It’s never going to end is it?

[Pink98]

The legislation has been extended to give local councils lockdown powers until the 17th of July ???

Why on Earth ?? If the vaccine works... why will we need to be locked down in the summer ?

Are we just going to be trapped forever

I feel so miserable

[quote AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii]@User133847 more likely to be optional I would imagine[/quote]
Cultural rather than mandatory, outside of a pandemic.

It is going to end. Its going on for far, far longer than any of us had hoped, but nothing is forever and this too shall pass.

It will end

When all this kicked off, my dad said we've got 12-18 months of this. He's always right.

The truth is no matter how this goes the majority of people will just roll with it and say soothing things to get through the next disappointment. We are conditioned to this life now, this is life for the foreseeable months ahead even if no new variant comes alone.

I'm not wearing a mask next winter. No way.

I think this is the general belief/impression.

Talking with DH, we reckon this will be the pattern for another couple of years, at least. So this summer will be like last, next winter like this and so on.

The vaccine won't make it all stop because there'll be new variants and the immunity from vaccination will wear off. That's why this pattern will keep re-occuring, but over time fade.

It will end. I don’t think even the biggest doom mongers in sage have suggested it will be permanent. I understand with viruses they run out of hosts to readily infect and that will halt the pandemic.

@User133847

If wearing masks mean we are less likely to get colds and flu then I think we should keep wearing them in public places. I don’t want anyone to ever come near me without on on ever again.

Yeah, it will. If one thing that has come out of this it will be masks to stop winter viruses spreading too much. The NHS is at breaking point every Winter.

Yes I agree. I'd much rather masks in Winter were just part of Winter like coats and scarves. I also hope people keep up the reasonable/good personal hygiene/ 20 second handwash thing too.

"But this is my question, if vaccines are effective, why are lockdowns necessary" we have not vaccinated everyone yet. It takes time.

@wanderings

I can’t really see a clear end to it all - this just feels like normal life now. That's the trouble. Saint Boris's BRAINWASHING - and yes, it is brainwashing, is working too well. "Three weeks to flatten the curve." "We can turn this virus around twelve weeks." "Normal by September." "We have to squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze the brakes." "Normalish by Christmas." (But I didn't say which one.) "It would be inhumane to cancel Christmas." (Just before doing so.) "Schools are safe." "I hope to see significant normality by Easter." Drip drip drip.

Then what?
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease be patient for another one, two or three years, we've just found another magic money tree."

It's not drip feeding it's dealing with each stage as we encounter it.

Would you feel happier if you understood what was going on? Maybe read up on viruses and epidemics? At least enough so that you can follow the explanations.

' I'm not wearing a mask next winter. No way. '
Really selfish people who dont give a damn about what's going on in the world.

But this is my question, if vaccines are effective, why are lockdowns necessary"

we have not vaccinated everyone yet. It takes time.

But it was never supposed to be about lockdown until everyone is vaccinated was it? It was supposed to be about vaccinating the elderly/vulnerable as they are the ones most likely to need hospital treatment. Once this is done and as numbers naturally decline with the warmer weather things should start opening up again. This has always been about protecting the NHS.
It’s not about waiting until everyone is vaccinated.

@TulipsInAJug

I'm not wearing a mask next winter. No way.

So if it’s mandatory to wear a mask for shopping, to travel etc you won’t be complying? .,, good luck with that, you might as well stay at home!

@midgebabe

It will end, and long before that things will become easier.

This lockdown is already showing signs of working, that gets us back to last summer , things open, holidays , friends and family. Then the vaccine stops the late autumn wave. So we get to Christmas in a better state

Provided we hold on ,

I’ll take that prediction and hang onto it 👍 the next few months are going to be tough but things will get better. I’m awake worrying about my kids. We’re managing (just) with the homeschooling (yr1 and yr6) but they are missing out on so much social interaction. It breaks my heart.

@lunapeace

When all this kicked off, my dad said we've got 12-18 months of this. He's always right.

What's your dad's profession? He sounds astute.

I think this time next year we'll be starting to come out of it, if the vaccines are, and remain, effective.

I doubt international travel will get back to normal for a long time though, if ever.

@TulipsInAJug Please wear one, I'd rather not see sour, whiney faces.

They obviously have to vaccinate everyone and that’s gonna take the rest of the year possibly longer!

And we have to wait and see if it actually works / does enough to stop the virus spread

Seriously everyone needs to just calm down - as soon as the bloody vaccine was announced people got too over excited that it would fix everything over night!

This years another write off - it’s just 2 years of your life - it’s not that bad.

This is depressing 😟

The legislation been extended up until a certain date just incase not to go to that date , its better to legislate for a period of months than keep having to try and pass it through every week.
Plus some things may have to be in place for longer its not going to be straight back to normal , it will be small steps

I quite like wearing a mask. It makes me feel like a bank robber, or maybe a ninja, depending on the mask.

The trouble with the vaccine programme, imho, is two-fold. Firstly, I think it's targeted at the wrong people. Sure, we want to protect the old and the vulnerable, great, very noble, but starting with the 'oldest' and 'sickest' people isn't the way to protect the majority, is it? I reckon the priority should be those who spend the most contact time with other people in the community, because despite lockdowns, and social distancing, and 70% of people working from home, it's still circulating. Via community transmission.

Who spends the most time with the most people? Health and social care staff, police officers, social workers, school teachers, delivery drivers, security guards, shop assistants, postmen, etc. Vaccinate them first, keep lockdown for another six weeks, and then we could get back to (almost) normal.

But, truthfully, I don't even think the biggest issue is who gets it first, nor the efficacy of the vaccine, or how long it takes to jab everyone, but the fact that not everybody wants it and it isn't compulsory. If around 40% of people refuse it (which seems to be the figure bandied about regarding refuseniks), then the virus will just keep circulating, and mutating, as viruses are wont to do, and we'll be flopping in and out of lockdowns for about another 18 months, and it'll cost the government a fortune to keep vaccinating the 60% because the 40% won't play the game.

Vaccination needs to be compulsory.

People will start doing their own thing regardless OP. The tide is well and truly turning against lockdowns now
This.

This is the new normal. They’ll never stop the lockdowns...

@frozendaisy

Thank you that has made me feel a bit more positive xx