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

I agree, I think all the good 'news' about starting vaccinations next week is nonsense and only spouted to lift spirits in the hope that people will keep complying.

I've heard people that workin care, that have got vaccination apts booked for first week of December.....

@RaspberryCoulis Chris Whitty is not paid to entertain you, we've got the cabinet clowns to do that.

I'm not sure they actually give a shit about people catching it or being hospitalised and dying, as long as those numbers are kept at a level where the NHS is still basically functioning.

I think they will rush the vaccine, lift restrictions and pat themselves on the back

@FourTeaFallOut no I will be getting it done at our local testing centre. Why shouldn’t I? I will be paying it back in taxes. My family and I should be entitled to a test as much as anyone else.

I've heard people that workin care, that have got vaccination apts booked for first week of December.....

That will be flu vaccinations.

Pollo yes, if I was a patient and I saw him, I would trust him to give me the best treatment.

What? I'm saying it's a good idea!

Oh, do you mean you will be using the regular covid testing earmarked for sick people?

The Government knew what was going to happen weeks before March this year. It was obvious to even boring business people like myself (I import from China) what was going on and it would hit us very soon.
They lied then, they are lying now. China had a massively oppressive lockdown. Due to their culture they adhered to it.

We can't possibly know at this stage how quickly the programme will move.

What on earth is wrong with Chris Whitty not being hugely entertaining and saying he will be on the wards when he was asked a direct question?

@GerardWay123

The Government knew what was going to happen weeks before March this year. It was obvious to even boring business people like myself (I import from China) what was going on and it would hit us very soon. They lied then, they are lying now. China had a massively oppressive lockdown. Due to their culture they adhered to it.

Yes, they knew. Even we as a family knew it was coming from January onwards. They made zero preparations, hence the scrambling around for ppe and tests in March/April. That was appalling, the failure to prepare. The UK did have a ppe stockpile and pandemic preparations, the government used the ppe stockpile in 2018 and the other pandemic budget was used for Brexit. The failure to close border to impose quarantine until June was also shocking. The pandemic in this country could have been totally different. At this stage, they still don't know what they are doing because their main priority is to keep party donors and lobby groups happy, then a certain group of party members happy, then the Brexit voters happy. Currently the AZ Oxford vaccine isn't approved, but that is the one the government bought high stocks of. The other vaccines likely to be approved sooner, the government bought relatively low numbers of. The change so stadia can operate at 50% capacity just an example of how at this stage, money and donors and lobbyists are still king.

It's not 50% capacity. It's 50% or 4000 in tier 1 or 2000 in tier 2 which ever is smaller.

@JosephineDeBeauharnais

My fear is that there will be insufficient take up of the vaccine to allow for complete freedom. Also, there’s an awful lot of folks who rather like the restrictions and there will be a surprising degree of resistance to a full return to normal. I’m feeling very pessimistic tbh.

I think there'll be enough uptake to massively decrease the infection rates, which will bring back a lot of normality even relatively early on.

There are absolutely people who quite like the restrictions and will tut at the idea of getting back to normal, but the government is not going to keep the infrastructure in place to support that so, oh well. Can you imagine? "Dear government, please extend lockdown and furlough for another two years, I know we've got a vaccine now that I could have if I wanted and I know the NHS is coping fine, but I've so enjoyed this slower pace of life and I like having an excuse not to go to my MIL's for lunch any more."

@CarlottaValdez

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.

It's astonishing isn't it? I'm 66. My mother was born in 1934 - it was my GRANDFATHER who fought in WW2!

@MereDintofPandiculation

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. At least the "older generation" whose children were evacuated (most of whom are now either over 100 or dead) weren't doing this alone. It's the lack of human contact that is having such a bad effect, it's not "not being able to go to parties", it's not having people around you to share your troubles or to give you a different perspective on life.

It's a rather different set of circumstances. In WWII there was a sense of UK ' doing without / making sacrifices' to fight the enemy. Specific restrictions affected almost everybody (eg food rationing) and were miserable but most people were all in it together (I know there were rich folk and spivs/black market etc). Those who were actively serving in the armed forces and those who were working in munitions factories, steel, mines, food production had a sense of pride they were serving their country to keep them going through bleak times.

Now we can only 'fight the enemy' but not coming together as any of us could be carrying the enemy, so psychologically it is different.
It is harder to actively help - there is a sense of that with Key workers but I think the Govt grabbed that and misused it for their own ends.

I think we are in for a pretty grim time until Easter.
But by until summer it will be easier to mix outside.
I hope by next November many will have been able to vaccinate.

I also think that many folk feel that this Govt could have reacted quicker and faster to events re Covid and that avoidable mistakes were made.
I am sure that was true in war time as well but there is a real lack of trust and confidence in the Govt now. I imagine that was less true then.

we will end up with a similar debt for future generations to repay though.

@FourTeaFallOut well they’re testing all Uni students before sending them home so no i’m not taking testing away from the sick, they also said they tested most of Liverpool sick or not. I don’t feel guilty, I haven’t seen a doctor all year, i’m not on any medication, i’m not a burden on the NHS so one test for me and my family is a drop in the ocean. How many tests have you had?

None. My son, who is six and prone to high temperatures with a cold, has had two. I'm not sure how that has any bearing on the conversation.

I simply asked you if you were using the testing facilities made available for those with symptoms? Which it seems you are?

@kittensarecute

I need my normality back, I just can't do this anymore, I've started self-harming - I've got nothing to be here for, I can't do my beloved theatre which is my passion in life, I can't even hug my best friend, I've got nothing to look forward to at all. I don't know why I'm still here.

Don't give up.

You love theatre could you write a lockdown play? Or one that is much much happier? As a way of connecting with theatre whilst we are going through this. You never know you might write a hit show. Dare to dream?

@Toppered

I reckon we have hit halfway, shortly to go backwards after Christmas due to 'gatherings'

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.

Sorry

*not aimed at anyone on here btw.

This always comes up on these threads - this and all you have to do is stay home and watch Netflix. Some of us don’t want to stay home and watch Netflix - we want to get on with all the things we usually enjoy and that doesn’t involve Netflix for everyone!!!!!! I’ve not once in real life heard anyone of the older generation spout this!!

@tortoiseshell1985 - what a spiteful comment. Prof Whitty is a respected expert in his field. We're in the middle of a pandemic. Maybe you'd prefer bumbling lying Boris pretending everything will be fine if we wash our hands & trust him.

@movingonup20 - where did you get that schedule from? The vaccine isn't approved yet.

@RaspberryCoulis If he'd said he was going to be gathering with his family wouldn't you have thought after he'd spent months warning people not to take risks? I was surprised to hear that he'd be on the wards because I assumed a CMO
was more of a management role keeping on top of research and managing other senior doctors like Professor Van Tam and Professor Harries.

I suspect he's been working insane hours this year - the amount of scientific studies and constant data coming in from all over the world must be impossible to keep up with.

@tortoiseshell1985

I agree don't think vaccine going get approved I physically can't stand more Whitty misery He's enjoying his moment of fame I think

Based on wishful thinking? With at least 3 vaccines and many more being worked on you're sure it won't work because....?