Indian variant - Is anyone else incredulous at Boris yet again having shut the stable door after the horse has bolted?!

I have started a new thread called The Science. It's not vaccine hesitancy. It's was imported by travel but it is the transmissibility that matters. which posters on this thread may find interesting.

I have started a new thread called "The Science. It's not vaccine hesitancy. It's was imported by travel but it is the transmissibility that matters." which is a transcript of an interview on Today.

After the science comes the politics.

Incidentally, the biggest rise in cases has been in younger people, who weren't eligible to be vaccinated.

eazybee

No, I am incredulous at all the criminally stupid people who thought it was all right to fly to India knowing the pandemic was raging there, and then considered it was equally all right to return to Britain with a good chance of carrying the disease.
I am also incredulous at the number of people in the Bolton area who have steadfastly refused to take the vaccine, and are having to be persuaded to accept it.

The take-up of vaccine in Bolton is broadly consistent with national averages, so you can spare your incredulity.

Even in local areas where the take-up is slightly lower, the difference doesn't account for the huge surge in cases.

Something else is behind the case numbers.

I don’t think it’s just mask wearing that has prevented so many people getting colds this year. It’s also because we just haven’t mixed the same, and haven’t been hugging and kissing all and sundry.

DH and I usually get the odd cough and cold in winter, maybe because we used to have the GC round for tea a couple of times a week, and they would often be sniffling and sneezing.

None this last year when that hadn’t happened.

If the border had been closed earlier and India put on the red list hundreds of people wouldn’t have been able to fly to and from India without any checks. So don’t blame people for doing what the government allowed. India wasn’t put on the red list earlier as Johnson was planning a trip there for a photo op no doubt in another of his dressing up box outfits.

So the nurse that looked after Johnson when he had covid is leaving this country because of the way the government treats NHS staff and the way it handled the pandemic. And to think he used her as publicity at the time.

eazybee

No, I am incredulous at all the criminally stupid people who thought it was all right to fly to India knowing the pandemic was raging there, and then considered it was equally all right to return to Britain with a good chance of carrying the disease.
I am also incredulous at the number of people in the Bolton area who have steadfastly refused to take the vaccine, and are having to be persuaded to accept it.

This post says everything there is to say. Depressing.

Given that it’s more transmissible than the Kent variant which was more transmissible than the original one it’s going to spread like wildfire amongst younger, unvaccinated groups.

Even if they are "effective", and I am sure they are, I don't feel inclined to go out any more than I have been and test it. Boris just doesn't seem to have learned any lessons.

That’s true. But they might not have been.

Early data is showing that current vaccines are effective against the Indian variant of Covid-19 UK Government have confirmed.

I don’t know why they don’t just continue doing zoom interviews. I’ve got used to them now and they’re better for the environment.

Watching J Vine this morning, first time that they've had guests in the studio, they were commenting on how they hadn't caught any colds since the first lockdown. Being prone to bronchitis and invariably getting infected whenever I travel byt rain or plane, I shall continue to wear a mask in some circumstances.

Many years ago, when flying to Puglia for a holiday I took a mask from my OH's workshop, fully intending to wear it on the flight. I didn't because I felt stupid, but I did end up with 2 or 3 days reclining either in bed or under a tree with a book whilst he went off on his own. In fact, he's refused to go on holiday with me since virtually every holiday we've had since then, I've caught a virus during the journey.

Following on from covid, I shall be wearing a mask when traveling and I doubt if I will be the only one.

Someone I know on another forum is moaning about the fact that masks need to be worn at sporting events. This is someone who had had covid but with no long term effects and has had both vaccines. Has anyone else found that some people that have had the virus and survived with no problems seem to act a bit superior to those that haven’t had it and are vulnerable.I’m not going to get into an argument with him ut it’s really annoyed me.

This is from the New Statesman morning email. It is probably worth bearing this in mind as we watch how things pan out.

The plain facts are these: the evidence so far is that the B.1.617.2 variant responds well to vaccines, it just spreads faster. But it is a cause of particular anxiety for the government because of how long India - from where this variant springs - remained off the United Kingdom's red list. If B.1.617.2 does mean a delay to the great unlocking, that will be in no small part the government's fault, not least because 18 months on we are still no closer to having an effective approach on isolation, whether through central quarantine or sufficiently generous sick pay.

