First omicron death

I read he was not vaccinated.

I think that one death doesn’t really tell us anything about Omicron or the effectiveness of vaccines, so really it’s irrelevant if details are disclosed or not.

If the patient wasn’t vaccinated it might lead some people to think, well I’ll be all right then and be reckless.

If the patient was vaccinated it might lead others to be more frightened than they need to be.

And neither of those reactions would be right based on just one death.

We won’t know until a pattern emerges and then people need to be told.

No. It doesn't matter what his/her status was. It doesn't matter how old s/he was.

One death in 65 million people is statistically insignificant.

The public have no idea how to interpret the data as we can see from the continual discussions about vaccination status of people in hospital and whether vaccine passports are a good idea.

Knowing the status of this person will not help us decide anything.

A sister/matron interviewed on the News last night admitted that her staff find it difficult to feel sympathy for unvaccinated Covid patients, but obviously they are still given the best care possible.

I’m not surprised they feel like that, so would I in their position.

At the start of the pandemic there were lots of stats regarding age, co morbidities of people who sadly died. Which did help people to make informed decisions. Eg it kick started me into losing the weight that had crept up over the years. But I can’t seem to see such stats now. Then again things like that can cause confusion. Eg Dr John said that, in SAfrica there were more very young children in hospital with Omicron, but that didn’t tell the whole story which was that those children weren’t in hospital because of covid. It was just picked up because they were in hospital with other health issues.

Bit off topic - I'm fed up with medics appearing on TV to tell us how tired they are and how they are fed up with unvaccinated patients. I know that they are doing a sterling job but its government propaganda and scaremongering. Most of us know now that the NHS is stretched to capacity so what is the point of having sad nurses on TV telling us what we already know?

There was a program on BBC last night about surgeons. At the end one of them said something like "if you need us we'll be here to take care of you" That's what I want to hear.

Rant over. Hard hat on. Sorry to divert your thread maddyone.

No problem Alegrias. I’m just interested in what others think about the information or lack of information that we’ve given about this particular death. I know that one death is statistically unimportant but I wondered if we were not being told anything for political reasons ie if the person was unvaccinated for example. Far be it from me to be cynical, moi? But I just wondered about that. I did hear yesterday that the person was unvaccinated, but it’s not official information and so I didn’t take it seriously.

I honestly don’t think that many people do realise how hard the past two years have been for NHS workers and think they need reminding in a regular basis. People might think twice about doing things that might put them in A&E if they realise they might have to wait hours for an ambulance. And I still see people on the internet sneering about covid flu etc.

Here's one source for the information:
www.heraldscotland.com/news/19790744.omicron-uks-first-death-variant-was-unvaccinated-conspiracy-theorist/

It does depend on other factors in your general health, I think.

Information about one death isn't significant. There's usually a lag of about two weeks between a person being infected and dying, so the picture should be clearer by the end of the month. Until then, we can just hope that vaccinated people are less susceptible and (in my opinion) should at least prepare for the worst case scenario. If it's true that the person who died wasn't vaccinated, the danger is that vaccinated people will become complacent and think they'll be OK.

In any case, nobody really knows whether there have been more deaths from Omicron. The situation might have changed over the last few days, but until recently most labs weren't equipped to identify Omicron, so it's possible there could have been more. Some samples are being re-tested, but the results won't be available overnight.

The best anybody can do for the moment is be aware how the virus is transmitted and of risk factors and do their best to protect themselves and others.

EllanVannin

It does depend on other factors in your general health, I think.

Age is the single biggest risk factor of dying from Covid - and there isn't anything people can do about that.

It's recognised that other health conditions (some of which can't be changed) increase risk, as is a person's behaviour and the community transmission rates.

It's quite simple to work out individual risk. A person is less likely to be infected than not. However, it depends whether you're prepared for drawing the short straw.

MayBee70

I honestly don’t think that many people do realise how hard the past two years have been for NHS workers and think they need reminding in a regular basis. People might think twice about doing things that might put them in A&E if they realise they might have to wait hours for an ambulance. And I still see people on the internet sneering about covid flu etc.

Well said. I'm always baffled when people claim that not having restrictions would mean that more people could be treated for cancer, etc. It seems they haven't made the connection between having a finite number of staff and beds and being able to treat people. It seems that some people think we should all close our eyes and stop treating Covid patients. I don't think everybody has got the message, so it does need repeating.

