When will this shit end?

[Ozanne]

9 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

For apple fans @Ozanne face ID will work with next update and a mask if you have an apple watch also .... 1st world problems 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/02/apple-iphone-update-solves-problem-of-unlocking-faceid-in-a-mask?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

Very fancy!

[BobWillis]

5 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

 

Pessimistic rubbish. Down with that sort of thing 

[WestCountryGirl]

Just now, st dan said:

Today has been a shitty, negative day hasn’t it! It’s such a rollercoaster this pandemic - we’d had a spell of pretty good news days and things were looking up - but feeling particularly grim and fed up with it all today given various news.  

Yeah, today has really bummed me out. I had been feeling so positive with the vaccination rates, it had actually made me feel a bit optimistic about the coming months. Today has just wiped that out... feels like in a few weeks we'll be back at the start with cases on the rise again. It's just exhausting. 

[efcfanwirral]

14 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I think maybe they're going to have to accept that it's probably everywhere now....

oh absolutely - it's just the lack of information about what "it" is - is it worrying because it's developed that "superpower"? evading of the vaccines? just more infectious? More deadly? They need people to stay in their homes right now essentially, so need to explain this sort of thing MUCH better, not just vague statements in the Commons. 

I know they don't know for sure, but that data will take too long. Just say what makes it worrying 

Edited February 2, 2021 by efcfanwirral

[jparx]

You’ve got to take the ups with the downs. Viewing one bad news day in isolation is easy to do, but you have to try and keep things in context. Vaccine numbers and the news starting to trickle out from Israel are really, really positive. And even with the new variants, the vaccines still seem to be effective in reducing severe illness. 

Compared to late December we’re in a FAR better place.

[zahidf]

4 minutes ago, st dan said:

Today has been a shitty, negative day hasn’t it! It’s such a rollercoaster this pandemic - we’d had a spell of pretty good news days and things were looking up - but feeling particularly grim and fed up with it all today given various news.  

We have had some positive studies on vaccines.

 

Ups and downs i agree but some positives today. 

[PM87]

25 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

the lockdown will only now be starting to impact on the deaths - cos they'll mostly be people who caught covid 21+ days ago.

Yeah. I think my brain feels like we've been in lockdown for longer than we have been. 

[eFestivals]

Just now, BobWillis said:

Pessimistic rubbish. Down with that sort of thing 

Just rubbish.

It only mentions festivals in the sub-heading.

[PM87]

59 minutes ago, zahidf said:

 

Good to see that there is evidence of a reduction in transmission. 

[Chapple12345]

4 minutes ago, jparx said:

You’ve got to take the ups with the downs. Viewing one bad news day in isolation is easy to do, but you have to try and keep things in context. Vaccine numbers and the news starting to trickle out from Israel are really, really positive. And even with the new variants, the vaccines still seem to be effective in reducing severe illness. 

Compared to late December we’re in a FAR better place.

Completely agreed, I'm always an optimist and think the next few weeks are going to see the situation improve with the vaccination programme going well and a significant fall in cases, that mixed with the days getting longer and weather getting warmer makes me think brighter days are (literally) ahead 

[MrBarry465]

 

14 minutes ago, BobWillis said:

Pessimistic rubbish. Down with that sort of thing 

Realistic, not some sort of hopium fetishism. 

[Ozanne]

10 minutes ago, jparx said:

You’ve got to take the ups with the downs. Viewing one bad news day in isolation is easy to do, but you have to try and keep things in context. Vaccine numbers and the news starting to trickle out from Israel are really, really positive. And even with the new variants, the vaccines still seem to be effective in reducing severe illness. 

Compared to late December we’re in a FAR better place.

We are definitely in a much better position, you only need to look at the figures to see that. There might be hiccups along the road but we are making very good progress.  

[MrBarry465]

15 minutes ago, WestCountryGirl said:

Yeah, today has really bummed me out. I had been feeling so positive with the vaccination rates, it had actually made me feel a bit optimistic about the coming months. Today has just wiped that out... feels like in a few weeks we'll be back at the start with cases on the rise again. It's just exhausting. 

What is the news today specifically that has bummed you out? It's par for the course at the minute?

[efcfanwirral]

2 hours ago, zahidf said:

Peston reckons we will NEVER get back to normal

 

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-02-02/why-it-really-matters-that-the-uk-covid-19-strain-has-already-mutated-to-resemble-the-brazil-and-sa-strains

So @Toilet Duck I have a question about this paragraph (basically a summary of a quote above it in the article):

"So for the avoidance of doubt, by vaccinating the population, and with immunity being created in those who've had the virus, we are creating the very conditions that encourage the virus to mutate, to change, because if it doesn't change it dies. And almost as a matter of logic, these mutations will displace the Kent mutation when it is under control."

