting involved in it.
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oyster

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Shapps obviously doesn't remember the controversy over building the Skye bridge!

If he wants to talk about improving connectedness, he should study some geography.

How about Isle of Wight as a much more modest bridge/tunnel proposal?

Or a Kent/Essex, or Swansea/Devon ferry?

Shapps rejected a claim by the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, that money could be better spent than on building a link between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He told the BBC: “I understand that it is not the responsibility of the Scottish first minister to connect the United Kingdom together. The Scottish first minister doesn’t even believe we should be in a united kingdom. So I understand her perspective but I think it is wrong.

“For example, if you live in Northern Ireland, you want to know that you can reliably get the hauliers and lorry drivers in with goods from the mainland of the British Isles. Why would you ever be against connecting different parts of our country in a better way? It shouldn’t be a controversial thought at all.

“As one small part of this union connectivity review [we will] undertake a study of the feasibility of doing that and we will report back in the summer.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/10/review-consider-feasibility-scotland-northern-ireland-tunnel
 
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Zlatan

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I didn't disagree with this, it was a good point. But we lost WW2 and had to be rescued from or stupidity and incompetence, just as we would have failed in WW1 without the rest of the world helping, remember the saying "Heroes led by donkeys".

It's only when we British finally accept that we are no good at waging war and lose on almost every occasion in modern times that we'll see sense and stop getting involved in it.
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Thanks.. I see it a bit different to you flecc, in that we certainly could not have won the war without USA and Russia but we had to not lose the war before USA joined in. Don't forget the none aggression pact between Russia and Hitler wasn't breached until Hitler gave up on his attempt to invade UK. A task that was actually way harder than public assume. Yep, we like to paint picture of the few saving the day but a hastily planned sea borne invasion by a military leader purely versed in land battles was a recipe for disaster. We were not as susceptible as folk think... And could Russia have staved off Hitler without American jeeps, tanks and weapons taken there by British seamen? All rather hypothetical now, we did become a great big aircraft carrier for USA and Russia did slog it out in biggest tank battles before or since.. So yes, no victory without Uncle Sam or Russia... But also likely no victory for them without our determined resistance to start with.
Sometimes not losing is all you can do. That's all we did upto 41.
When you defend a castle you can't win a war. We were defending at Battle Of Britain, not losing is all you can do. We were the last vestige of humanity in Europe. Had we actually lost world would to this day be a different place.
Besides, we actually lost war to the USA.
 
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Zlatan

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Agreed, we lost both the war and the peace to them.

The sooner we separate ourselves from them and make our own peace, the better.
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Yep, but trouble is, and we rarely acknowledge it, we have a great big issue as a nation with the French and Germans. Yes, it's all funny and amusing most of the time but I really think there is an actual distrust on our regards to both nations. Programming of thousands of years perhaps. I think it's vice versa as well.
I think, only my opinion, we see USA as cousins, our descendants, brothers in arms at last major conflicts. We have an inbuilt suspicion of French motives and German desires.??? Not conducive to joining up as a Federal state??
I, m not condoning any of this but suspect there is much more of an us and them between UK and France, Germany and to a lesser extent Spain. Don't see it with any other nations..
 

Zlatan

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Great article exploring our chances of opening up at the various stages.
(slight anomoly, it talks of having vaccinated 101% of 75 to 79 year olds, read it, it explains)??!!
 
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Woosh

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They need vaccine just as quick as anyone. I wish we, d had it 6 months ago.
their governments may wish that, the population is not going to accept what they see as second best.
 
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Jesus H Christ

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their governments may wish that, the population is not going to accept what they see as second best.
and it’s their idiot governments who are responsible that false belief. Tiny little pigmy President Mr Micron being one of the worst offenders.
 
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flecc

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I think, only my opinion, we see USA as cousins, our descendants, brothers in arms at last major conflicts. We have an inbuilt suspicion of French motives and German desires.??? Not conducive to joining up as a Federal state??
An illustration of how stupid we are, the USA is nothing of the sort. It's more German, French, Dutch, Italian, Scandinavian, Irish, African and Hispanic than British. Being aligned with them is like being in the EU Plus and these days it's on course for the Hispanics to be the majority group there before long.

Somehow we need the British to stop being delusional and start looking at the facts rather than the false beliefs in our utterly dishonest history, but I doubt it will happen. We'll probably end up sinking below the metaphorical surface, still stiff upper lipped and still waving the union jack, itself a falsely named flag.
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Woosh

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and it’s their idiot governments who are responsible that false belief. Tiny little pigmy President Mr Micron being one of the worst offenders.
I think you give too much importance to Mr Macron.
His party does not have a majority like the conservatives have here nor has sympathetic tabloids and TVs.
It's a doctor who made the point on TV that the AZ vaccine scored only 62% at phase 3 test against 95% for the Pfizer and Moderna. The fact is well known, the argument is solid.
the AZ phase 3 trials were mired by stupid mistakes: low dose yields better score, the vaccine is more important to protect the 65+ and yet, their 65+ cohort was so small that the confidence interval was too big to be trusted.
It's only now that we learn that the AZ vaccine works better with older patients and longer interval than AZ knew at the time they applied for licence.
Until some study shows that the AZ is better than the Pfizer, they are not wrong to wait for the Pfizer.
 

Danidl

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The AZ being the second best vaccine nonsense is a myth perpetuated by the EU because they view that vaccine as being a British product. It’s as simple and as stupid that.

