Here in England, we await guidance from the C of E as to what restrictions are likely to be imposed advised under Plan B. It does look as though masks will be mandatory in church (again), but FatherInCharge is hoping that congregational singing (even if masked) will still be permissible.
Yikes! Pick up and delivery people showed at the crack of dawn today to get my COVID test and schlep it off to the trials people--they had promised they would be there at 9 or 10 pm... grrrrr hssssss. We have a dog alarm you would not believe. Had to peel myself off the ceiling.
No, it's not just you...the Dragon is indeed beginning to roar again...one scientist is predicting possibly 75000 more deaths between now and April (worst-case scenario, I think - 25000 is thought by some to be more realistic).
@Puzzler's church is acting sensibly. AFAIK, we're still ploughing ahead with mask-less carol singing in a crowded ill-ventilated pub, unless saner counsels have prevailed.
Even though I've been triple-jabbed (plus the usual 'flu jab), I'm still very wary about going pretty well anywhere, apart from essential shopping.
We are also triple jabbed. I am avoiding most everything but required medical appointments. I am going to venture out and get an 18-month overdue haircut to hopefully last me through another 18 months if need be. I also need to make bank trips now and then in order to pay the handyman in cash and to get change for the laundry machines. Handyman does not drive so a check is hard for him. Thankfully there has never been a line and tellers are behind shields and masked. Other than that I am staying home.
Oh thanks for reminding me @Graven Image , hair cut!
I might see if I can persuade my daughter- although now I think sensibly about it she Is a bit heavy handed with the scissors.
Dilemma.
Is it just me, or is the Covid dragon starting to roar again?
I ve been quietly (kinda) occupied for the past year but cancellations and the pushing on of required WorkInOurHome is just beginning to get to me now
The omicron variant is getting scare headlines here now. Fortunately not all that many cases and they're on the other side of Sydney to us, 30 or more km away. We've had the normal injections, with the booster to come in mid-January.
So far omicrom doesn't appear to have made it here - but it's only a matter of time, The Canterbury region (NZ) of which Christchurch is the main city apparently has a couple of cases. Auckland, which is having roughly 100+ new cases a day is having it's border open on December 15 so vaccinated people and those who test negative on a rapid antigen test can holiday elsewhere. This will probably see cases numbers increase throughout the country. According to the experts, coronavirus here is now mainly a disease of the unvaccinated,
I think we might be finding the answer to the Fermi Paradox "Where is everybody?" They got rapidly mutating viruses so they can't come and find us. They weren't the Nephilim, the ancient alien astronauts, they were coughing themselves out of existence...
We had our booster shots this afternoon and so far there's been no ill effect. The nurse the GP's has engaged to do the injections was excellent - not even the tiniest pin-prick and we had no idea that it had been done.
I'm expecting the call for my booster this week - our retired GP is on stabbing duty and he's very good. With luck I'll get 'flu jabbed at the same time.
Getting flu jabbed at the same time seemed sensible for me, at the time.
I am still unable to sleep on Either side though!
My wife was suffering the same affliction last week. I did try to cheer her up by noting that it would have been worse had they administered them in the buttocks.
Getting flu jabbed at the same time seemed sensible for me, at the time.
I am still unable to sleep on Either side though!
My wife was suffering the same affliction last week. I did try to cheer her up by noting that it would have been worse had they administered them in the buttocks.
Lucky you, mine was on Friday and Saturday was mostly one handed. It's OK today.
Very, very long queues for people turning up for a booster without an appointment, and when I appeared at about 10:15 for a 10:25 appointment, they were turning people away and had been for a while. Apparently to get a drop in booster meant arriving before 8:30am. And inside those with appointments went left, those drop ins went right, and we went through much quicker than the drop ins.
I wasn't offered a flu jab, if I want one I'm going to have to book, which is complicated.
My booster was a few weeks ago, before the current rush, and I went straight in (albeit a few minutes late, because traffic).
