10-14-2020, 07:14 AM
(10-13-2020, 06:47 PM)Brentbaggie Wrote: I get most of what you say but I don't necessarily agree about the strategy "NOT" being a strategy. It may not work, it may not even be a good one but it is a strategy. You might argue "hope" is not a strategy but I still think this is what most governments are banking on. You clearly feel the risk is too great but to argue we may never have a vaccine sounds to me like you simply discount it.
I don't think you can do that. You may feel it's too risky but it's rare, not to say unique, for so many different companies and organisations to pursue a single purpose vaccine at the same time. The alternative is simply to say we must live with this forever. Why? Do we live forever with all diseases without ever intending to pursue a cure. Again, you may be right and a vaccine might not be forthcoming, but it makes sense to attempt to develop one and the speed with which this is being done is unprecedented.
I try not to be cynical - difficult in such times with such an incompetent government. I think Starmer arguing for a circuit breaker type strategy makes him allied to much of the science community. Maybe he's been opportunistic and it's not a strategy you agree with but it's not an argument I'd go to bat over either. Hard times. Ta for the fingers crossed - trouble is I've got two missing.
I hope the scan goes well Brent. At least you're in the door I know a few who aren't and even one who's gone because they didn't get a diagnosis.
As for the vaccine even if we have one the vaccine success diminishes severely with age. So over 60s 70s 80s you get a much lower success rate than the average 40% for flu vaccines because your cells are older and all the hooks that get used to make the vaccine work are withered and basically just old.
So it's not a strategy to protect the old that are effectively the ones dying.
(10-13-2020, 06:55 PM)Tom Joad Wrote: I don't come on the politics bored often and now I have I'm regretting it. My blood pressure is in turmoil about the £12B Track and Trace fiasco. Dido bloody Dataloss. Contracts awarded without tendering. Serco, P14Medical, Deloitte (What do they know about PPE, other than they got the contract to acquire it)? Most people were prepared to give Boris a chance based on the fact, no one had really faced a pandemic anytime recently, (Also based on the fact he wasn't Jeremy Corbyn). Mistakes were forgiven, originally. But continued mistakes aren't forgivable and corruption never really should be.
Back to the thread though. I don't know any more than anyone else on here just how deadly this virus is but I do recognise the facts that hospitals are filling up rapidly and ICU occupancy levels are creeping up again. At the start of this, The W.H.O. said "Test, test, test" yet we still don't appear to have any real consistent system in place. I'm absolutely gutted at this new semi lockdown but I also realise doing nothing wasn't really one of the options.
It's all relative.
Just so you know based on the stats from england.nhs.uk/statistics bed occupancy is much lower at the moment than it was this time 12 months ago. Circa 28% capacity at the moment less than 1% Covid.
I'm not saying it won't rise but there's plenty of capacity it's just that the agenda is very specific and I'm sure the govt knows it's able to hide the usual winter issues with the NHS firmly under a Covid pillow