They’ll be using it soon. Things are heading in the wrong direction in some EU states.
Could you eventually cop yourself on?. ..Too much to hope for ,I expect. The AZ vaccine was the second vaccine authorised in the UK and then in EU. In both cases, it was supplied with inadequate data regarding its efficacy on older cohorts . The UK took the view, any port in a storm, and the EU said we need evidence. The EMA stated that with evidence they would probably review the matter. This was all stated on RTE news the day the EMA reported. Well its use in the UK has provided that evidence, so thanks for being the lab rats ,and the EMA has reviewed, and the National Regulatory Bodies have authorised its more general use. .. However fat lot of good it does, when the original paid for order is reduced by 60% of its agreed amounts, and even that is running at a deficit of 23%..
The Irish vaccines board has said that they have had to revise scheduling and distribution on 15 occasions over the last 2 months due to failures of delivery... Not always AZ.
 

oldgroaner

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We lost the battle but not the war. Besides, it's irrelevant to point I was making. Few people had organisational skills required to get production up to required level, especially after losses at Dunkirk.. So I, ll let Dowding answer. Think he knew rather more than us.
View attachment 41204

Point is he was a mate of Churchill with similar politics, extremely rich (was a millionaire before he was 30) and could easily have been overlooked in that his appointment was "cronyism". Turned out to have been an inspired choice.
Boris and even Hancock will have friends who are capable,agreed not all of them but to my mind Kate Bingham certainly is and Liz Truss ain't doing bad either. (jury still out on that tho)
But Churchill ended up having to get rid of Beaverbrook and replace him with Ernest Bevan and he increased the production everything from coal to munitions
 
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Zlatan

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I think you give too much importance to Mr Macron.
His party does not have a majority like the conservatives have here nor has sympathetic tabloids and TVs.
It's a doctor who made the point on TV that the AZ vaccine scored only 62% at phase 3 test against 95% for the Pfizer and Moderna. The fact is well known, the argument is solid.
the AZ phase 3 trials were mired by stupid mistakes: low dose yields better score, the vaccine is more important to protect the 65+ and yet, their 65+ cohort was so small that the confidence interval was too big to be trusted.
It's only now that we learn that the AZ vaccine works better with older patients and longer interval than AZ knew at the time they applied for licence.
Until some study shows that the AZ is better than the Pfizer, they are not wrong to wait for the Pfizer.
But Woosh it wasn't as clear cut as that. At the time those figures were used to support the narrative EU wanted at time.
On closer inspection it turned out during trials AZ included all figures from day 1 after jab. Obviously that would include any who catch (or caught) disease from 4 days before to 14 days after. Pfizer removed those figures and counted from day 14..Now ask yourself why that was never pointed out at the time. EU wanted Pfizer to be seen as better (the French at that time still had hope for their own vaccine)
These sort of things should never have got into public domain. JVT and Sarah Ferguson summed it up for UK at the time. Both said look trial results are exactly that but the AZ vaccine kept 90% plus of people out of hospital.
For once our messaging was simple. Take the vaccine, stay out of hospital.
EU were playing games and micro studying trial results which by their nature do not hold the accuracy they bestowed on them.
Full credit to our lot for a change.
Real accuracy about the vaccine efficacy will become available. For the time being just accept it keeps you out the hospital. That by no means makes it Quasi effective. They didn't know, the don't now and won't for another year.
EU cocked up, helped by Macron and Merkel. We didn't. But wait. Give us time. Early days yet.
 
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Zlatan

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Could you eventually cop yourself on?. ..Too much to hope for ,I expect. The AZ vaccine was the second vaccine authorised in the UK and then in EU. In both cases, it was supplied with inadequate data regarding its efficacy on older cohorts . The UK took the view, any port in a storm, and the EU said we need evidence. The EMA stated that with evidence they would probably review the matter. This was all stated on RTE news the day the EMA reported. Well its use in the UK has provided that evidence, so thanks for being the lab rats ,and the EMA has reviewed, and the National Regulatory Bodies have authorised its more general use. .. However fat lot of good it does, when the original paid for order is reduced by 60% of its agreed amounts, and even that is running at a deficit of 23%..
The Irish vaccines board has said that they have had to revise scheduling and distribution on 15 occasions over the last 2 months due to failures of delivery... Not always AZ.
Yes, because contracts were poor.
AZ (as was told to you in link by a contract lawyer previously linked to) agreed to "try and supply EU" because their efforts were already aimed at "supplying" UK in a contract signed 3 months earlier.
You can't roll up at a firm 3 months after somebody else and demand priority when that priority has already been promised to another party.
AZ, even in contracts, said they would "try". Which they are doing.
Read the link. It wasn't political. It simply explained situation and contracts.
And why you and EU are wrong on this issue.
They don't have a leg to stand on in court and won't want to wash their dirty linen in public. They cocked up and they know it. They are in damage limitation now. They should be organising new contracts because they have made same mistake with Moderna, who today have announced they will only be delivering 25% asked for to EU.. Who is common party in all these arguments?? EU is.
If you had signed a contract to purchase a new ebike 3 months ago and I rolled up today and bought the one you were waiting for I bet you, d be p! ssed off, and rightly so. The firm should supply yours and say to me"we, ll try and get you one". That's exactly the situation with EU, oh and fact swathes of EU won't accept jab because it's rubbish. (Berlin has 3 million unused doses)???
Only EU could argue on the one hand vaccine is Quasi effective, no good for those over 65 but can you supply your output before prior requests, oh and we, ve got stocks of the stuff unused. Shambles.
 
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