Can someone make me feel better about the latest news ?

[reallyexhausted]

It just seems so bad right now. Virus more deadly, vaccines might not work against new strains etc.

I am starting to lose all hope this will end.

I was feeling better because of the vaccinations. Now I'm struggling again. How's everyone else feeling ?

I think they’re rightly being very cautious. They don’t know!!

@justanotherneighinparadise perhaps they are being extra cautious now due to them being not as cautious previously

The latest news is that we are doing over 400,000 vaccinations a day and the top scientists think they are just as effective against the new strain.

@notevenat20 maybe I misunderstood. I thought that they're saying the South African variant may be more resistant to vaccines ?

I’m sorry you are struggling op. I’m trying not to worry about the future as it is beyond our control. I’m focusing on one day at a time, and trying to make each day as good as we can.
By good I don’t mean anything out of the ordinary, just finding something within the day to make us smile.
I’m lucky that I’m locked down with DH and DC so we don’t feel to alone. We are both WFH and DC are all home too.
Can focussing on the present help you too?

We don't know that the South African variant will become dominant. And if it is resistant to the vaccine then it is likely the vaccine can be tweaked. So it's not necessarily a big worry. But good advice @IHateCoronavirus - let's not worry about things you cannot control.

I am thinking about it like this.

The scientists who work on the vaccines are really, really, fucking smart. They’ve managed to create the current vaccines in a record time and as I understand it, tweaking an existing vaccine is far easier and quicker than creating a new one.

Also I think to myself - we are making our way through winter, yes it’s only January but every day the warmer weather is closer than it was the day before. So even if the vaccines can’t be tweaked that quickly, there’s still that.

And also I remind myself about new treatments being trialled all the time.

well yes, now i am worried too!

work in retail where its a never ending stream of people with or with out masks, not particularly good at distancing either

They said tonight the new variant is more deadly! i'm worried, especially as a tweak to a vaccine will surely mean people will need it again!?

Personally I read and listen to the scientists. When you listen to what they actually say, even if it is worrying, it sounds measured. It is the media who then turn it into terrifying soundbites.

Even Devi Sridhar, who I know has a bit of a reputation as a doom and gloomer, was still tweeting positive things today.

And lastly, my Dad - he grew up under a brutal , violent dictatorship in another country. Arrived here as a refugee in his early twenties. He has been (while following the rules) very pragmatic about covid. If you ask him why he says that he has lived through some of the worst things it is possible to live through and yet, in the end, better times came. They will again.

Thank you for all the lively responses. I feel better already.

I've read that Israel is seeing a massive improvement in infection rates. Once we are as up to speed with the vaccines we hopefully should too.

But they didn’t say the new variant was more deadly....they said it MAY be. They don’t know.

Flu vaccine has to be rejigged every year to make it effective. Covid vaccine will probably be the same. The important thing is that it is effective against whatever the most common circulating strain is, which in the UK right now is the 'Kent' strain. The vaccine will work against this. We might have to limit travel this summer to avoid importing Brazilian/South African strain but if we need to, we will eventually be able to vaccinate against this too.

The more deadly bit is not great news, but the vaccine should deal with this. And the data on this is far from solid at the moment there could be other factors at play (over crowded hospitals, co-infection with other winter bugs, cold weather, lower vitamin d in the population etc etc).

Look at how well the vaccinations are going. Also the gov’t are controlling entrance to the UK a bit more responsibly. Winter isn’t helping but once a good chunk of the vulnerable population are vaccinated and the warm weather comes we’ll be in a much better place.

Watch the interview with Patrick valance from sky news a couple of days ago. Covers vaccine, variant etc
As others say, balanced and measured
Science will lead us out of this but there will be stumbles on the way
Variant is bad but so far govt seem to have a really got something right with vaccine progress
Ignore press, Facebook, politicians
Days are getting lighter, bulbs are coming up
We are nearly 2/3 of the way through winter hell

Honestly a bit of me wonders if they want to scare the shit out of everyone to make people more compliant, and they need new levels of fear.

(And I'm not a conspiracy nutjob either, I'm still one of the weirdos cleaning shopping.)

@MyBossIsATwat fabulous positive thinking. We need to remember how amazingly clever these scientists are and that the vaccines can be tweaked.

@notevenat20

They announced today that the South African one appears to be more deadly (13 or 14 per 1000 deaths rather than 10 per 1000)

@reallyexhausted I feel exactly the same as you, it's all just rubbish.

I'm 41 so nowhere near getting a vaccine and I'm terrified, even more so when they tell you that the new strain is more deadly.

I'm so fed up now and there is no end in sight.

They announced today that the South African one appears to be more deadly

No, they said the UK one appears more deadly.

They said the SA one could possibly be somewhat resistant to vaccines.

I'm 41 so nowhere near getting a vaccine and I'm terrified, even more so when they tell you that the new strain is more deadly.

Assuming you are not CV (and actually even if you are!) your risk of death is still low even with the new variant.

I take covid v seriously but perspective is needed.

I think you have to trust the science. We will come through it. We are cracking on with the vaccines. It's just death rates lag. Maybe ignore the news for a little while.

@ChimaeraEgg it's true, death by covid is statistically unlikely unless you're much older. But it's just so tough when there are stories about young people every day too. I heard a nurse on TV she was telling a worried 32 year old that he was going to be fine and she said he later died. We don't know if he had conditions but it scared me a lot.

@Nootkah
They announced today that the UK (kent) variation (not the South African variation) might be more deadly . The example given was a 60 plus male, with the original virus 10 per 1000 deaths, now it is thought that it could be 13 -14 per 1000 deaths

@notevenat20
The latest news is that we are doing over 400,000 vaccinations a day and the top scientists think they are just as effective against the new strain.

No, that isn't what they said. They said there was some evidence that the vaccine might not be as effective against the South African variant. At the moment they are waiting for data to clarify the situation.

However, it looks as though the vaccine will be effective against the UK variation, but that is the one that may be more deadly.

If it makes anyone feel better. 19 people at my workplace have had Covid this month. Not one of them has had it severely and everyone has been back at work once their isolation period has ended. Age ranges between early 20s to early 50s.

Perspective. The odds of dying as a young person are tiny.