As much as it annoys me to do this, I'm staying away from any boozers. Can't risk a self isolation whilst being self employed. Nor am I in that much of a rush to actually go to a pub when I think about it.
Didn't go today, it's a bit cold to be sitting outside. Actually, I'm a bit concerned that I might have become institutionalised.
please log in to view this image Martin Bamford @martinbamford A solid start to the new reality of outdoor dining in Cranleigh this morning. please log in to view this image 7
The pictures from yesterday were a bit scary, and it was weird to see the folk with their reserved tables on the street in the pub 100 yards up the road from me (early afternoon it was pretty much exclusively old men drinking and smoking and not talking to each other) but that’s just because we aren’t used to them. It’s estimated that only one in a thousand COVID infections are caught outside in the fresh air, and only one in ten thousand from surfaces. The national rate of recorded infection is now only 19 in 100,000, and in many places, like my neighbourhood, the number of actual infections are too low (3 or below in the last week) to give a statistic. The only reason to have another lockdown is if vaccine resistant variants spread and hospitalisations go up, and the NHS is under pressure. Hospitalisation rates are the only certain indicator (they are definitely hospitalised for COVID, the weird death definition, this 28 days from a positive test thing, still gives room for doubt), and I increasingly think the only important one. They are still going down despite the schools reopening. Wise to keep the staggered approach to raising restrictions, but directionally, with 19 out of every 20 people ‘most at risk’ having had at least one jab, good use of our gene sequencing capacity to spot the new variants early, and hopefully some common sense from everyone, still looking pretty good to me.
That eases my paranoia somewhat. Do you believe they will genuinely slow things down if the data suggests they should? I'll be honest judging from how they have handled everything to date I've always thought the road map dates are basically set in stone. This article gives me massive pause for concern re people's behaviour (and unvaccinated people at that). I wonder if the being outside bit might be negated by the close proximity of these crowds of lunatics. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-56727568?__twitter_impression=true
I hope we never have to go back to the ‘criticising people for doing what they’ve been told they’re allowed to do and here’s an incredibly deceptive angle showing 10000 people in one tiny bit of a park/beach/pub’ stage. The risk outdoors is so minimal that it should be encouraged if anything to stop big indoor gatherings.
Had my first AZ jab yesterday, and felt like **** all night - very reminiscent of when I had Covid, shivers, nausea, headache and intense joint pain but that all seems to have died down this morning with a dose of paracetemol. Although I've recently had a bad scare with the side effects of medication, I really had no worries about taking the AZ vaccine, as the chances of anything severe happening were miniscule. On an even more positive note, Mrs Steels had her AZ jab two weeks ago and the improvement in her recovery from Long Covid since has been remarkable. We'd heard annecdotally that the vaccine can act as a reset for the bodys' immune system in Long Covid cases, and that seems to be the case with her....so much so that she is contemplating returning to work after almost nine months off sick.
Terrific news Steels (your Mrs, not your after effects). Will be a huge relief for both of you I’m sure. Great to see you back.
Glad to hear both of you are feeling better Steels, especially your wife with her long covid. Over here, the AZ vaccine will only be given to over 60's. They stopped using it today so thousands had their appointments cancelled. They expect to only give it to people aged 60-69. People under 60 will not be given Astrazeneca unless they had their fIrst shot of AZ. In that case, the second dose will also be AZ. Over 70's are been given the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. As at 11th April, they had given the following vaccines. There is only a 4 week gap for the majority of people between the first and second doses. First dose 749,450 Second dose 314,216 Total 1 ,063,666 Breakdown per vaccine type; Pfizer-BionTech 780,018 Moderna 48,338 Astrazeneca 235,310 Roughly 20-25% of vaccines given are Astrazeneca but they say only giving it to over 60's will delay the roll out for the next few weeks.
Surely you have vaccinated nearly all your over 60’s by now if you’ve done 750k first doses out of 5 million people? Or are they not doing it by age?
And so, this bizarre inversion of risk continues.....the FDA in the US has suggested a pause in the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because of six cases of very rare blood clots, including one death. Out of 6.8 million doses given. The current 7 day rolling daily average for deaths from COVID in the US (which is doing really well in the jabs done) is 985.