The cost would be a loss of trust in political and public health authorities, which may make it difficult to deal with future threats.
The cost would be a loss of trust in political and public health authorities, which may make it difficult to deal with future threats.
The widespread uptake of vaccines suggests that the public actually have considerable trust in political and public health authorities.
FTFY
@BiW
Let’s see what the uptake is with Boris’ new booster drive.
Then we’ll be able to guage the public mood.
Though the government might just lie through their teeth about take up.
They geared up to do 10,000 jabs in one day at Newmarket racecourse last week. Local MP Matt Hancock made a personal appearance.
Only 2,000 turned up.
I doubt public confidence in political & public health authorities have much to do with vaccine uptake. Oddly enough, despite all the work being done to destroy it, people have a great deal of confidence in Big Pharma. Much more than they have in the medical profession. It reliably delivers. Their experience is its products do what they say on the tin. That’s why, when people go to their GP, they expect to come out with a prescription.
Project Fear by politicians & PHA’s with the support of the media been very successful. People want reassurance that something’s being done & vaccines are the something.
Anecdotal evidence of my immediate family and friends suggests take up of boosters will be less than the initial jabs by some margin.
Thats my prediction for how this thing ends, not with a bang but a whimper. As the booster shots keep coming (as they will) the public’s enthusiasm will wane more and more. Once the number who are not in the fully boosted section of society rises to 50% its game over. The whole thing will just sort of fade out as people just don’t care any more.
I mean, it became obvious a long time ago that They, however you define They, have no intention of allowing you to get your life back and want to subject you to eco/health fascism and arbitrary rule by unaccountable ‘experts’ forever. The incentives built into the system are all bad – zero consequences for screaming “virus!” in a crowded theatre, but real rewards for maximising the fear and loathing.
It’s literally insane that we’re two whole years and trillions of pounds, dollars and Euros into this thing and still talking about hiding in our homes to protect the NHS or treating the unvaxxed minority like German Jews circa 1938 over what is now a mild cold.
But no more insane than pretending that women can have big hairy cocks, or that the world will end in 12 years if we don’t obey a Swedish mongo-child, or that the most limp-wristedly permissive societies ever created in human history are oppressive nightmare regimes, bedeviled by sexism / racism / whateverphobia.
Chesterton was right and Dawkins was wrong.
Lots of people had the vaccines not because they trusted that they were effective, but just to get the passport, on the promise that they would then be allowed to lead a normal life again.
It’s that second level of belief in government that’s gone – not that what government was promoting was any good (that level of trust had gone already), but the belief that, if we did what the government said, the government would stop hurting us so much. It seems people don’t even believe that any more.
So not only do their promises not work, their threats aren’t working either.
@Steve
Well said, but if you’re thinking of “The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything.”, the aphorism is actually due to Émile Leon Cammaerts (1878-1953), who was commenting on GK Chesterton. Cammaerts and Chesterton were both right, of course.
Isn’t this the point of vaccine passports they just change vaccinated status to mean boosted so then the I’m only complying because it makes my life easier/allows me to travel/go out/keep my job etc. majority are forced to have them.
We have mandatory vaccination at my workplace and have just been offered early access to boosters, if the government changes the definition of vaccinated to be 3 jabs I’ll have to get one or be suspended with no pay and benefits, they even discount any suspension time from pensionable service. They aren’t sacking you of course, I can’t see how it doesn’t count as constructive dismissal, but courts are firmly biased at the moment
Its also about time people stopped trusting the BBC/ITV/Sky news, which have become nothing more than government propaganda outlets. Some of the claims they make or let the worst of the “experts” make are jaw dropping – 90% of ICU patients are unvaccinated for example.
I see that at least there’s a bit of honesty about this propaganda route in NZ with horse features admitting, even bragging, that they have a fund to pay journalists to write government approved stories.
“Some of the claims they make or let the worst of the “experts” make are jaw dropping – 90% of ICU patients are unvaccinated for example.”
