Plan B Forum

Big RR wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:43 pm

While I understand the sentiment, I have some very close friends and family who have chosen not to be vaccinated, including a niece who is almost like a daughter to me. I have discussed my view with them and they have chosen not to vaccinate regardless of it. I really don't want to see any of them suffer and/or die, but they have made their choice. I will grieve greatly if anything happens to any of them, but there are things I can change and things I cannot, and this is one of those in the latter group.

Covid-19 is no longer a disease of the vaccinated, the head of the Oxford jab programme has said.

The “ongoing horror” of patients gasping for breath in hospital is now “largely restricted” to people who are unvaccinated, according to Prof Sir Andrew Pollard.

Even though the more transmissible Delta variant continues to infect thousands, most of those who are fully vaccinated will experience only “mild infections” that are “little more than an unpleasant inconvenience”.

Writing for the Guardian, Pollard said: “Among the general public, the pandemic is still regarded as a silent pestilence, made visible in the images of patients fighting for their next breath … This ongoing horror, which is taking place across ICUs in Britain, is now largely restricted to unvaccinated people.

“Generally, Covid-19 is no longer a disease of the vaccinated; vaccines tend to limit its suffocating affliction, with a few exceptions.”

Scientists are hopeful that the booster jabs rollout and immunity from the summertime spread of the Delta variant should help the UK escape the surge in infections seen in parts of Europe.


The UK, which saw measures eased in the summer and has higher vaccination levels than some European countries, will probably not be hit as hard, Pollard said. “In countries with lower vaccination rates, the impact of the current wave in hospital ICUs will be far worse than in Britain.”

However, Pollard, one of those behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, said Covid would still pile pressure on the NHS this winter – with unvaccinated patients requiring intensive care and double-jabbed patients who are older and frail still at risk of “life-threatening” health issues.

“The latest wave of the virus in the UK, which is now rising rapidly in parts of Europe, will directly translate into a stream of mostly unvaccinated patients entering ICU,” he said in the article jointly authored with Prof Brian Angus, professor of infectious disease at the University of Oxford. “To prevent serious illness, these people need first and second doses of the vaccine as soon as possible.

“For those of us fortunate enough to have already been vaccinated, the story now seems very different. For most vaccinated individuals, these mild infections are little more than an unpleasant inconvenience.”

But for those who are very frail, immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions, Pollard and Angus said, Covid infections can still be “enough to destabilise them” and cause “serious, life-threatening health problems that add to the pressure on the NHS”.

Prof Peter Openshaw, of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told BBC Breakfast on Monday he was pleased that the UK could currently avoid measures being introduced in Europe.

However, he added: “I am concerned that we do have really quite high levels of transmission in the UK. My personal preference would be that we should really try to get these rates down – we know that masks do work … because there are people who are unvaccinated for various reasons, and we do need to try and reduce the level of circulation of the virus, as well as getting up vaccination rates.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -scientist

Big RR wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 23, 2021 2:36 pm

Guin--I agree; they can and do cause problems for others, especially those who are immunocompromised (it appears breaktthrough infections in the vaccinated are generally not a major problem, although there are exceptions). Happily, it does appear some treatments are on the way which will reduce hospitalizations even more, even in those with compromised immune systems. In the meantime, all they can do is try and protect themselves, which may include wearing N95 masks in public (and avoiding public gatherings as much as possible). It is not a good (or even fair) response, but it is all we have. In addition we have to take steps to protect others as well, being sure we are vaccinated, social distancing/masking, and excluding the unvaccinated from celebration where they may come into contact with people at risk.

Good luck with your writing of policies for your clients; it's pretty sad when businesses have a more rational approach than the government.

Crackpot wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 25, 2021 11:22 pm

According to my wife they are about to run out of equipment at her hospital for treating Covid patients.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be "of concern" and named it Omicron. It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said. It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. A number of countries around the world have now decided to ban or restrict travel to and from southern Africa. Travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini will not be able to enter the UK unless they are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents.

Fears are growing about the new Botswana Covid-19 variant which experts believe is the most mutated version of the virus to date. The B.1.1529 strain, which could soon be named Nu, carries 32 mutations of which many are highly transmissible and vaccine resistant. So far, only 10 cases of the strain have been recorded worldwide but it has already been identified in three countries. The first infections were spotted in Botswana, followed by another six cases in South Africa and one in Hong Kong involving a traveller returning from South Africa