The reality is that Independent SAGE, who are the body I trust the most on this issue, say that vaccination is not the way out of this crisis. Certainly it will help, but the logic of vaccination is that we achieve so called herd immunity. But as they suggest, developing that scale of tolerance carries all sorts of risk with it, and the real goal of policy should be suppression of the virus, which is something that we have not tried, but which others have.
Other than island states no one has been able to suppress the virus. So, umm, permanent lockdown? Well, as long as there are Zil lanes for P³s perhaps so:
The vaccine is not the whole answer
What people might clamour for is not wise
Brexit proves that
Sorta kills that democracy thing there.
And theres me thinking he’d be consulting his doctor “friend” who was laughing at Rajiev only yesterday. What’s this “so called herd immunity” – oh sorry i forgot he only thinks it applies to livestock not humans. I suggest he makes a stand – refuses the vaccine and locks himself indoors for the rest of his natural. Still find it incredible that you can get so much stupid in his admittedly fat head.
Suppression of the population is not the same thing as suppression of the virus.
“Other than island states no one has been able to suppress the virus”
That presumably means that without jabs the whole population of NZ is vulnerable to catching it. The whole population over about 70 plus younger people who are already seriously ill, and some fatsos, are vulnerable to death by it. I get the impression that not much is known – or can be known – about being vulnerable to falling ill long term. Does anyone understand who gets long term fatigue and so forth from flu?
I wonder what order NZ will do the immunisations in? And why?
We have eliminated polio and smallpox, by a massive worldwide vaccination programme. No other viral disease has been eliminated.
So the only known way of eliminating a virus is a vaccination programme.
Of course we could slow the spread indefinitely with an indefinite lockdown, some savings to be made there, we could shut the schools permanently and lay off the staff.
As far as I can see this is a seasonal disease. In March we reached herd immunity for March which was adequate to suppress the disease until the beginning of autumn but not since. Except that with infections stalling and maybe starting to fall at the beginning of January we may now have reached herd immunity for January. The vaccination programme will top up immunity derived from actually catching Covid or some related virus, so expect all the numbers to start moving in the right direction about the beginning of February, at an accelerating rate as the season moves on thus reducing the number of immune people needed to protect the herd, and the vaccination programme increases the number of immune people.
Trying to recall whether the Spudstud was telling us that herd immunity as a concept didn’t exist or whether he was insisting that it only applies to cattle. Either way, he is just astonishingly stupid and wrong
That’s the U.K., locally our number have peaked and been dropping since December. Oddly the Heath officials seem reluctant to point this out and even when mentioning it always make out it’s only temporary, to early to tell if it’s a trend or we aren’t out of the woods yet etc.
Makes you suspicious when govt isn’t taking credit for good news
@ Ummmm
The government isn’t taking credit for good news because if it did it would get the blame for the bad news when we saw the result of the relaxation that would be the result of rejoicing over the temporary good news.
Boris is a clown but he’s not stupid.
Commies gonna commie. They’ve found a way to have totalitarian control over the population and the availability of a vaccine isn’t going to stop them.
Maybe, but if democracy means anything it is the ability of the demos to decide for themselves what they want and they deserve to get it good and hard.
Funny how Hauptmann Kartoffel imagines that in any new regime he would be automatically raised to the ranks of the elect.
Ritchie (and the rest of the far left) love lockdown – government printing and spending huge amounts of money and micromanaging businesses and peoples lives. They will make any excuse to maintain the lockdown for as long as possible.
When COVID is cured he will want a lockdown for something else. My guess would be climate change.
Local health people published a report on how non-existent flu was in the community right now, of course the conclusion was that maybe ‘aspects’ of current lockdown policy may be appropriate every winter from now on
“We have eliminated polio and smallpox, by a massive worldwide vaccination programme.”
No we haven’t… We’ve achieved a level of herd immunity through vaccination that makes cases extremely rare.
Both viruses have not been eradicated, and especially polio still flares up amongst the Religiously Retarded who leave everything to Fate and their Skyfairy ( and as such do not vaccinate their kids…).
Smallpox still happily runs around the world, except that the really nasty highly contagious variants that caused havoc amongst humans have disappeared. The whole lesson about CoVid is that Nature Happens, and that sooner or later smallpox will mutate into a form that once again sees us as a fine host…
Aren’t Independent SAGE a left-wing (or even more so than official one) political exercise that’s main assumption is that whatever the govt does is wrong and that we should endeavour for more totalitarian measures like China.
Also given it’s made up of people obviously not good enough to be in SAGE hardly a recommended go to body for advice
Other than island states no one has been able to suppress the virus.
Actually, a fair few island states have struggled to suppress it too. Australia, for example.
Japan did, then lost the fight.
Taiwan is the only largish country able to keep it under control. The rest are all isolated islands who have locked their borders tight. Since most rely on tourism, that is a mixed blessing.
As to the relative disappearance of flu, I’d guess that those prone to a chest infection go down with whichever one they get. Currently many are getting Covid instead of flu.
Yes. Even Guido, when he isn’t spouting pro-lockdown hysteria, calls them activists: https://order-order.com/2020/05/04/not-independent-activist-stuffed-shadow-sage/
The figures are a pack of lying shite anyway.
And the vax isn’t even proven effective never mind safe. While the clock is running on economic wipeout as all the bullshit pundits blather.
Time to end the nonsense cold turkey and punish the liars and tin tyrants.