On coming out of the vaccination centre (a temporary lash-up in the back yard of a local pharmacy - full marks to them for setting it up and running it so well), there was a long queue, and I suspect these were drop-in hopefuls...I'm just glad I got mine done when I did IYSWIM.
Getting flu jabbed at the same time seemed sensible for me, at the time.
I am still unable to sleep on Either side though!
My wife was suffering the same affliction last week. I did try to cheer her up by noting that it would have been worse had they administered them in the buttocks.
Did that work?
She found it mildly amusing, which is just as well because she's had 17 years of my sense of humour and they'd have been a lot rougher if she didn't like it.
It is here, and my family has decided to go back to take out rather than dine in anywhere for a while. Positivity rates doubled overnight. Feh.
Sensible.
One of my kids' friends (aged 10) has just tested positive. She (probably) got it from her masked, triple-jabbed violin teacher. The kid is fine, but pretty brassed off about having to isolate and miss out on a couple of things she'd been looking forward to. She's mostly concerned about not infecting her elderly grandfather, who lives with them.
The first Omicron death in the UK was announced today.
I expect more will follow, alas, despite the rush to get arms jabbed with boosters (and FWIW I think Johnson was, for once, in the right).
More jags (boosters or more of those who haven't come forward at all yet) is part of what needs to be done.
But, as none of the vaccines provide 100% protection against serious illness, this can only be part of what needs to be done. Even if only 1% of vaccinated people infected end up in hospital, and we have 100% vaccine uptake, if we get a million infections that's still 10,000 people in hospital. With obvious impacts on all the rest of the treatments our hospitals should be doing. Add in large numbers of infected people leading to lots of self-isolation, including health service staff, and the problems get worse. We also need to limit large gatherings of people, especially indoor without masks, to reduce transmission. Which is where our present governments (I'm including the Scottish government in this) have largely failed.
We had to buy 2-day covid tests for arrival in Scotland (on St Andrew's Day), and 3-day tests to go back to Canada, which altogether cost us £244 from a non-profit UK provider. One of the first two results came back after 4 days; the other has never appeared. The second two arrived after we had returned to Canada (with the test dates changed) and, thank heavens, were not demanded at immigration and have not yet been followed up at either end. Even in the notorious pay-for-everything US system the week before we went to Scotland, we got the re-entry tests free of charge and in time. Don't travel.
We had our boosters yesterday having made an appointment earlier in the day. Only the briefest of waits before we were called in by the nurse. She read a prepared explanation, then went through a questionnaire with each of us, and gave the jab. A very good nurse, neither of us felt the injection at all, not even a pin-prick. We're both a bit sore this morning, mostly upper arms and across the shoulders, and feel tired. We'll probably still walk to coffee in a while, it's only just over a km each way
My daughter was contacted by her GP and advised to have a third jab before returning home from uni, as she has an underlying health condition. She had to get a friend to take her, as it was some way from where she lived and she’d already had seizures that week (that was another story…allergic reaction to food cross-contaminated with shellfish, meaning she didn’t absorb her epilepsy meds and nearly got admitted to hospital). Before being vaccinated she was told by four different people (one at each checkpoint) that she shouldn’t be there as they were only vaccinating under 40s. Each time she said “My GP has sent me as I have an underlying condition” and showed them the text, but they still wouldn’t proceed until she told them what the condition was (which they shouldn’t need to ask) and they then went and checked with someone else if it was OK. This held up the queue each time so everyone was glaring at her.
It seems churlish to complain about volunteers, but I wonder if she should request that they should be given some training in sensitivity and confidentiality?
That’s the second comment I’ve heard about inappropriate behaviour by these volunteers; a similar story from my UK -dwelling 35 year old daughter. She did finally get her booster, I’m happy to say
I'm booked for elective surgery later this week. The local hospital is aiming to clear the backlog before Christmas, and before they get swamped by omicron cases.
