Covid - news and views
Comments
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I do wonder why Wales has a higher percentage of cases than the rest of Britain, with nearly 700 per 100,00 compared to roughly 460 for both England and NI, and 325 for Scotland, while they have had more stringent restrictions than the other countries, such as the mandated wearing of masks in shops and on public transport.
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We go for our boosters and flu jabs on Wednesday.
We've been asked not to arrive earlier than 5 mins before appointment.
My sister went 2 weeks ago she had an hour wait, she said they apologize as they were short of staff.
We've both been getting flu jabs for years now long before we qualified to get a free one. I hate having a cold, flu I definitely don't want.
Both my sons and 1 DIL have had 2 jabs but not old enough to qualify for a booster. 1 DIL has not had a Covid jab and more than likely never will 😡 she is a teaching assistant for special needs children. I very much doubt her 13 & 15 will get them either, so strong is her influence. Our other 2 grandchildren aged 12 & 13 have not had theirs yet and probably won't.
Why their parents don't encourage them I don't know but I voiced my thoughts.
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2 reasons in my view Nellie.
Both Wales and South West suffered from incorrect negatives being given on tests by Immensia and their testing lab in Wolverhampton. Many thousands were affected I believe and most of the high cases in Wales have come from areas where those tests were from namely the Neath and Port Talbot areas of South Wales. This led to inadvertent spreading which I think also explains a sharp increase in the figures for the South West.
Secondly, whilst a lot of the population here are abiding by mask wearing when out and about and social distancing seems to be roughly adhered to I personally have noticed a lot more mixing of households and friends, which by the rules is allowed. Just the other day we noticed 9 cars had arrived at a house in the village for some sort of celebration. It was an on off day for rain and I can only surmise there was much mixing indoors. Not an isolated incident unfortunately.
I do feel safer out of doors here than when we were in England on holiday due to the 95% adherence of mask wearing in shops. My approximation from observation before someone asks me for a link.
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Other than essential shopping, we have more or less not been anywhere other than to visit our daughter and son, and their families.
When we have been out, shops were not busy, masks were being worn, and social distancing observed. But today, as we drove through the village, we noticed that there were far more people around than we have been used to. Shops were busy....well, it is Saturday...... but there were also large groups of people standing around chatting, no social distancing, both inside and out, which we have not seen before.
Cases here have been going up and down like a yo-yo, so this behaviour does not bode well.
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Both my sons and 1 DIL have had 2 jabs but not old enough to qualify for a booster. 1 DIL has not had a Covid jab and more than likely never will 😡 she is a teaching assistant for special needs children.
TG, I suspect that she may be forced to if HMG bring in statutory legislation to make everyone working with the vulnerable, the elderly and in the NHS have the vaccine or lose their job.
As for the children, if they want to attend festivals or go abroad they again may be forced into changing their minds if they need a vaccine passport. One can only hope so.
I was speaking with someone recently and they have a relative who has had covid. Pretty healthy beforehand but their lungs are now shot to hell. No chance of them recovering and the poor person struggles to do anything without becoming breathless. Can't climb stairs or go for a walk. Needs oxygen on tap. I really do want to shake these anti vaxxers, (being polite here.)
Good luck with your journey north and with the booster.
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TG
You must be biting your tongue? Has she applied the same logic to other childhood vaccinations? When our boys were very young there was a lot of controversy about the whooping cough vaccination. We discussed it with our doctor and he was supportive of them not having it. One of the biggest mistakes we made as parents as they both got it and it was exceedingly frightening and even 40 odd years later it still bothers me.
David
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Oh TG, what a sad state of affairs with your DIL you must feel so frustrated with her. I can’t believe that someone who deals with vulnerable children can think like that! 😡 Our 15 year old grandson has had his and our granddaughter is due for hers soon.
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I suspect that she may be forced to if HMG bring in statutory legislation to make everyone working with the vulnerable, the elderly and in the NHS have the vaccine or lose their job.
