Generic Virus Thread

[sidcow]

I've only just realised the amount if time and effort this home testing of kids entails. 

We've been bombarded with information from the school about the kids going back, tons of e-mails. 

I had completely missed that WE have to record the results somewhere, it's only because me and Mrs Sidcow were talking about it that we went and re-read everything. It was not exactly highlighted at all. 

So I have 2 kids at school who have to be reminded and persuaded to each do the test twice a week. 

Then I have to go onto TWO separate websites and record the results on each,  neither of which is particularly slick.  At least the one I have an account with some basic details pre loaded, the test and trace I have to start from scratch each time AND you can only log the tests from today or yesterday at the latest. 

So we've missed Sunday already as it's too late to log and I need the barcode from the kit which went off with the dustment this morning. 

When you think of the millions of dead head and don't give a shit parents out there this is going to be a disaster, absolutely no way is this going to be comprehensively followed. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by sidcow

[bickster]

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

I've only just realised the amount if time and effort this home testing of kids entails. 

We've been bombarded with information from the school about the kids going back, tons of e-mails. 

I had completely missed that WE have to record the results somewhere, it's only because me and Mrs Sidcow were talking about it that we went and re-read everything. It was not exactly highlighted at all. 

So I have 2 kids at school who have to be reminded and persuaded to each do the test twice a week. 

Then I have to go onto TWO separate websites and record the results on each,  neither of which is particularly slick.  At least the one I have an account with some basic details pre loaded, the test and trace I have to start from scratch each time AND you can only log the tests from today or yesterday at the latest. 

So we've missed Sunday already as it's too late to log and I need the barcode from the kit which went off with the dustment this morning. 

When you think of the millions of dead head and don't give a shit parents out there this is going to be a disaster, absolutely no way is this going to be comprehensively followed. 

£37Bil

And they are still working off a spreadsheet

[bickster]

EU threatening to block AZ supplies to UK again

Quote

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to block vaccine exports to the UK and other countries with markedly higher rollouts of coronavirus jabs.

The European Union's delivery of COVID vaccines has been far slower than the rollout in the UK, where nearly 25 million adults have now had their first dose.

It has decided not to approve vaccines on an emergency basis, as the UK's regulator - the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) - has done.

With the EU facing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and less than a tenth of its population vaccinated, Ms von der Leyen accused AstraZeneca - which helped develop the Oxford University vaccine - of having "underproduced and underdelivered" to the bloc.
She warned she was "ready to use whatever tool we need" to ensure "Europe gets its fair share".

Conveniently ignoring the fact that even after they approved the Vaccine, they still hadn't approved the Factory that was specifically named in their contract with AZ as producing THEIR doses.

It seems the EU went all Boris and didn't read the contract they signed. They really aren't doing themselves any favours

[blandy]

Just got jagged. Walked out of m'front door, walked to the hozzy, vaccinated AZ and back home again - 9 minutes! Impressive.

[TrentVilla]

So the EU is throwing around threats again... on a human level I’ve every sympathy with EU citizen. As the for the political entity of the EU, it is almost amusing how they seem to think they can ignore the rule of law when it suits them and attempt to throw their weight around.

Their conduct over the last few months has been nothing short of disgraceful. 

[sharkyvilla]

BBC are saying supply will be a lot lower in April.  I think I might be waiting a while for mine as they'll surely have to prioritise second jabs.

[StefanAVFC]

30 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

it is almost amusing how they seem to think they can ignore the rule of law when it suits them and attempt to throw their weight around.

Lets not forget who broke the rule of law first. 

[trekka]

Not good.

The NHS has written to local health organisations warning of a "significant reduction in weekly supply" of coronavirus vaccines from the week beginning 29 March for a month.

It says there has been a "reduction in national inbound vaccines supply".

It also says organisations should "ensure no further appointments are uploaded to the national booking system or local booking system" in April.

The BBC understands no one who has booked a vaccine should lose a slot.

BBC

[Xela]

12 hours ago, Seat68 said:

I aint going to lie last night was **** awful. So that is what flu feels like. Banging headache, absolutely freezing for most of the night and now roasting hot. That all said I would have the jab again. 

Couple of my pals (mid 40's, no health concerns, apart from being baggies fans) said the same. Felt like shit for 24 hours. Shivering like a shitting dog in the show. 

[ender4]

So no-one under 50 to be offered the vaccine during April due to shortages.

Vaccines reserved for over 50’s - first and second jabs.

[sidcow]

So there is going to be a massive reduction in vaccines from next month, which is 100% not what they were predicting last week when they were saying that mid March and April were going to be bumper months. 

Sounds like AstraZeneca is going to dry up. 

Europe have been on at them again today about them failing their supply promises.  I reckon we're losing some of our supply to them. 

Still not heard anything about Moderna which was supposed to start sometime in March. I wonder if that's all delayed too. 

They are still saying 1 dose for all by July but I reckon their recent rumours of being well ahead of that has now fallen by the wayside. 

When is that Novavax one supposed to arrive? As it's being made in Teeside you would expect we would get a fair amount of that. 

[trekka]

Quite a good little vaccination dashboard here which uses data from PHE:

Vaccine Tracker UK

Currently predicting all adults receiving their first dose by 08th August 

[brommy]

I’m surprised the British press missed an opportunity to headline against the EU tomorrow -

They terk err jabs!

 

[mjmooney]

7 hours ago, brommy said:

I’m surprised the British press missed an opportunity to headline against the EU tomorrow -

They terk err jabs!

 

Close. 