I'm not sure that the "recuperation" will be very quiet, as Daughter #1 arrives from Sydney on Sunday, for a few days stay with us. No sooner do they depart than Son and his partner arrive from Qld to stay with us over Christmas. And then on Christmas Day ,we will host lunch for at least 10, including Daughter #2, her husband, and their 2 kids, along with her parents in law.
As I will probably be less help than usual, Mrs T might be overwhelmed, without Son's help, as he is a beacon of calm and is trained as a cook for the masses.
I need a bit of feedback about people's observations during booster jab visits. Our friend has popped up from the rabbit hole with the information that she saw three people collapse in a London hospital after receiving their boosters. Since she believes the vaccines are 98% graphene oxide and are designed to kill the vaccinees, this justifies her beliefs. I do not think my own experience, sharing a space with 10 cubicles and a continuous flow of walk in patients, none of whom showed any negative response, will convince her. Nor the total absence of ambulances or blacked out "private ambulances" in the vicinity.
Does anyone know of any figures about bad reactions to the Pfizer vaccine I can draw on - anecdotes not being data?
Not that it matters because if your friendly neighbourhood loon believes that brand of nonsense there's likely no reaching them. You could offer them a tin foil hat?
I need a bit of feedback about people's observations during booster jab visits. Our friend has popped up from the rabbit hole with the information that she saw three people collapse in a London hospital after receiving their boosters. Since she believes the vaccines are 98% graphene oxide and are designed to kill the vaccinees, this justifies her beliefs. I do not think my own experience, sharing a space with 10 cubicles and a continuous flow of walk in patients, none of whom showed any negative response, will convince her. Nor the total absence of ambulances or blacked out "private ambulances" in the vicinity.
Does anyone know of any figures about bad reactions to the Pfizer vaccine I can draw on - anecdotes not being data?
If someone is holding a belief that defies all the already easily observed facts I don't know what use any other facts are going to be. Especially if they're less easily observed so more easily denied.
At one of my vaccinations, one young woman appeared to be struggling. I noticed that they brought her a glass of water and then a lollipop. She was accompanied by an older woman (her mother?) though I'm not sure whether her mother had been with her throughout, or had been waiting for her in the car park and was fetched in. The young woman didn't collapse though, she just seemed to be unwell, and I don't know whether this was before or after the jab. She might have been struggling with a phobia of needles.
Since she believes the vaccines are 98% graphene oxide and are designed to kill the vaccinees
If the vaccines kill the vaccinees, does she actually think that 80% or whatever of the British public are about to die? Why would the government want to wipe out the population of the UK? When does she think we are about to start dying? Is it going to be a bodies-in-the-streets scenario?
She'd be better off popping back down into her rabbit-hole ISTM...
That runs the risk of her going even further down it. Good thing Alice only found "eat me" and "drink me"; if she'd found "inject me" there'd have been hell to pay.
Comments
Here in England, we await guidance from the C of E as to what restrictions are likely to be imposed advised under Plan B. It does look as though masks will be mandatory in church (again), but FatherInCharge is hoping that congregational singing (even if masked) will still be permissible.
I ve been quietly (kinda) occupied for the past year but cancellations and the pushing on of required WorkInOurHome is just beginning to get to me now
@Puzzler's church is acting sensibly. AFAIK, we're still ploughing ahead with mask-less carol singing in a crowded ill-ventilated pub, unless saner counsels have prevailed.
Even though I've been triple-jabbed (plus the usual 'flu jab), I'm still very wary about going pretty well anywhere, apart from essential shopping.
I might see if I can persuade my daughter- although now I think sensibly about it she Is a bit heavy handed with the scissors.
Dilemma.
The omicron variant is getting scare headlines here now. Fortunately not all that many cases and they're on the other side of Sydney to us, 30 or more km away. We've had the normal injections, with the booster to come in mid-January.
I am still unable to sleep on Either side though!
