So when the vulnerable are vaccinated the lockdown experiment ends right?

[orientalknife]

Because life cannot go on like this and we are ruining kid's future

Yes that’s what they said. Lockdown until the first 4 priority groups are vaccinated, a few weeks on top for immunity to take effect, then a gradual relaxation of restrictions. Absolutely no need for lockdown after that

I for one would refuse to comply after that and I've been very good up to now.

what they said and what actually happens are 2 different things though!

@orientalknife

I for one would refuse to comply after that and I've been very good up to now.

how would you 'refuse'? by doing (or not doing) what?

No. Wrong.

Letting my kids go in houses so that they can play with their peers

They've sacrificed enough.

I don't think so.

There are five more groups in Phase 1 after the "top 4" and all of those five groups have higher than average risk. For example, group 6 includes people with diabetes, asplenia, chronic heart or kidney disease etc.

Maybe when Phase 1 is completed (by Spring) we can be better assured that the NHS will have nearer normal capacity.

Then everyone else is ill for 3 or 4 months. Sounds great.

@orientalknife

I for one would refuse to comply after that and I've been very good up to now.

Which part of the UK are you in?

@orientalknife

Letting my kids go in houses so that they can play with their peers

They've sacrificed enough.

assuming other parents are happy with that, maybe others won't be confident doing that.

not playing with peers is now 'ruining their future'?? seriously?

Save the NHS sure

But what about saving the children who will be damaged by this?

Are their lives worth less than the vulnerable to covid and NHS staff?

And yes I get that over run hospitals are a risk to children too but perhaps you have to prioritise a bed for an 8 year old over a bed for a 90 year old. And I would be aghast if as a 90 year old my life was put before a child's.

@GirlCrush

not playing with peers is now 'ruining their future'?? seriously?

Not going to school for the majority of the year is though

I also won’t comply after that, and I’ve followed everything until now. All my friends and family feel the same, so it’s not just me. We will all be seeing each other.

I guess they will also have to confirm that the vaccine is effective against the mutated variant. The vaccine producers seemed to think it should be but this wasn't part of the trials so they will have to study it now.

What do you mean by 'experiment'?

School closure is tragic for some children. So yes this is ruining their future

And playing is a basic need and right of children. I can't believe they barricaded parks in the first lockdown. Fuck that

@orientalknife

Save the NHS sure

But what about saving the children who will be damaged by this?

Are their lives worth less than the vulnerable to covid and NHS staff?

And yes I get that over run hospitals are a risk to children too but perhaps you have to prioritise a bed for an 8 year old over a bed for a 90 year old. And I would be aghast if as a 90 year old my life was put before a child's.

so you are happy to risk nhs staffs lives? who will treat your kid if hospital treatment is needed?

nobody is going to remove a 90 year old from a hospital bed. children hospitals exist for, er , CHILDREN!!

Lockdown IS an experiment, something never tried before, never on such a scale or been the prevailing 'method' of non-pharmaceutical intervention to tackle a pandemic. The WHO advised against lockdowns in 2019.

@HazeyJaneII

What do you mean by 'experiment'?

This.

It’s not an experiment. Enough is known about the transmission of the virus.

The lockdown will end when the vulnerable are vaccinated but that shouldn't just include the extremely vulnerable. They will hopefully wait a few more weeks until all people with underlying conditions are vaccinated.

I agree OP. They have until the end of February from me. This is a blunt tool that should have been used once. I don't really see anyone paying anything other than lip service to restrictions now and thank god for that.

They will review numbers on 15th Feb and then maybe go back to tiers.

Tier 4 isn't much less than lockdown but tier 3 allows some sport which allows children to be meeting peers.

I think realistically end of March before we go back down to tier 3 anywhere but this virus is so unpredictable we don't how how quickly numbers will drop currently.

CV and ECV children won't be vaccinated- what do you think should happen to them?

Children can actually play in their own home usually. "Stay at home" doesn't equate to "sit on that chair facing a blank wall" for two months.

It is completely an experiment! They have no idea if lockdowns are the correct medium or longer term strategy for this virus. No one can know that. It will only be known in years to come.