Well two questions really 

1) are we playing with natural evolution of the virus here? As in, could we actually make it worse by forcing it to keep changing? 

2) Could these specific mutations be down to the vaccine tests? It discusses "creating the very conditions...", but actually haven't we already done this with tens/hundreds of thousands of vaccines given in certain countries (coincidentally South Africa, Brazil and the UK)?

I'm concerned in our haste to "solve a problem" that we're perhaps in danger of making it worse...

[PM87]

4 minutes ago, Chapple12345 said:

Completely agreed, I'm always an optimist and think the next few weeks are going to see the situation improve with the vaccination programme going well and a significant fall in cases, that mixed with the days getting longer and weather getting warmer makes me think brighter days are (literally) ahead 

I need to keep reminding myself of this when I'm feeling low. Locking down in the depths of winter definitely hits harder. I cannot wait for spring!

[Crazyfool01]

Dont forget vaccines arent the only way out .... treatments are improving all the time too .... 

[Chapple12345]

5 minutes ago, PM87 said:

I need to keep reminding myself of this when I'm feeling low. Locking down in the depths of winter definitely hits harder. I cannot wait for spring!

Bare in mind also lockdown last year meant we didnt get to enjoy as much of the spring/summer as much as we usually could so this year with having such a tough winter I think this year will be a whole lot better judging by their reopening plans they're rumoured to have 

[DeanoL]

2 hours ago, Mellotr0n said:

Because if vaccines and treatments have lowered the risk of Covid leading to hospitalisations and deaths sufficiently, then case numbers become less and less important as each day goes by, no?

To a degree, but remember cases can go up exponentially, so if they're not controlled at least a little bit, then *everyone* will get it. And we can't cope with even the small proportion of younger people that get badly ill from it, all getting ill at the same time.

2 hours ago, gizmoman said:

"The government's strategy is to take drastic action wherever significant outbreaks of the new imported and indigenous variants occur, with contact tracers knocking on doors and asking people to stay home in a strict quarantine till they have had a test to identify whether they are infected."

That sound like mandatory testing, unless you have a test you can't leave the house. At the start of this we were told vaccines were the way out and a path back to a normal life, doesn't look like it now does it?

Because we're not all vaccinated yet? There was no strong evidence the vaccine prevented transmission, just the chances of catching it and the chances of getting severely ill if you do. So for it to work, everyone needs to have it.

2 hours ago, st dan said:

Was feeling nice and positive today. Check the news headlines ...

 

....

It's also possible delaying the second dose may actually save the elderly from the SA variant, we don't know yet.

I'm still positive. My understanding is that all the vaccines create a very broad immune response, like throwing a bucket of paint at the wall, it covers a huge area. Whereas each virus variant is like firing a paintball gun at the wall, it creates a much more targeted response, so when a different variant comes along (that's been shot at a different part of the wall), you might catch it again. 

It's not impossible that the virus mutates enough that it's now hitting the very edge of the wall, where the bucket of paint didn't reach, meaning the vaccine doesn't help - it's just unlikely. It's also possible the virus hits a bit of the wall where there is paint on most of it but it's not entirely covered, so the vaccine is still effective, just not *as* good as it could be.

[JoeyT]

Very encouraging signs... check whole thread!

 

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

 

Against the advice of the maker of a vaccine.  According to the advice of the other vaccine.

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, zahidf said:

 

Looks like the 12 week gap on the Oxford dose is a winner.

Isn't this just confirming what we already knew?

[Ozanne]

 

[Rex2]

41 minutes ago, MrBarry465 said:

 

Realistic, not some sort of hopium fetishism. 

It states that there is hope for meeting a couple of friends outdoors in a park. There were less restrictions last summer without a vaccine. As previously stated. Pessimistic rubbish

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, Rex2 said:

It states that there is hope for meeting a couple of friends outdoors in a park. There were less restrictions last summer without a vaccine. As previously stated. Pessimistic rubbish

Although having fewer restrictions last summer did lead to loads and loads of death.

[Crazyfool01]

for anyone feeling a bit glum today .... think about what you have done over the past year for other people ..... if someone told you one year ago you would have achieved all this for the sake of fellow humans . everyone of us might have unknowingly saved a life this year ... think about that .... we have all achieved a massive amount this year .... by doing absolutely nothing you can look back and think about the lives that have been saved by that ... we now have the jab and a definite way forward ... so keep trying to put focus into that rather than unknowns .... we have come a long way and we will see light slowly but surely .....

Edited February 2, 2021 by crazyfool1