Coronavirus

[Bryn]

My understanding is that masks are only required in closed spaces (eg inside shops) or where social distancing is not possible - otherwise the mask offers little or no benefit - many of the 'fancy' masks are I suspect also fairly useless as compared with the standard surgical mask.

KN95s are pretty good, even if they sound as if they might burn your eyes.

[Hitch]

I wish most people would adopt a belt-and-braces approach, so to speak, until the virus is all but eliminated. There is still a danger of a flare-up, particularly if a new variant gains a grip. Mask-wearing and numerous lockdowns are deeply tiresome, but we will be gnashing our teeth if the UK lowers its guard too soon.

[Frances_iom]

you would be better advised to write to your MP to ensure that foreign travel is significantly reduced this summer - if allowed then we will see more situations such as the outbreak of one of the variants in South London brought in by a returnee from Africa who was not required to be quarantined. The variant now ranging thru Brazil is the one to be worried about - it seems also to target the under 40s who are not yet being vaccinated

[Hitch]

you would be better advised to write to your MP to ensure that foreign travel is significantly reduced this summer - if allowed then we will see more situations such as the outbreak of one of the variants in South London brought in by a returnee from Africa who was not required to be quarantined. The variant now ranging thru Brazil is the one to be worried about - it seems also to target the under 40s who are not yet being vaccinated

This is partly why I urge people to be more careful. There has been a steady influx through the airports with no sign of it stopping. For the sake of clarity, and because the internet is feverish (no pun intended), this is not an anti-immigration/anti-foreigner argument but a plea for stringent precautions.

Having said my piece, I'll comment no more on this subject.

[Dave2002]

Here is a map of the world, showing how the vaccination process is going - https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/c...-distribution/

Hover your mouse over countries on the map to see how many vaccinations have been given in each one.

[Anastasius]

Well, I had my 'mystery' jab today and my thanks to whoever it was mentioned the Com-Cov2 trial. No idea what I had, of course, but no side-effects...can't even see where they put the needle in.

[Dave2002]

This article - which to a degree compares vaccine types - is interesting - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...-clots/618594/

It biases discussion slightly towards the Pfizer and Moderna type vaccines - which according to the article are mRNA based vaccines -
set against the evidence that for most people over (say) 40 risks with other vaccines are still very low, and the risks from Covid-19 rather worse.

The J&J and Astra-Zeneca vaccines are adenovirus-vector vaccines - and I'll have to look that up again to see how those are different from other sorts.

In an ideal world all medical treatments, including vaccines, would be 100% effective and 100% safe, but that's not the case, so there are risks to be balanced.

However this quote from the article shows that sometimes decision making, even if only relatively short term before better options become available, might be poor -

But when the U.S. in 1999 stopped using a vaccine against rotavirus because of rare reports of intestinal blockage, the rest of the world fell in line,
despite the fact that the virus was killing about half a million kids worldwide each year.
“The decision was made, essentially, if it’s not good enough for you, it’s not good enough for us,” O’Leary says.

Now we need to see whether the vaccines, plus also the vaccine supplies and other medical equipment hold up against new variants of Covid-19.
The situation in India at present seems desperate, with supplies and infrastructure being completely overwhelmed.

[teamsaint]

I was a bit surprised to see ( in the Mail) that apparently almost 50% of 16-24s have covid antibodies. I can’t see figures for how many have had vaccinations, but it can’t be more than 10% of the group at a guess, meaning that 40% approx have had covid or had prior immunity.
Any thoughts?

[Dave2002]

I noticed a similar thing in today's briefing session. I'm not sure that it was as high as 50% in the age range you mentioned, but there was a significant number of young people who appeared to have antibodies. The proportion having been vaccinated was assumed to be very low as it's only today that 42 year olds can ask for a jab. Some young and vulnerable people may have been vaccinated.

[teamsaint]

I noticed a similar thing in today's briefing session. I'm not sure that it was as high as 50% in the age range you mentioned, but there was a significant number of young people who appeared to have antibodies. The proportion having been vaccinated was assumed to be very low as it's only today that 42 year olds can ask for a jab. Some young and vulnerable people may have been vaccinated.

46.5% in England among 16-24s quoted in the Mail.

[cloughie]

46.5% in England among 16-24s quoted in the Mail.

I wonder what proportion of those has ever tested positive or have they just be asymptomatic cases under the radar?

[Pulcinella]

I'm slightly confused by some of the recent reports.
I'm pretty sure that the ZOE app asked about reactions to the jab only in the vicinity of the injection, so didn't deal with any temperature/nausea effects and such like.
I'll check if they ask again following my second jab on Saturday.

Also, it asks to report antibody tests, so I entered the one I did for uk biobank (which was negative; but the biobank documentation said not to worry if this was the case even after one shot) as 'negative', but presumably better news would have been if I'd been 'positive', though since the app didn't ask if it was a Covid test or an antibody test (unless all self-administered finger-prick tests are merely for antibodies) just looking at 'negative' or 'positive' responses will surely not be the correct way of making any analysis.

[french frank]

I wonder what proportion of those has ever tested positive or have they just be asymptomatic cases under the radar?

Yes, they may well have had Covid, been asymptomatic and been spreading the virus among others. It's thought that even vaccinated people can spread it though they themselves have immunity.

[teamsaint]

Yes, they may well have had Covid, been asymptomatic and been spreading the virus among others. It's thought that even vaccinated people can spread it though they themselves have immunity.

The widespread perception that vaccinated people cannot have and spread covid is just plain wrong, but is being actively promoted by those with an interest in maximising the numbers vaccinated.



Nobody seems interested in testing younger people for antibodies before vaccinating them ,which seems such an obvious step to take.

[Bryn]

The widespread perception that vaccinated people cannot have and spread covid is just plain wrong, but is being actively promoted by those with an interest in maximising the numbers vaccinated.



Nobody seems interested in testing younger people for antibodies before vaccinating them ,which seems such an obvious step to take.

No, it is not "just plain wrong", but it is not just plain right, either. See, for instance, https://news.yahoo.com/vaccinated-pe...44G5O-DAMuI740 . Perhaps the way to think about the issue is that vaccination helps accelerate the development of herd immunity by giving the virus less opportunity to mutate.