Indian variant - why the panic?

[Doireallyneedaname]

Multiple news stories over the last 24 hours stating that the vaccines are effective against it; as well as lab studies last week showing the same, yet the panic continues. Why?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57134181

The outbreaks where I am are centred around a school and university/student accommodation. All people who will be unvaccinated. Although overall numbers are still low, cases are increasing fast.
I really wanted things to go back to normal. But I am beginning to get deja vu with early March 2020.
I do not expect anything to close though until the Indian variant is running through London. So we will probably be back in the situation last Autumn where schools in much of the north were barely functioning, but nothing was done until London was affected. C'est la vie. London is all that really matters.

We are in a different phase of the pandemic now with high vaccination rates. We’re going to be dealing with new variants until the whole world is vaxxed, which is probably 5 years minimum, perhaps never.

My vote is for never. There are always going to be new variants. We'll just learn to live with them.

[quote bumbleymummy]@Belladonna12 But in this situation, where we have vaccinated the majority of the population who are most likely to end up in hospital, it makes sense to use the wait and see approach. Lockdown was a last resort, in the absence of a vaccine, to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. We can't keep jumping to it as a solution 'just in case' every time a new variant emerges.[/quote]
We haven't fully vaccinated the majority of the population who are likely to end up in hospital yet and we are not certain that the vaccines will be fully effective with the Indian variants yet anyway.
As for "we can't keep jumping to it as a solution" -since when have we "jumped" to anything as a solution to Covid in the UK? We have done the complete opposite of that and suffered the consequences.

As long as hospitalisations aren't increasing dramatically, a higher number of cases shouldn't matter. The vaccines have broken the link between case numbers and hospitalisations. Early evidence shows that the vaccines are protective against this variant too.

Wait and see for a few weeks while scientists try to find out more is the perfect solution. Instead in Britain, we ignore any warning signs because the evidence is not 100% clear, and get ourselves into a situation where we need longer lockdowns than was necessary.

@bumbleymummy

As long as hospitalisations aren't increasing dramatically, a higher number of cases shouldn't matter. The vaccines have broken the link between case numbers and hospitalisations. Early evidence shows that the vaccines are protective against this variant too.

I do not think early evidence shows that at all. There are many Drs in India who were fully vaccinated and have died. Maybe there are other reasons for that? But in reality, we are just assuming good old British exceptionalism again.

@Belladonna12 Actually, we have fully vaccinated the majority of the population most likely to end up in hospital ie the over 70s.

@Musication

I'm in Singapore where they just shut schools again, to my dismay, and we have a partial lockdown. If this Indian Variant can get past Singaporean systems that have been working for months then you can be sure it's really really contagious and now is the right time for caution from the UK government.

How many out if the population are vaccinated / had one dose?

We haven't fully vaccinated the majority of the population who are likely to end up in hospital yet

Let’s get on with that then, which the government are prioritising.

There are many Drs in India who were fully vaccinated and have died

Source please

@brondary

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/vaccines-are-nearly-as-effective-against-the-indian-variant-2rdqx5bdr

medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-pfizer-moderna-vaccines-effective-indian.html

The re opening plan is cautious already.

Four weeks data, one week analysis.

At any stage of four conditions aren’t met it doesn’t go ahead.

Some wanted faster, others like on here want slower.

Wait and see for a few weeks while scientists try to find out more is the perfect solution. Instead in Britain, we ignore any warning signs because the evidence is not 100% clear, and get ourselves into a situation where we need longer lockdowns than was necessary.

What are you suggesting, precautionary lockdowns every time a new variant emerges, for years to come? Not practical.

@TheKeatingFive

There are many Drs in India who were fully vaccinated and have died

Source please

Just read the national newspapers. And not tabloids.

I do not think early evidence shows that at all. There are many Drs in India who were fully vaccinated and have died. Maybe there are other reasons for that? But in reality, we are just assuming good old British exceptionalism again.

Oh good that phrase, every time

How many have died and what do you expect to see here based on this?

Oh god, definitely not good not even with sarcasm

Just read the national newspapers.

So you can’t back your point up. Cool.

@TheKeatingFive

Wait and see for a few weeks while scientists try to find out more is the perfect solution. Instead in Britain, we ignore any warning signs because the evidence is not 100% clear, and get ourselves into a situation where we need longer lockdowns than was necessary.

What are you suggesting, precautionary lockdowns every time a new variant emerges, for years to come? Not practical.

Why do people do this? Come up with an unrealistic plan because you suggest a realistic one? We know many variants are no big deal. We know that the Indian and Brazil variant in particular are of concern. In India the Indian variant has ripped through the population and caused many deaths including of young people and fully vaccinated people. We do not know how big the risk is because record-keeping in India which has never been fully accurate has got much worse. Unless you die in a hospital of coronavirus, that death will not be recorded as coronavirus. Scientists are desperately investigating this variant to find out just how transmissible it is, if the confirmed deaths of Indian Drs fully vaccinated is just because of the sheer numbers infected or some other reason or if vaccines do protect, and if younger people are more affected. UK scientists appear to be working on the assumption that vaccines will protect 80-90% of those fully vaccinated. So if the Indian variant rips through the population a lot will still be hospitalised and die.

The other variant that concerns me is the Brazilian variant. There has been lots coming out of Brazil for months about the high number of children and young people being hospitalised and in some cases dying.

Most variants can be ignored. They pose no additional threat. But to just ignore variants that have red flags flashing is foolish.

I know that is exactly what we are doing though. I hope vaccines do protect and hospitalizations and death remain low in the UK. But if that happens it will be by luck rather than anything else.

[quote bumbleymummy]@Belladonna12 Actually, we have fully vaccinated the majority of the population most likely to end up in hospital ie the over 70s.[/quote]
They may be the most likely to die but in the last two waves there were plenty of people in their 50s and 60s in ICU and many people that age and younger are suffering from long Covid.

Load of fuss over nothing. Saying as much today over the various media outlets.

Death rate in England lowest since records began

Just 851.2 people per 100,000 died last month, the lowest figure since the ONS started recording mortality rates in 2001
The Daily Telegraph

@brondary it’s caused the death of many fully vaccinated people?? India have vaccinated only 14 people per 100... where is your source for this???

it’s caused the death of many fully vaccinated people??

It hasn’t

Nationally the seven day average of positive cases has increased by a whopping 0.2%

Meanwhile deaths and hospital admissions continue to fall

@brondary

www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-covid-doctors-death-ima-b1849402.html

Says that of the doctors who have died since January 97% were unvaccinated and still only 66% of the healthcare workers are. And that is not just the AZ vaccine but one we dont use.

As for the Brazilian it the horrific stories of children tended to be in the first wave as much as the second and is due in part to the healthcare system there