Coronavirus: Pandemic and Panic

[The Gaffer]

Here's a rather sad casualty of the pandemic - one of the Inklings' watering holes is no more.

Although I wouldn't worry too much, St John's College is probably the richest in the UK so I have no doubt they will open it up again when the students are back.

You made some great posts up there Earniel, many thanks for that. And thanks for putting yourself in the firing line Katya.

This whole thing has thrown up some interesting "individual vs society" dilemmas. For me, it's shown how antisocial extreme individualism is. It also seems to feed off this exceptionalism that has placed the UK and the US amongst the worst-hit.

We've been watching aghast at the maskless rallies etc over recent months. I wonder how many people died as a result? That poisonous oaf Trump really, really doesn't care whether you live or die. Your only importance is to boost his flagging ego.

[Earniel]

True, we already saw the individual vs society-dilemma at play in the epidemic and the lockdown regulation, now that the vaccines have entered the arena, I expect we will see even more of it.

One way I feel like we should be happy there is such a high demand for the vaccine, despite the anti-vax movement already being on a roll, but the other way, the fight over the limited access to vaccines is not going to be pretty.

The WHO, despite its many faults, were not wrong about rich nations using their wealth to get first in the vaccination line.

I am very happy my old grandfather will soon get his second dose but... I have to admit, I find it hard to answer whether I would be as content to wait for mine until people more at risk in poorer nations have had theirs.

It also looks like we're about to have the first, proper post-Brexit row between the EU and the UK about the AstraZeneca vaccines. Aah, Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving.

[The Gaffer]

Yeah. Predictably, the rightwing truth-phobes here are claiming we got the vaccines first because of Brexit. FYI, that's a lie. We got it because we have universal healthcare: processes and expertise in contracting on a nationwide scale, health professionals who are on the money wrt assessing the evidence and a flexible, huge-scale health system that is used to rolling out vaccines to the whole population on a regular basis.

And finally, we activated emergency authorisation when the EU didn't. EU member states could have done the same thing as us, btw.

The only effect of Brexit has been to make it possible for EU states to block exports of vaccines to the UK. They have stepped back from that now, but thanks to Brexit, the supplies our switch-on health system secured 4 months prior to the EU (by prioritising availability over price), could be disrupted at any time perfectly legally. If we had still been in the EU that would have been illegal.

[Earniel]

Yeah, the emergency authorisation had a lot to do with it, for sure. But looking at the numbers, the UK currently really does need those vaccines more than us.

I would like to know on what evidence the EU concluded AstraZeneca had sold off vaccines produced by EU money. They seem so sure of that, but I still think it's quite a leap. And while AstraZeneca's response was less than satisfactory (An agreement that just says "you should do your best"? Come on! Pull the other one.) I hope it isn't just thinking that Brits in general can't be trusted to keep their words after the Brexit.

I think trying to make Ireland close their borders with NI by using the emergency mechanism just to get those vaccines to stay on the continent was a very stupid, panicked reaction. First upbrading the UK for threatening the Friday Agreement and then almost unthinkingly doing themselves. Good show, guys.

Just when I was thinking the EU was getting its act together and act as the unity it is supposed to be. The (mostly) coordinated EU response certainly aided small countries like mine. We would not have been able to negociate such vaccine deals on our own, without the weight of the EU behind us.

But then if the EU can't act as one in an emergency such as this one, questions about its usefulness are not unfounded. But I haven't seen anything new yet that convinces me the UK really is better off on its own.

Still, I would have liked them not to give Brexiteers more ammo. But then I suppose there's nothing Brexiteers won't use to twist to their advantage, whether you give them ammo or not. The moment the Brexit was based on emotions and not facts, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

One can only hope that at least with Brexit the NHS will finally get the funding it requires. Well, one can always hope for money that isn't there...but not much else. And what is that mess about not wanting to feed children?

[katya]

I got my second dose January 13th! I did get a little sick the day after (headache, body aches, nausea) but it was better the next day. I'm glad because I really am exposed to a lot of people at work, people who don't wear masks and who congregate, people who come over to visit their COVID positive family members without any masks or anything, etc... Come on guys, get it together...

[Earniel]

I'm glad to hear you have had your second dose Katya! May it keep you safe.

My granddad also has his, one should hear him brag how he didn't feel a thing! Even though he quietly admitted to my mum later that yes, his arm was kinda sore for days...

I hear you about the non-maskers. It's nowhere as bad here as overseas, but I still get annoyed everytime I cross someone in the streets who isn't wearing theirs when they should, or not correctly. Come on, it's been a year; kids take less time potty training than it takes adults to learn the nose should be inside the mask!

That Trump made masks political is IMO nothing short of murder. A mask is like really the very minimum, the most basic of things one can do so you don't kill other people.

[Earniel]

I'm going to stop looking at the vacination levels in my daily doomscrolling. It goes as slow as molasses, everybody has Opinions, and I grow tired of the constantly conflicting messages about vaccine deliveries.

"We will have so many vaccines next week....
no, there will be less...
Aaah panic!....
Oh no, we actually meant we just get what was agreed....
nope again
two vaccine makers will not deliver this week...
no, three!
I mean, one!
Aaah, panic!
Yes, not next week either...
hahah, we meant April, May, June, July...
Erm....some day?
Aaah, panic!
No, scratch that....
...instead of delivering in April we will deliver in April. "

My sympathies to those who have to manage the vaccinations, one would go bonkers with less.

