I have a bad feeling that we're screwed

[MyFloorIsLava]

This Indian variant is a disaster. I had thought that, with cases so far down, and the vaccine roll out going so well, that things would be back to normal a bit soon. But cases are up, hospitalisations are up, and the hospital in Bolton has gone from having 13 covid patients to 33 in a week. They're discharging everyone possible to brace for an admissions surge. I could cry my fucking eyes out. DH was so ill from covid, FIL died from it, and the cost to everyone's mental health is incalculable - plus the economy surely can't survive another lockdown. Selfishly, it looks unlikely that my DD will get her birthday party. I'm so fed up with it all.

bearing in mind vaccine immunity doesn't last long

It is likely to be really long-lasting in reality. They just can't say that confidently without hard data which means sitting and waiting for the months/years to roll by and observe what happens. If immunity is very short-lived, they will likely move to a system of just vaccinating the old and the vulnerable like with flu, which would still prevent most deaths and most likely younger people will have the option of paying to top themselves up if they are concerned. But then you have to come back to 'it's a mild illness for most' so many wouldn't bother.

I'm glad my post helped, OP. We've collectively been through so much in the last year and it's not surprising people are struggling with the latest round of bad news. So many people can't take much more - I saw a friend recently who's found the last year ok and bearable for the most part and she said that if the Indian variant really took off she just couldn't cope any more. She hasn't got it in her to do another wave of this virus. I feel the same, really. I'm at my limits. I find Sailor Roo Scout on Twitter helpful as she shares lots of positive news and she really knows her stuff. twitter.com/sailorrooscout

People may mock the Op citing vaccine success as a reason for things looking more positive, but bearing in mind vaccine immunity doesn't last long, do people seriously think every year millions of people will keep going to the GP/ vaccine centres for jabs indefinitely to keep the terrifying new strains out of the Uk that have an average age of death above life expectancy?

Three issues with this:

First, we don’t know that vaccine immunity doesn’t last long. Why do people keep saying that as fact?

Second: we’re a country where 14m people a year get an NHS flu vaccine, and a lot of others get one privately through employers or pharmacies. For influenza - a virus with lower mortality and that has not stopped the country in its tracks in a pretty catastrophic way for more than a century.

The ‘people just won’t do it’ narrative was shot to shit with the first lockdown, wasn’t it? People will do a lot of stuff with the right incentives, regulation and communication.

Third, even if vaccine immunity is short (we don’t know), right now we’re getting first generation vaccines and treatments, pretty much. The vaccines we have now aren’t the vaccines we’re stuck with forever.

My advice is don’t get your information from social media, most of it is utter rubbish. It’s very hard to sift through what is scientific fact and what is squewed statistics. Plus most folk have no idea how to decipher statistics,