WN, agree that it should be made compulsory, but I'm not sure that parliament has the will to bring it in. You can see on both sides of the House that there are those that won't even wear a mask.
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That happened to us too with one of our daughters, the other two were vaccinated but we felt she might react to the vaccine due to a childhood eczema. She was very ill with Whooping Cough.
Our grandson still won't have the vaccine, all 6'7" of him and visiting the gym (who let him in!) He does a lot of testing but I feel something which curbs his social life might compel him in the end. He does DJ work in his spare time, I'm hoping clubs will become more cautious...
The other problem is that we are all "spreaders" so I'm guessing that testing is still very important.
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Around here the masking is at around 50-60% overall, I would estimate. Given the way there figures are going, we clearly have the proclivities of lemmings.
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AD - interesting that you were able to book on day 184 to have the jab on day 186;
Nellie - I think I will still try the NHS website, it does seem to be a bit hit and miss, in view of AD's experience, but understand what you say;
Brue - yes, 190 days, so I'm not quite there yet officially, and yes, rather than counting the days myself, I did ask my friend, Mr Google
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As she might also say “I thought it took a little time”
I think I’ve gone to the back of the queue having been spat out by the system!
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I was looking at the figures in more minute detail last night.
Interesting that the local figures for Flintshire are only about 10% of the national average, so ours is about 71 per 100,000 whereas Anuerin Bevans in South Wales show over 750 per 100,000. Our Health Board has over 400 per 100,000 but it does stretch across the whole of North Wales.
It does also seem that those areas with a large university presence are pushing the figures up.
So a mixed bag.
Wales doesn't report over the weekend so tomorrows figures will be for 2 days.
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Still waiting for our 'booster'. I'm now overdue, but as we contracted Covid, you have to wait 28 days from having tested positive.
Fortunately, we only had a mild version. Just a little cough and a couple of short shivery bouts! Taste was fine... We picked it up at a Medieval Banquet. After not going out for a meal, visiting a pub, or even having a takeaway since before the start of Covid, we felt a bit obliged to go for this Medieval Banquet, which was bought for us as a Christmas gift in 2019. We had already had the date postponed 5 times. We were both concerned when we arrived with no attempt at 'Covid precautions' or social distancing. A few days later it kicked in!!! Fortunately we both got it the same time and therefore didn't need to isolate from each other.
We're both fine now.... and I'll be knocking on the door for my booster at the end of the week.... 🤣
David
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Here in Wales masks are still mandatory. Personally, I am pleased about that but less than impressed with the number of visitors to our tourist areas who ignore the advice. I mentioned quite pleasantly to a group of 4 holidaymakers in the Tesco queue that they may not be aware that they needed masks. I was yelled at, called names and all 4 in the group waved 'exemption' lanyards at me..... 4 in one group exempt? As an asthma sufferer I am technically exempt but choose to wear one to protect others.
With numbers going up and up I think it is just a matter of time before it is mandatory again everywhere.0 -
Good to hear that you are feeling better, and that it was "only" a mile dose, David. Hope all that are waiting get their jabs soon.
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I have seen masks designed especially for singers and even for playing wind instruments with an appropriate gap to fit the mouthpiece of an instrument through, but as yet, have seen nothing to wear whilst eating a meal. Mind you I reckon I could get just a small slice of Snowdonia cheese through the mask designed for the trumpet..... but I reckon it would be a messy business.... 🤣🤣
David
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According to this article in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/01/nhs-walk-in-clinics-england-now-offer-covid-booster-vaccinations?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other You can now use a walk in clinic in England to get your booster jab without booking providing its six months since your second vaccination. I tried again yesterday to see if we could book online but it was still telling us we weren't quite ready. Might give it a try this week although our six months plus one week is up on Friday.
David
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Yes you can log in to the NHS walk in covid centre web site, find one near you, check times and what vaccines are available. The waiting time has been reduced to 180 days.
We are limited in our area to just one centre so I think there will be queues. It advises having food and a drink before attending.
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