So you can see why it suits Downing Street to nudge the conversation away from that issue and towards the minority of vaccine-hesitant Brits. But again, there are some important facts to be aware of: the most vaccine-hesitant British person, regardless of class, race or religion, is more likely to be keen on getting vaccinated than the median person in most other countries.

The full article here

timetogo2016

I mentioned this on two other posts/threads.
It`s madness,all the work we have all put into staying safe/having vaccines keeping away from our loved ones/friends/work etc has been put in jeapardy.
I`m bluddy furious.

Oh yes- not been allowed to see son and GC for so long, and were finally planning to visit in July- and DIL now says this probably will not happen, due to variant.

In my opinion, the relaxation should not be happening on Monday - tomorrow. It is asking for trouble.

Callistemon

It wasn't what you said though.

I was thinking of all the NHS wor kers and other healthcare staff, bus drivers, those on the frontline and people in care homes, hospitals etc who could not stay isolated and caught Covid and died through no fault of their own.

Not everyone could stay home, stay safe.
Those who could stick to the rules are the lucky ones.

I don't think anybody is disputing that.

I mentioned this on two other posts/threads.
It`s madness,all the work we have all put into staying safe/having vaccines keeping away from our loved ones/friends/work etc has been put in jeapardy.
I`m bluddy furious.

I agree. I didn’t read it that way. either.

So what you are saying is that those who died are themselves to blame for not sticking to the rules?

That is certainly not what I thought was being said, or how I read it. Many people are grateful that they are still here and feel that keeping themselves as safe as possible has helped them to be here. That does not mean that they are not aware of the many who also tried to keep themselves safe but were unlucky, possibly never knowing how they caught it, and lost their lives. That happened to one of my oldest friends!

Maybe a supermarket was a bad analogy, the pub doors will be open and I understand vaccination doesn’t protect 100% by any means.
To go back to the OP, yes, we were too late stopping flights from India, I’m not excusing that, but we are not the only country with this variant. At the moment, it doesn’t seem to be causing an increase in hospital admissions, long may that continue. There will be other variants, there needs to be a fast, agreed procedure to minimise entry of those to the UK.

"I do wonder, though, if all our efforts may prove futile in the face of variants brought from overseas."

^^ I think it boils down to this. We can be as careful as we like, we can stick to the rules, but if a variant is allowed to seep into this country because of no shutdown when it should've happened, we are powerless.

Whitehall was very concerned about this variant coming in but Boris was pressing ahead with this Trade visit and when eventually he called it off there was still a three day period when flights were still arriving before a block was put on this. Downing Street had said that countries could be added to the red list at a few hours notice, but that did not happen with India.

Skyscanner reported a 250% increase in looking for flights from India to England in those three days.

And there you have it....

We can be as careful as we like, but we can't control this when bad decisions are made.

Jaxjacky

What a gross generalisation MayBee70, our pub will have approx 70% of customers with one vaccination and at a guess 30% -45% with two. You sanitise, walk in, sign in, with a mask on, sit at a table, place your order, table service, if your bum leaves your seat, mask is on. Tables limited to 6, no table hopping, no standing, if you break the rules you’re out. Safer than a supermarket. I object to your statement, have you been to a pub in the last year?

No I haven’t been to a pub in the past year and I don’t intend to go to one in the near future. One of the first things that eastern countries did at the start of the pandemic was to turn off air conditioning and ventilate everywhere. The need to ventilate has taken even longer to sink in than the fact that the WHO originally said that the virus wasn’t airborne so no one thought it was. Many still do. Which doesn’t mean that I don’t sympathise with people who run pubs etc. We’ve had beer lorries coming through the village for days delivering to local pubs and it would be unfair if the government suddenly announced that they weren’t allowed to open on Monday. But the fact is there will be an element of risk involved and it’s wrong to say that any inside environment is safe. Especially as people will be eating drinking and talking without masks on. If the government had acted sooner we wouldn’t be in this position so be angry with them, not me. I want this pandemic to be over so that people such as yourself can open up your businesses 100% and I’ve done everything personally possible over the past year to enable that to happen. Someone on Facebook the other day said all of their friends gave false names and addresses because they couldn’t afford to not work if they were contacted. I’m seriously concerned about what is going to happen over the next few weeks because the India variant is even more transmissible than the Kent one and the R rate (which doesn’t seem to get mentioned much these days) is hovering @1 and is possibly higher.