Will some people stay in their own personal lockdown even after vaccines?

[GoldenOmber]

Earlier this year, and even into the summer when things looked better, there were a lot of people who wanted to stay as locked down as they possibly possibly could despite not being vulnerable or shielding or living with anyone who was. People saying they would homeschool until vaccines rolled out for children, not taking babies out of the house at all because they can look out of the windows if they need to see the world, that sort of thing.

I think life will ping back to normal fairly fast around/after spring, and a lot quicker than many people think. But curious about what's going to happen with the people who were that worried about leaving the house earlier on. Will they all be happy to go back to their lives when mass vaccinations are over and cases are down to near nothing? Or are we going to see a small number of very anxious people too worried to leave their houses for the long term, or waiting years until they're happier to take the vaccine? What do you think?

(asking entirely out of curiosity, and asking about the future, please do not huff at me for not understanding how scary it is to be CEV/shielded/already dealing with anxiety at a time when the virus is all over the place and there's no licensed vaccine)

@FuzzyPuffling your post made me excited for you! (Also great username, pufflings are extremely cute smile)

Aw bless you psychomath. I confess we have even bought tickets to see Pete Tong in the summer. Bring it on!

We've been being very careful, but I am so looking forward to going back to normal life once I'm vaccinated. I'm under 40 and healthy so expect it'll be a while yet, and community spread should be pretty low already by the time they get to us. Of course there is still a risk, and of course there are other illnesses, but not a novel virus that has killed family members and given three people I know post-viral illness.

I'm looking forward to going to gigs, going to the house of my friend who has T1 diabetes, and not panicking every time I feel a bit hot or shivery.

@SheepandCow

Suggesting lightheartedly (which went over some people's heads) a possible reason why somebody might stay away from somebody, i.e. possible BO, rather than health anxiety. On a thread that whiffs suspiciously of slagging/taking the piss out of people suffering mental health issues (health anxiety), with people asking 'just out of curiosity'. That gets deleted.

Yet another thread somebody compares people protecting the vulnerable with perpetrators of genocide (Nazis, who did kill off the vulnerable), and personally insults other posters (for caring about the vulnerable and listening to scientists and doctors (rather than far right YouTube conspiracy theorists). Ok then.

I have no idea what you’re talking about, but your previous posts have been deleted so maybe something got lost along the way there?

Definitely leaving the house as soon as we can! Holidays abroad, visiting my family, outdoor trips, picnics, eating out.
Can’t wait.
Habits like hand washing and use of sanitisers will stay, but I’ve always done this. Also maintaining a small distance unless with close friends and family. Once again I’ve always done this anyway.

I'm looking forward to choosing by myself which door to go in and out of Tesco by.

I think so. I shouldn't derail this and I'm sorry for that. There were a couple of shocking posts on a different thread (nothing to do with you). Not deleted. Fair enough I didn't report them (left it for people to see what the poster was like).

Joking aside, I used to work somewhere with a very stinky colleague. She was absolutely lovely but she stank. Nobody wanted to hurt her feelings so we never said anything. But, we did start to distance ourselves from her.

I smell myself today if that makes anybody feel better. Had a very garlicky lunch. I can imagine some people might prefer me in a mask right now!

I'll head away from here now and leave you to your thread.

Try not to worry too much about the deleted post SheepandCow.

I had my first deleted post a couple of weeks ago because I had a go at a poster who was quite obviously a troll. I didn't troll hunt, but did tell them what I thought of their nasty post. The person was removed by mn as a previously banned poster a few hours later. No regrets.

How long until they vaccinate fat 45 year olds with high cholesterol?

I am probably a long way down the list - I am not looking forward to watching all the vaccinated people resume life while I continue mostly stay-at-home life.

i’ve been shielding since march, i’m waiting to have two surgeries and until i can get them i’ll mostly still be home as i’m disabled. i will have the vaccine and do as much as i can - just taking the worry out of going out will be amazing as i already live with mental illness and this year has begun to really take its toll on my outlook.

if i can stay alive long enough to get the vaccine it will hopefully begin to change my shitty life for the better. and these four walls have been closing in since about April so i will definitely try and get out more. just coffee with friends would be amazing.

i’ve been really struggling these last few weeks and verging on suicidal. if i didn’t have my cat i’m not sure i’d still be here at this point.

still. onwards! i’ll keep on keeping on.

I'm so excited about getting back to normal life, vaccine or no vaccine.

I do enjoy table service in pubs and not having to hug people I barely know, however.

@NothingButADreamer

How long until they vaccinate fat 45 year olds with high cholesterol?

I am probably a long way down the list - I am not looking forward to watching all the vaccinated people resume life while I continue mostly stay-at-home life.

Surely though when less people are getting it it’ll be circulating less so we can ease restrictions for everyone?

My understanding is you have one injection, then wait 4 weeks and have another one, and then it still takes about a month for the vaccine to be working.
Obviously 99.9% of people won't be having it in the first week of January, so I think your hope of everything being back to normal by Spring is somewhat optimistic.

