Coronavirus discussion thread

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Ocelot Spleens Feb 2021 8:33am, 8 Feb 2021 30,139 posts	0 Ocelot Spleens Only 7 weeks ToF I haven't sat in cafe since March 2020.... sat outside a couple in the summer down south when hiking the SWCP.
simbil Feb 2021 8:46am, 8 Feb 2021 9,206 posts	0 simbil LMH, I think it is expected to reduce severe illness but you are right that it has not be shown in the study. The more concerning aspect is that AZ will not stop transmission and so when we open up the SA strain could become prevalent as it will have a huge advantage over other strains. The newly planned autumn booster might need to come forward.
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2021 9:02am, 8 Feb 2021 37,617 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) We enjoyed over late summer being able to go to cafe/restaurant with my mum a couple of times and with kids/grandson. Look forward to that returning, after high enough proportion of people are vaccinated and transmission and hospital numbers go down sufficiently. And for my gym to reopen. G
jda Feb 2021 9:28am, 8 Feb 2021 9,402 posts	0 jda I’m increasingly concerned about vaccine resistance. We’ve never tried to vaccinate ourselves out of a pandemic before (obviously) and the high level of infection gives a lot of opportunities for mutations. The annual flu cycle of tweaking vaccines is a much slower and smaller affair.
simbil Feb 2021 9:32am, 8 Feb 2021 9,207 posts	0 simbil Agreed jda, suspect it needs to be a suppression strategy to limit cases and so limit chance of new strains. And that's a global problem.
Johnny Blaze Feb 2021 10:28am, 8 Feb 2021 24,745 posts	0 Johnny Blaze If the new SA variant is at the 150 case level in the UK does it follow that sooner or later, "unchecked", it could become the dominant strain in the UK, given we have a population which increasingly has either had covid or has had one or another vaccination? We are in serious lumber if it does. Anyone got any idea when alternatives to the AZ vaccine will become widely available?
jda Feb 2021 10:31am, 8 Feb 2021 9,403 posts	0 jda well it will grow or shrink according to its own R number which depends on how transmissible it is and what actions we take. If the vaccine is partially effective, and we keep a good level of suppression, we should be able to keep on top of it. But relaxing the lockdown and relying on vaccination alone quite possibly will not work.
Tim of Fife Feb 2021 10:48am, 8 Feb 2021 3,293 posts	0 Tim of Fife For those who didn't make use of cafes etc between lockdowns, that was personal choice. Personally, I went everyday for a cuppa and a blether.
Albert O Balsam Feb 2021 10:53am, 8 Feb 2021 739 posts	0 Albert O Balsam In my view, all a bit early to say regarding this new report. Until we get some peer review, and perhaps information from a larger number of people of a variety of ages it's a bit tricky to extrapolate what this means exactly. Still a lot of anthropomorphism in the press today, which is a shame Definitely don't look at reports of how Tanzania are dealing with this if you wish to be cheered up this morning.
Tim of Fife Feb 2021 11:19am, 8 Feb 2021 3,294 posts	0 Tim of Fife I just feel that, regardless of the efficacy of jags in Scotland, there has surely to be a limit on how long it is tenable to very, very severly restrict the lives of 5.5 million people? General health problems are going undealt with. Mental health issues are fast rising. Children (our future) are not being best educated. Business is on its knees. Financial debt (which impacts on future social provision) is immense. The list goes on. Protecting the lives of the mainly elderly and vulnerable has 'trumped all' for nearly a year (even though society has woefully underfunded care provision to these groups for years) But can it go on like this? When, if ever, will a hard choices need to be made? And please don't retort "what would you do instead"? I don't have the answers. Or ask "do you want bodies piling up in the street"? My answer to that is "no". But we just can't have month after month of lockdown, followed by half-life, followed by more lockdown.