Covid the *** and the final stage.

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Hop_it]

Had my second Oxford-AZ *** yesterday. She wasn't very gentle, and I winced when the needle went in. So far the only side effects are a sore arm, and a bit of a headache this morning . . . . However, that may have been the result of the beer, red wine and rum I was drinking last night

 

[marshbrewer]

Went for my first *** today - got the AZ one, so I'll wait and see of I get any side effects. The jabby dude said he would be happy for me to rock up for my second a week or so early, as then I'll have more time between it and my planned wedding, which I thought was nice of him. I'll take him up on that if there is any chance of a honeymoon, as I suspect they will want you to have had your second *** a while before travelling to let the antibodies develop fully?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It appears the first dose figures are not climbing as fast as they were. Is this to target the second dose or a reluctance by the younger age group?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

BBC News -
India has been added to a “red list” of countries from which most travel to the UK is banned over fears of a new Covid variant, the health secretary has said.

From 04:00 BST on Friday, most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be refused entry.
British or Irish passport holders, or people with UK residence rights, will be allowed in but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
Matt Hancock said there have been 103 UK cases of the India variant.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Hancock said the vast majority of the cases of the new variant had been linked to international travel
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India, which had been due to take place on 26 April, amid rising cases there.
Health officials in the UK are investigating whether a variant first found in India spreads more easily or is resistant to treatments or vaccines.
It comes as the UK recorded four deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, according to the latest government figures.
It is the lowest daily figure since 7 September, although the number of deaths recorded on Mondays and over the weekend tend to be lower because of reporting delays.
The data also showed there were also 2,963 new infections. Meanwhile, more than 10m people in the UK received a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 33 million people have had their first dose.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.

 

[soupdragon]

It appears the first dose figures are not climbing as fast as they were. Is this to target the second dose or a reluctance by the younger age group?

Got to be the rollout of 2nd doses

Cheers Tom

 

[ade1982]

If there is one thing this country has got right, it's the speed of vaccination.

My Uni housemate (20 years ago) was, at the time of reporting, the only person to contract a blood clot in Wales. He's a twin, so they are doing studies on both of them.

 

[Hop_it]

BBC News -
India has been added to a “red list” of countries from which most travel to the UK is banned over fears of a new Covid variant, the health secretary has said.

From 04:00 BST on Friday, most people who have travelled from India in the last 10 days will be refused entry.
British or Irish passport holders, or people with UK residence rights, will be allowed in but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
Matt Hancock said there have been 103 UK cases of the India variant.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Hancock said the vast majority of the cases of the new variant had been linked to international travel
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India, which had been due to take place on 26 April, amid rising cases there.
Health officials in the UK are investigating whether a variant first found in India spreads more easily or is resistant to treatments or vaccines.
It comes as the UK recorded four deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, according to the latest government figures.
It is the lowest daily figure since 7 September, although the number of deaths recorded on Mondays and over the weekend tend to be lower because of reporting delays.
The data also showed there were also 2,963 new infections. Meanwhile, more than 10m people in the UK received a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 33 million people have had their first dose.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.

I really cannot understand why the decision to wait until Friday ????? There will probably be an almighty rush of people to get back before the deadline - all of whom are potential carriers . . . . . Its madness to wait

 

[ade1982]

I really cannot understand why the decision to wait until Friday ????? There will probably be an almighty rush of people to get back before the deadline - all of whom are potential carriers . . . . . Its madness to wait

I wonder if it's something to do with the legality of doing something like this. I wholly agree and am frustrated by the delays though.

 

[Covrich]

It appears the first dose figures are not climbing as fast as they were. Is this to target the second dose or a reluctance by the younger age group?

I think its as expected. they are looking to ramp up the 2nd doses in april and the 40s are probably going to get the green light in May. I imagine 30s will come in June and 20s July.

 

[ade1982]

They are down the 30s in Wales already. My partner and all the similar aged people had their first last week (45), my friend (39) and my BiL (39) have theirs this week. But second jabs will slow this down.

Latest stats:

• Clinical risk groups 16-64 years: 296,994 (84.2%)
• 60-64 years: 187,226 (91%)
• 55-59 years: 206,659 (88.4%)
• 50-54 years: 195,282 (85.7%)
• 40-49 years: 234,336 (59.8%)
• 30-39 years: 120,464 (28.7%)
• 18-29 years: 85,668 (18.4%)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I really cannot understand why the decision to wait until Friday ????? There will probably be an almighty rush of people to get back before the deadline - all of whom are potential carriers . . . . . Its madness to wait

I wonder if it's something to do with the legality of doing something like this. I wholly agree and am frustrated by the delays though.

This may be the reason - (full article link below)

In late March, India's health authority said 771 variants of concern had been detected in a sample of almost 11,000 positive cases - a fraction of the millions of cases recorded in the country.
India has a greater sequencing ability than Pakistan or Bangladesh, although it is far behind the UK, which does about half of the world's sequencing.
We asked the government why India wasn't added before. Its response did not directly answer the question but said the red list was kept "under constant review".
"Nobody knows the full criteria - but there may be a political element because the UK wants a trade deal with India," Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology, at the University of Reading, said.
"It's not always a data-driven decision," he added, giving the example of Somalia, which is on the red list but has one of the lowest official rates of infection and deaths in the world.

Full article - Covid: Why was India not already on the red list? - BBC News

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[Hop_it]

This may be the reason - (full article link below)

In late March, India's health authority said 771 variants of concern had been detected in a sample of almost 11,000 positive cases - a fraction of the millions of cases recorded in the country.
India has a greater sequencing ability than Pakistan or Bangladesh, although it is far behind the UK, which does about half of the world's sequencing.
We asked the government why India wasn't added before. Its response did not directly answer the question but said the red list was kept "under constant review".
"Nobody knows the full criteria - but there may be a political element because the UK wants a trade deal with India," Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology, at the University of Reading, said.
"It's not always a data-driven decision," he added, giving the example of Somalia, which is on the red list but has one of the lowest official rates of infection and deaths in the world.

Full article - Covid: Why was India not already on the red list? - BBC News

Thanks. A very interesting article. Better late than never, but not really good enough, particularly when we are just starting to relax the lock-down measures.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It appears the first dose figures are not climbing as fast as they were. Is this to target the second dose or a reluctance by the younger age group?

Yep - it's all to do with being 12 weeks after the vax programme really got going so the focus is almost entirely on getting 2nd jabs into the over 70s, and the first jabs for 45-49 yos are being done with whatever is left. Which isn't much due to some supply issues - at one stage they stopped all new appointments for first jabs in April until they had more visibility on supply.

Whilst one can't be complacent, it seems that vaccination reluctance isn't going to be a big issue in the UK - even the 20-something's are looking like 85+% uptake, for the next 2+ months the problem is supply rather than demand.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[simon12]

I just read that of everyone hospitalised before the end on March only 32 had had a vaccine dose 3 weeks or more before. I won't post the link as its behind a pay subscription wall but they say the full data will be released tomorrow.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The original report is here : https://assets.publishing.service.g...nated_patients_during_the_second_wave__2_.pdf

Still doesn't mean we're out of the woods - what's going on in India and Brazil is horrendous, and a great breeding ground for new variants.