[Earniel]

My parents finally have their first shot!

My invitation should arrive somewhere at the end of the month. Joy. Probably fashionably late so it can nicely scupper ANY chance of a summer holiday with the family. Again. Haven't seen my granddad in nine months now.

Still, musn't complain, I guess.

Although it is REALLY annoying to constantly see references to places like the USA and even Wallonia(!) where doctors are warning they'll have to let vaccines expire if they can't find more people willing to get the shot and I have been waiting for months and still am not eligible...

Then again, if I look at the news from India and the trouble they have there, I suppose I should count myself lucky indeed. Annoyance is way preferable to death, any time.

[Snowdog]

I'll be getting my 1st shot this week.

[The Gaffer]

Thanks for your kind and sensible wishes. The freedom-lovin brigade are really on the loose now, nothing is sacred, even public health measures in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century.

But stay tuned, there's a whole slew of Brexit-related hilarity piling up. Shortage of lorry drivers has meant empty shelves in the shops. Now the gas price has gone mental, a load of gas companies are going bust, and there's a shortage of - wait for it - carbon dioxide. This is used in food processing to keep food fresh. Food packagers have about 2 days' supply left..

But never mind, what about that Emma Raducanu, eh?

You really couldn't make this up, not in the most deranged, acid-fuelled, Kafka-esque nightmare.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

Thanks for your kind and sensible wishes. The freedom-lovin brigade are really on the loose now, nothing is sacred, even public health measures in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century.

So I've heard.But at least shops and market stalls will now be able to fully embrace the imperial units once again. Always nice to see leaders having the right priorities!

't would almost be funny if this wasn't the real world and real people and real lives being affected and lost by this ... rampant idiocy.

But never mind, what about that Emma Raducanu, eh?

And such a good and proper British name!

You really couldn't make this up, not in the most deranged, acid-fuelled, Kafka-esque nightmare.

No, truly, you can't. If people had told us last year that THIS is what we had to contend with in 2021 we'd have laughed them out of the park.

We knew Brexit would be bad. But this... *shakes head*

Gotta laugh now still. Because so much of this nonsense is making you weep otherwise and you'd never stop.

[The Gaffer]

LoL re Emma, yes, I think the Daily Express had a full-height headline saying "send these migrants back" (meaning the desperate people trying to cross the channel in rubber dinghies) right beside a full-height photo of the lovely Emma in her tennis gear winning the US Open. Never mind post-truth, we're living in a post-hypocrisy world now.

Re: making you weep. Yes quite. Here's something that actually made me weep. The right-wing have lately taken to attacking the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution - a charity staffed by volunteers who, whatever the weather, will come out to sea and save you if you are in trouble). They have been saving migrants' lives in the North Sea and bringing them to shore.

Something about that was like a morgul blade to the heart. I'm a sailor myself so I know the risks well, and the fear. It's utterly barbaric, not just that people think we should be sending these people back to their deaths, but that they feel that they can say it out loud.

It's toughest for younger folks I think. My middle son is now old enough to understand what a feckin dog's breakfast we've made of his world. When I was his age all we had to worry about was nuclear war. I guess at a very crude level it's not as bad as that (though it's not gone away!), but the difference is, climate catastrophe is pretty much guaranteed, you've no chance of buying a house unless you're already minted and the economy is collapsing before your eyes.

Still, I should stop all this Remoaning nonsense and drown my sorrows in a bushel of warm beer.

(Actually, that's what I have been doing )

In other news, we've had actual Covid in the house here. Youngest (14) got it the first week back at school. She self-isolated like a trooper and the rest of us (double vaxxed) didn't get it. Phew!

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

My middle son is now old enough to understand what a feckin dog's breakfast we've made of his world. When I was his age all we had to worry about was nuclear war. I guess at a very crude level it's not as bad as that (though it's not gone away!), but the difference is, climate catastrophe is pretty much guaranteed, you've no chance of buying a house unless you're already minted and the economy is collapsing before your eyes.

Yeah, the whole air-raid siren drills on Wednesday at noon and the whole 'duck-n-cover' under your desk stuff was routine when I was in 1st grade. In 2nd grade my teacher was a yonger German lady and said with ICBMs a reality there was no point in doing the drills. She would know having survived Germany as a child in WW2.

Of course, the same ol Cold War sabre-rattling is still going on and as close as ever with the whole China/USA thing going on with Taiwan... and the whole trump era showed just how close we were.

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

In other news, we've had actual Covid in the house here. Youngest (14) got it the first week back at school. She self-isolated like a trooper and the rest of us (double vaxxed) didn't get it. Phew!

Glad you all got through it ok. Been fortunate here. Am double-vaxxed and the number of unvaccinated are dropping every day and is increasingly showing who all are making it into a political stand. Unfortunately my eldest son finally succumbed to his wife's hardline far-right evangelical QAnon conspiracy BS and has cut ties with me on facebook. She been hoping for that for over a decade ... since Obama was first elected. Fortunately my 16 year old grandson has bucked the family trend and stays in touch with me.