Covid cases are rising again in the UK

CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod
edited May 2021 in General

Here in the UK we had full lockdown from Christmas until the end of April, with progressive easing then and again in the middle of May. Cases are now starting to rise, partly because of the relaxing of restrictions and partly because of variant B.1.617, first identified in India. There was another easing step scheduled for late June, but that is now in doubt.

Nearly 3/4 of all adults have received at least one vaccine dose (over 95% and still rising for people over 50), so we are very hopeful that this increase in cases will not feed through to significant rises in hospital admissions and deaths. It's too early to say.

If you want this all to stop, then

  • Get your hands washed
  • Get the window open
  • Get your social distancing right
  • Get your mask on
  • Get yourself vaccinated
  • Get this pandemic over with

If you want more people to die unnecessarily and/or the restrictions to continue for ever, then don't get vaccinated.

Comments

  • waynewvwaynewv

    So sad to hear that, I have a family member that had it, but she was very lucky, she had a very low reaction to it.
    Here in FL., I have heard of some that say it was like a bad flu and others have died from it. I have had both my shots and I still wear my mask when out in stores-etc. I got in the habit of the hand washing and using hand sanitizer several yrs. ago. I would get the flu every year, but have not had in several yrs. after I started using that safe practice, I have hand sanitizer in every vehicle I own, even wipe the door handles the car keys and steering wheel each time I get in. I think it may be a yearly thing to get a new shot like the flu shots. I was told by the nurse that gave me my shot, to keep my ID card that shows I had it and may need it travel by plane. I go and visit a family member that is in a nursing home and they asked to see the ID card, once they have seen then it's OK to hug the person, which I have not been allowed to do in about a year.

  • sunnysideupsunnysideup

    Thanks for this information. In the US, there are a number of people that are more concerned with getting the vaccine than getting covid. Part of it is due to how rushed the vaccine production was over a typical vaccine timeline. Not sure how to allay these fears in those individuals.

  • [Deleted User]squeakytoy (deleted user)

    NOOOOOO @CuddleDuncan !! I was rooting for the UK!! You were supposed to be the chosen ones!!

    In our nearly half-year-long stay-at-home order I've been patiently waiting and praying that when/if we reopen on June 2nd, we'll get it right this time and things will start going back to normal without another freakin' spike. You're dashing my hopes and dreams! :tired_face:

  • [Deleted User]Chris55555 (deleted user)

    I’m sad to hear this news. But it’s also informative to us here to be sure to stay vigilant so we can hopefully avoid the same path.

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    @sunnysideup there are some good articles online about how the vaccines were produced so quickly. There are four simple reasons.

    Firstly, this virus is similar to existing viruses for which we already have vaccines, so this vaccine was threequarters complete before they even started.

    Secondly, it was the administration that was speeded up, not the science or the regulatory oversight. In the case of Pfizer, the Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials were run almost concurrently rather than consecutively. The regulators not only put the vaccines to the front of the queue, they started work two weeks after the trial was proposed instead of two months after it was finished.

    Thirdly, in the case of a vaccine for a pandemic the actual study takes no time at all. Vaccinate your test cohort, then come back a month later to see how they are getting on. On the other hand, a cancer medicine trial takes five years for each phase of testing because that's how cancer and cancer treatments work.

    Fourthly, the vaccine was released when only the basic studies had been done. Frequently approval is not granted until the trials on older people, younger people, pregnant women and other sections of society have been completed. These are still going on.

    Finally, it's worth pointing out that well over a billion doses of vaccine have now been administered. If there was a significant problem, we would know.

    You are very roughly 10,000 (ten thousand) times more likely to die of covid than a covid vaccination. Or to put it another way, if absolutely everybody in Los Angeles were to die in a covid-related way, the passengers on one busy Homes-Of-The-Stars tour bus would die of the vaccine, and everybody else from the virus.

  • BabichevBabichev

    Excellent summary, @CuddleDuncan .

    @waynewv , if you want information on how they developed the vaccine so quickly, here’s a thorough article on it. In one sentence: the technology (platform?) used, which was developed over the last 20 years, was already in place and an all out Manhattan Project style approach was taken, supported by an unprecedented level of cooperation and support at every level.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/science-covid-19-manhattan-project/617262/

  • YourEmbraceMelYourEmbraceMel

    So true!! I’ve had my first dose of Pfizer! We’ve got to look after each other by taking responsibility.

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