To feel like this is not as near the end as boris made out to be

[Thewaythingsare]

I still feel there will be at least another six months before things are normal

@kittensarecute I'm sorry you feel so bleak. I understand how you feel though. Please don't take people's misery predictions on here as gospel, they don't know anything for sure. Keep going x

But it doesn’t stop you spreading it just because you have the vaccine. Most people I know have recovered without any long Covid or serious health issues so no I won’t take it, I may take if my health changes. There is no diabetes in my family even my 80 year old parents.

@Lavenderteal271 video chats or phone calls are not the same as actual face to face human interactions. Thats why people with parents/children abroad normally want to, you know, go and visit them 🤷‍♀️

I bet the older generation are laughing, we can't even sit on a sofa in the warm and not meet people, we have to 'have bubbles' else we whinge while they had to send their children to be evacuated whilst they went to war, It makes me sick

Yeh I bet they are really not. More isolated, maybe even stuck in care homes isolating. Limited on contact. If you think older people don’t need friends and family as much it even more then you’re imagining it.

I think spring this year we will be in lower restrictions (similar to summer) and by this time next year, we will feel at much lower risk than we have done for the previous 18 months. It won’t be ‘over’ by spring no, but it will feel better.

Not only that we will probably have to take the vaccine once a year so if health issues change it will hopefully be offered annually.

secretllama I didn't say it was the same, obviously it's not the same. It is however, a fantastic tool that we can use during this pandemic to access support. Something that we're incredibly lucky to have.

I’ve noticed that most of the WW2 comparisons come from people who don’t appear to know when it was. Also about 50% of parents brought them home against advice by the end of 1939 (when the expected bombings hadn’t happened). So they didn’t comply any better than us.

If the parents of evacuees are still alive, they don't need to be worried about covid - they must already have the secret to eternal life! My gran was an evacuee and she died a decade ago aged 80!

@CarlottaValdez

I’ve noticed that most of the WW2 comparisons come from people who don’t appear to know when it was. Also about 50% of parents brought them home against advice by the end of 1939 (when the expected bombings hadn’t happened). So they didn’t comply any better than us.

Yep, my nanna was evacuated and was home again within a month.

Yes people are weirdly dumb about how long ago the war was. I’ve seen people talk about people in their 60s as having fought for us.

I think we'll see strides forward once the vaccine is approved. The vaccine roll out is designed to immunise those most exposed and vulnerable first so we see the biggest return on effort from the word go with a big impact on hospital staffing and capacity and mortality. It might take till summer to roll through the whole of society but at that point you'll be dealing with healthy adults.

If you want me to be honest. They are playing things by ear. They don't know any more than we do. It sucks.

We will be locked down again straight after Christmas because people will be out shopping in hoardes and then socialising all over the country for the whole of December regardless of what tier they are.
Can't we just not do one damned Christmas unless it's somebody's last Christmas. Just the once - there will be plenty more.
I won't be out shopping and I'm not going to see anyone as agreed with the rest of my family - we are all going it alone this year.

I guess it depends on your definition of 'normal'. Kids are at school, people are at work, the shops are open and supplies are available.

In terms of the economy, we'll possibly feel this for years to come, so in that sense 'normal' is a way off.

In terms of socialising, fingers crossed the vaccine schedule will be successful. Hopefully the coming summer will be more positive.

I think we've turned the halfway point of the worst (unless it mutates 😱). I'm still waiting to see how the first vaccinations get on tbh. Summer should be ok, so only 6 months to go.
Johnson lies anyway. I'm sticking with common sense. Not him.

@madcatladyforever I agree i’m going to work every day, daughter at school, my son is a teacher, my husband’s out at work every day, in the summer we went out once a week to restaurants, travelled into London on public transport. I will be going Christmas shopping and seeing the lights as soon as restrictions are lifted. I have booked a restaurant once a week in December. We will all get a test though before my parents come round for Christmas.

Can't we just not do one damned Christmas unless it's somebody's last Christmas. Just the once - there will be plenty more.

And there may not be.

I bet the older generation are laughing, we can't even sit on a sofa in the warm and not meet people, we have to 'have bubbles' else we winge while they had to send their children to be evacuated whilst they went to war, It makes me sick.

Same members of the older generation are highly likely to be stuck in nursing homes, or alone at home, or in hospital, with hardly any contact with loved ones due to the restrictions. Many of them not wanting to be 'protected' when they'd rather make their own decisions and risk assessments.

The ignorance and revisionist history make me sick.

I don't think we're near the end, but I also believe that next Christmas will be completely normal.

How we approach that normality, and when exactly it will arrive, I don't know.

I think it all depends on this vaccine, really, and how quickly they can get it out to those that want/need it.

They talked of improvements to the situation by the spring, not that it would be over. Witty, Valance and PM on the same page. The PM said Witty had convinced him of this. They gave reasoned, measured answers to the questions asked in the recent Coronavirus update.

I work for the NHS, although not front line...and I'm tentatively hoping to have the vaccine by Christmas. Bring it on.

Once you’ve vaccinated the majority of the over seventies, care staff and NHS front line then the NHS will no longer be at risk of collapse.

At that point Covid risk becomes a matter of individual choice and IMO legal restrictions should be released - I suspect that the House of Commons will agree. Though employers will arguably still be liable for any avoidable health risk to their staff so things won’t look completely normal.

Today Boris is dressed up as a lab technician. Was Mr. Benn the children's TV character who donned different outfits for each programme?