It needs about 80% of the population to be immunised for us all

Then of course, "the vaccine" is only going to work against one strain of the virus.

We (the world) had vaccines for polio, TB, Mumps, Measles, Rubella and Smallbox for decades but the whole world can't say they have eradicated those diseases.

Yes, but we aren’t aiming to eradicate covid, it’s endemic, we probably never will.

I think a lot of people will stay isolated at home and be extremely angry with those who go ‘back to normal’, not because of genuine vulnerability but because of their personalities - in some cases paranoia, in others because they get some kind of emotional reward out of feeling in crisis, or angry or resentful, or besieged. I suspect they’ll be longing for things to go wrong!

I don’t, ironically, think that those who are genuinely at risk from COVID will react like this.

@LaValliere

I think a lot of people will stay isolated at home and be extremely angry with those who go ‘back to normal’, not because of genuine vulnerability but because of their personalities - in some cases paranoia, in others because they get some kind of emotional reward out of feeling in crisis, or angry or resentful, or besieged. I suspect they’ll be longing for things to go wrong!

I don’t, ironically, think that those who are genuinely at risk from COVID will react like this.

I agree. It’ll be the worried well who will react in the most OTT way.

@Meerschweinchen1990, I was responding to this, as put in my 2nd sentence :

I think life will ping back to normal fairly fast around/after spring, and a lot quicker than many people think.

I think it will take time to readjust and resume normality. Even now I watch a precovid recorded program and think what, how are they standing so close or how can they hug like that and then have to recheck myself! So I think it will take time to readjust that mindset again back to precovid times as people have become do used to such big changes.

OP I wish I could share your optimism about life pinging back to normal in spring

I don’t believe we’ll ever go back to how things were (there will be mutations, there will be more viruses, the world population is growing on and on.... this is the beginning of a new way of life, lockdowns, crowd control, end of freedom

I wish there was a way back

But I can’t see how! Hope I’m wrong

But as to your question, I know 1 person who is locking down until there are zero deaths

I'll probably really struggle tbh. I've developed pretty severe agoraphobia this year .

God no, when vaccine is rolled out we will all be licking bar stools again!

Oh God, I am so stealing the phrase "licking bar stools" for post-COVID socializing....

Thinking it’ll be a gradual emergence for us. The vaccine rollout will be staggered so it’s going to take a while for stuff to fully switch back on again.

We’re likely to be back of the queue for the vaccine, so I’m thinking it’ll probably be nearer 2022 before things are really back to normal for us.

I have a health issue that not directly relevant but which makes me wary of taking chances because life’s already a bit more complicated than I’d like day to day and the thought of long Covid on top of that gives me the shivers. DH’s mum is vulnerable and we’d like to stay on the safe side even if she gets vaccinated early.

Surely though when less people are getting it it’ll be circulating less so we can ease restrictions for everyone
Eventually, but currently IIRC the section transmitting the virus most are the younger adults (at one point 19-25). That group will be the very last to get any vaccine.

So the virus will continue to circulate widely while those at least risk from it but who transmit probably the most remain unvaccinated.

I agree NothingButADreamer, there’s going to be a difficult period where all the ECV and over 65s, say, have been vaccinated, but the under 25s are still awash with it. The situation for, say, an unvaccinated obese 49 year old male cab driver with diabetes picking people up from nightclubs could still be unacceptably risky.

We do need to ship vaccines out as soon as possible to the wider population because I can’t see legal restrictions on social gatherings having much public support once all the over 65s (say) are vaccinated, which would leave the virus to run riot through the under 30s leaving a lot of moderately vulnerable middle aged people more exposed than seems reasonable. It’ll be a tightrope act.

I’ll be out as soon as possible! We don’t need it eradicating or zero cases. It’s hospitalisation that are driving restrictions. Once the vulnerable have been immunised I think restrictions will be lifted as the pressure on the NHS eases.

I think it will be interesting to see the take up of this vaccine actually. As it will still be circulating among children, if one wants to be safe from Covid, one must actually take the vaccine. Not rely on herd immunity like you can with other diseases.

@LearnedResponse

I agree NothingButADreamer, there’s going to be a difficult period where all the ECV and over 65s, say, have been vaccinated, but the under 25s are still awash with it. The situation for, say, an unvaccinated obese 49 year old male cab driver with diabetes picking people up from nightclubs could still be unacceptably risky.

We do need to ship vaccines out as soon as possible to the wider population because I can’t see legal restrictions on social gatherings having much public support once all the over 65s (say) are vaccinated, which would leave the virus to run riot through the under 30s leaving a lot of moderately vulnerable middle aged people more exposed than seems reasonable. It’ll be a tightrope act.

Same with universities. Students are chomping at the bit to escape their tiny flats and get back to face to face tutorials/lectures, clubs & societies, and yes, parties. But, the lecturers and other staff won't be keen as many of them will be middle aged, vulnerable with diabetes or other medical conditions, etc. I don't really see the teaching staff at Unis wanting to get back on campus and resume face to face teaching for many months yet, probably not until next September, but I don't think the students will stand for another two terms of being stuck in their flats watching pre-recorded lectures.