[Genie]

The report I read yesterday (I’ll try and find it) said that the EU has not received its quota of vaccines from the UK. 

found it

Quote

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has said that if Covid vaccine supplies in Europe do not improve, the EU "will reflect whether exports to countries who have higher vaccination rates than us are still proportionate".

Post-Brexit disagreements between the EU and the UK have been heightened by the diplomatic row over the export of the vaccines.

The European Council president, Charles Michel, claimed last week that the UK had imposed an "outright ban" on the export of vaccines and their components - there is no ban though, and his claim was dismissed by the government as "completely false". 

But Mrs von der Leyen says the EU is still waiting for exports from the UK, and it wants reciprocity.

Link

Is the story “EU won’t give us our jabs” or is it more tit for tat as we’re doing to them exactly what we’re getting upset about them doing to us?

Edited March 18, 2021 by Genie

[bickster]

15 minutes ago, Genie said:

The report I read yesterday (I’ll try and find it) said that the EU has not received its quota of vaccines from the UK. 

found it

Link

Is the story “EU won’t give us our jabs” or is it more tit for tat as we’re doing to them exactly what we’re getting upset about them doing to us?

We aren't doing to them as they do to us.

The AZ delays in Europe are entirely their fault. Their supplies come from a factory in the Netherlands (or wasit Belgium I forget), that they come from this factory is written into the contract they signed

They delayed in approving the vaccine AND they delayed further in approving the factory to make the vaccine, it couldn't start production until it got approval

Them not getting their quota is of their own making and nothing we are doing to them

[sidcow]

So last week we were told the UK was going to get 10m AstraZeneca Vaccines from India (India makes about half the world's vaccines apparently) but this week we are 5m short.  I reckon it's those that are being diverted "elsewhere":

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56438629

Covid vaccine: India shortfall behind UK's supply delay

Quote

An expected reduction in the UK's Covid vaccine supply next month is due to a delay in the delivery of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses from India.

The shipment, produced by the Serum Institute of India, has been held up by four weeks, the BBC has been told.

NHS England warned of a reduction in supply in April in a letter to local health organisations on Wednesday.

The Department of Health insists it is still on track to offer a first dose to all adults by the end of July.

A spokesperson for the Serum Institute said: "Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunisation programme in India."

Quote

The Serum Institute is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines and is making one billion doses of the AstraZeneca jab this year for low and middle income countries.

Earlier this month, it agreed to supply 10 million doses for the UK, but only half of these will arrive this month with the rest delayed for several weeks.

These supplies were always part of the contract and the UK is not taking vaccines away from supplies for lower-income countries.

All the rest of the UK's AstraZeneca doses are being produced domestically and the company says there are no supply issues.

 

[Jonesy7211]

Not a conspiracy theorist, but this has Tory hands all over it. The "delay" will be down to one of two reasons;

1. Less likely. There is a growing fear that the vaccine isn't as safe as the UK gov are stating. Rather than admit this they're slowing down the rate so they can await the outcome of the WHO tests.

2. More likely. The Tories have done a deal with the EU to divert some of our supply. Quids in for the Tories, sod the people. Would also look like a massive climb down from a few weeks ago when there was all the sabre rattling over the EU blocking our supply.

I hope I'm wrong, but the vaccination program has been running too well. About time those fox chasing bastards ruined it.

[Lichfield Dean]

Interesting post on an article about the vaccine pause in several countries:

Quote

The World Health Organization is urging countries to continue using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as fears linking the shots to blood clots continue to spread wildly.

 

More than a dozen countries have recently suspended or curtailed use of the vaccine, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Sweden and Luxembourg were among the latest to pause vaccinations on Tuesday.

The comment is:

Quote

It's not just a case of normal thrombosis it's a special case of sinus (deep) vein thrombosis in combination with a low platelet count.

 

It's actually more like a heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome HIT with the DVT as a consequence of that. It's caused by anti-PF4/heparin IgG antibodies at least according to the preliminary report. It's also a rare side effect that can be caused by Heparin usage, hence the name.

 

In these cases it's a spontaneous occurance without any prior conditions or medication which makes it even more odd:

 

HIT is an exceptionally rare condition with on average 15 cases per year in Germany. We've now had 7 cases within one week, all of them close after vaccine was given. Three of the seven people affected have died.

 

Out of the seven cases six were Women below 40 without any pre existing conditions and in quite good health.

 

The temporary suspension is standrad procedure in such cases to asses what exactly happened.

 

One of the theories at the moment is that it's an interaction with hormonal contraceptives which has caused this, which is why it has primarily affected women of a certain age group.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/amid-panic-over-astrazeneca-vaccine-who-urges-countries-to-keep-using-it/

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Lichfield Dean
Felt I should quote the actual article as well as the comment on it

[Risso]

35 minutes ago, Jonesy7211 said:

Not a conspiracy theorist, but this has Tory hands all over it. The "delay" will be down to one of two reasons;

1. Less likely. There is a growing fear that the vaccine isn't as safe as the UK gov are stating. Rather than admit this they're slowing down the rate so they can await the outcome of the WHO tests.

2. More likely. The Tories have done a deal with the EU to divert some of our supply. Quids in for the Tories, sod the people. Would also look like a massive climb down from a few weeks ago when there was all the sabre rattling over the EU blocking our supply.

I hope I'm wrong, but the vaccination program has been running too well. About time those fox chasing bastards ruined it.

Good news, you're wrong! All down to fewer vaccines coming from the Indian factory for a few weeks in April. Back to normal after that apparently.