That should stop now, they’ve been using ICNARC (Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre) data that only ran up to May. At which point there were indeed 9 out 10 people in ICUs unvaccinated, and they have been brazenly using that out of date data for 6 months to frighten people.
However there is now the latest ICNARC report out (downloadable here: https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports) that clearly shows that since May the proportion of double vaccinated in ICU has risen consistently and for October and November was running at slightly over 50%. Not only that but the definition of ‘unvaccinated’ includes cases that happen less than 14 days post first jab, so a proportion of the ‘unvaccinated’ will probably have had one shot in the recent past, and we all know there is a definite rise in cases in the 14 weeks post jabs.
But even ignoring that, ICUs are roughly 50/50 now. So if any TV or radio report or someone interviewed says otherwise, or a newspaper article claims otherwise, make a complaint immediately.
We have mandatory vaccination at my workplace and have just been offered early access to boosters, if the government changes the definition of vaccinated to be 3 jabs I’ll have to get one or be suspended with no pay and benefits . . .
Sajid Javid tonight warned that booster jabs will soon be required to be counted as ‘fully vaccinated’.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10305373/Javid-warns-change-fully-vaccinated-status-New-Year.html
Two Covid jabs should still slash risk of dying from Omicron or being hospitalised by 84% even if they offer virtually zero protection against symptoms, SAGE estimates
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10304005/TWO-Covid-jabs-slash-risk-dying-Omicron-hospitalised-84.html
Not sure if that’s SAGE or the DM sputtering gibberish. Last time I checked, serious illness and death are actual symptoms. Either way, it’s the kind of hysterical, self-contradicting garbage people spout when they’re not thinking.
We have people raving about the unvaccinated swamping hospitals locally when by the governments own figures on 2% of hospitals beds are Covid patients and I bet that includes those that are in for something else and happened to test positive or catch Covid in the hospital.
The failure to see reality has spiralled totally out of control driven by government fear mongering, they are going to find it hard to put the genie back in the bottle
BniC,
“The failure to see reality has spiralled totally out of control driven by government fear mongering, they are going to find it hard to put the genie back in the bottle”
It’s mostly being driven by polling. How nervous the public are. A lot of people have lost all sense of proportion. I argue with them on Twitter and they’re all like not wearing a mask will kill granny. It’s impossible to reason with them about risk/reward.
I think that we’ve become an irresponsible society. The “nanny state” was once about government imposing its will on people who want a free society, but I believe that we’re the nannies now. People complain that the government should do a thing about a thing, instead of just being a grown up about it.
“I parked my car in a private car park and got clamped and fined, and the government should do something about this”. No, you should stop parking in a private car park.
“Manchestershire Rovers want to charge me £50 for a replica shirt, and the government should do something about them ripping me off”. No, you should be an adult, you fat fucking 40 year old, and not buy the shirt.
“I might die from Covid if everyone isn’t in Hazmat suits all day”. Tough shit. Stop being a pussy and accept that shit happens, and live your life to the full with that in mind, instead of being a fucking blob of nothing that wants an endless pointless existence.
I’ve started telling people to stop being a pussy. It feels weird. I’m scared of heights, don’t like rollercoasters, I run from fights”. But you have to be a colossal pussy if you’re under 60 and worried about Covid.
But you have to be a colossal pussy if you’re under 60 and worried about Covid.
But probably sensible if over 60 and worried about multiple vaccinations if you’ve also had Covid:
Canadian province stops giving boosters to elders who have had COVID in the past due to severe, life-threatening side effects
https://westphaliantimes.com/canadian-province-stops-giving-boosters-to-elders-who-have-had-covid-in-the-past-due-to-severe-life-threatening-side-effects/
Given Boris’s haste to “boost” a million a day, including cutting the previously recommended 6 month gap to 3, how many will he kill?
This could well be Antibody Dependent Enhancement creeping in. If so we’ll see a lot more of it with every extra booster, probably at lower ages.