I’d like to see tables with ages of those who’ve died, and the percentages of vaccinated/unvaccinated. Plus, what percentage died with covid, rather than of it?

Whether they were obese would also be good to know, but I can’t see them publishing that, even just as a percentage figure. Cries of ‘fat shaming!’ would undoubtedly ensue.

There is a massive drive to get the whole population vaccinated and any opportunity to turn the unvaccinated will be taken.

Will they tell us how many hospital admissions are vaccinated and boosted?

Also we need to know if people died with or from COVID and if it was contracted before or during a hospital stay.

Without all of the above information the stats tell us nothing.

There is no information about the masses of people who are ill as a result of the vaccinations.

My daughter, partner and children were due to fly out to the Caribbean for Christmas today, sadly our SIL has two blood clots, one on each lung as a result of his second Moderna vaccine.

This is not an uncommon story yet the authorities are covering it up.

He cannot have any more vaccine and could be on blood thinners for the rest of his life, he was fit,healthy and worked out 5 days a week.

Witzend

I’d like to see tables with ages of those who’ve died, and the percentages of vaccinated/unvaccinated. Plus, what percentage died with covid, rather than of it?

Whether they were obese would also be good to know, but I can’t see them publishing that, even just as a percentage figure. Cries of ‘fat shaming!’ would undoubtedly ensue.

I've posted this at least twice. Not the obesity data, fair enough.

It's all out there if you really want to know.

Witzend

I’d like to see tables with ages of those who’ve died, and the percentages of vaccinated/unvaccinated. Plus, what percentage died with covid, rather than of it?

Whether they were obese would also be good to know, but I can’t see them publishing that, even just as a percentage figure. Cries of ‘fat shaming!’ would undoubtedly ensue.

As Alegrias has stated, the statistics are all out there, if you look.

As for the argument about dying with Covid as opposed to of Covid, the distinction isn't so clear as people seem to think. Most people over 60 have some underlying health issue, but can live for many years, despite health issues. Covid deprives the body of oxygen, which causes multiple organ failure. If a particular organ is already stressed, Covid could push it over the edge. How would you decide whether a person has dies with Covid or of Covid? The fact is that many people could have lived many more years, if they hadn't been infected with Covid.

PS. It's why hospital reported deaths and ONS statistics differ slightly, but the fact remains - Covid has killed a lot of people.

Alegrias1

Witzend

I’d like to see tables with ages of those who’ve died, and the percentages of vaccinated/unvaccinated. Plus, what percentage died with covid, rather than of it?

Whether they were obese would also be good to know, but I can’t see them publishing that, even just as a percentage figure. Cries of ‘fat shaming!’ would undoubtedly ensue.

I've posted this at least twice. Not the obesity data, fair enough.

It's all out there if you really want to know.

I've seen the obesity data somewhere too. It's a proven risk factor for death, amongst many.

Sago

There is a massive drive to get the whole population vaccinated and any opportunity to turn the unvaccinated will be taken.

Will they tell us how many hospital admissions are vaccinated and boosted?

Also we need to know if people died with or from COVID and if it was contracted before or during a hospital stay.

Without all of the above information the stats tell us nothing.

There is no information about the masses of people who are ill as a result of the vaccinations.

My daughter, partner and children were due to fly out to the Caribbean for Christmas today, sadly our SIL has two blood clots, one on each lung as a result of his second Moderna vaccine.

This is not an uncommon story yet the authorities are covering it up.

He cannot have any more vaccine and could be on blood thinners for the rest of his life, he was fit,healthy and worked out 5 days a week.

Actually, the stats tell us a lot!

Sago The stats for people who have suffered blood clots after vaccination are out there too. Statistically, he was at higher risk of catching Covid and suffering blood clots as a result of infection. Every single medical intervention (including vaccination) carries some risk.

Sago. I do think there should be more openness about vaccine related problems.

Some may find this information from Zoe, interesting

joinzoe.com/learn/omicron-symptoms?utm_medium=email&utm_source=zoe_covid_study&utm_campaign=17_december_2021_GB

I've seen the obesity data somewhere too. It's a proven risk factor for death, amongst many.

Thanks growstuff. I just went for a look and yes, there it is. I was going to post it but I decided not to.

I think people want a nice easy set of numbers, and that's not what we have for any of it. If you're heavy, you're more likely to have serious covid. Same if you're old. The vaccine is a wonderful thing but its not 100%.

I thought, after his dice with death, Johnson was going to lose weight and take the nation with him?