My wife was suffering the same affliction last week. I did try to cheer her up by noting that it would have been worse had they administered them in the buttocks.
I fear that your wife and my husband are both afflicted by the same sense of humour !
Did that work?
I was offered the choice of one in each arm or both in one. I took the latter. Made that one twice as sore, but I could sleep.
The booster (Pfizer) had no ill-effects on me at all, apart from a very slight tenderness in the arm for about an hour...
Very, very long queues for people turning up for a booster without an appointment, and when I appeared at about 10:15 for a 10:25 appointment, they were turning people away and had been for a while. Apparently to get a drop in booster meant arriving before 8:30am. And inside those with appointments went left, those drop ins went right, and we went through much quicker than the drop ins.
I wasn't offered a flu jab, if I want one I'm going to have to book, which is complicated.
On coming out of the vaccination centre (a temporary lash-up in the back yard of a local pharmacy - full marks to them for setting it up and running it so well), there was a long queue, and I suspect these were drop-in hopefuls...I'm just glad I got mine done when I did IYSWIM.
She found it mildly amusing, which is just as well because she's had 17 years of my sense of humour and they'd have been a lot rougher if she didn't like it.
Sensible.
One of my kids' friends (aged 10) has just tested positive. She (probably) got it from her masked, triple-jabbed violin teacher. The kid is fine, but pretty brassed off about having to isolate and miss out on a couple of things she'd been looking forward to. She's mostly concerned about not infecting her elderly grandfather, who lives with them.
I expect more will follow, alas, despite the rush to get arms jabbed with boosters (and FWIW I think Johnson was, for once, in the right).
But felt I couldn’t upset the system
Next time the system will be upset though as I Still can’t sleep on that side … Sod’s law means it is the favourite side too
But, as none of the vaccines provide 100% protection against serious illness, this can only be part of what needs to be done. Even if only 1% of vaccinated people infected end up in hospital, and we have 100% vaccine uptake, if we get a million infections that's still 10,000 people in hospital. With obvious impacts on all the rest of the treatments our hospitals should be doing. Add in large numbers of infected people leading to lots of self-isolation, including health service staff, and the problems get worse. We also need to limit large gatherings of people, especially indoor without masks, to reduce transmission. Which is where our present governments (I'm including the Scottish government in this) have largely failed.
https://theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/covid-nhs-in-crisis-mode-as-hospitals-told-to-discharge-patients-where-possible
With 200000 cases per day, it won't be long before the hospitals are totally overwhelmed.
Johnson is resisting further stringent measures, but I doubt if even he can hold out for long under this sort of pressure.
What are the chances of a Christmas lockdown?
It seems churlish to complain about volunteers, but I wonder if she should request that they should be given some training in sensitivity and confidentiality?
Best wishes for the surgery and have a gentle recuperation.
As I will probably be less help than usual, Mrs T might be overwhelmed, without Son's help, as he is a beacon of calm and is trained as a cook for the masses.
Does anyone know of any figures about bad reactions to the Pfizer vaccine I can draw on - anecdotes not being data?
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7002e1.htm
tl;dr severe reactions of that kind around 11.1 per million vaccinations.
Not that it matters because if your friendly neighbourhood loon believes that brand of nonsense there's likely no reaching them. You could offer them a tin foil hat?
If someone is holding a belief that defies all the already easily observed facts I don't know what use any other facts are going to be. Especially if they're less easily observed so more easily denied.
Since she believes the vaccines are 98% graphene oxide and are designed to kill the vaccinees
If the vaccines kill the vaccinees, does she actually think that 80% or whatever of the British public are about to die? Why would the government want to wipe out the population of the UK? When does she think we are about to start dying? Is it going to be a bodies-in-the-streets scenario?
That runs the risk of her going even further down it. Good thing Alice only found "eat me" and "drink me"; if she'd found "inject me" there'd have been hell to pay.
Oh it's powdered [in the context of this bizarre little fantasy]