News conference 5pm today.

[beccahamlet]

Anyone any idea if this is going to be anything dramatic or just a 'be careful' pep talk?

@Tealightsandd

Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines. Sorry I should have said.

PinkSparklyPussyCat nobody is going to be forced to have a booster. Not that they would be anyway, but currently supplies are very limited. There's barely enough for those who will want it.

There is some hope. Astrazeneca are working on boosters, tweaked to work better against some of the newer strains (don't know if that includes Beta). They're also doing a trial on children. If all goes well, we could be in a better position supply wise in the autumn. Fingers crossed.

@Tealightsandd

it might be better to offer aditional vaccines to those who have received nothing at all, rather than most of us who are already unlikely to be admitted to hospital.

@Sunnyfreezesushi

Less than a 100 years ago young men were conscripted - that means if you refused, you went to prison. If you deserted (including for mental health issues), you could also end up in prison.

80 years on some people are too snowflakey to have a safe & tested vaccine. This pandemic is serious, it is as bad as the Second World War, it has had as much of an effect on us and our public finances. It is no joke. My 12 year old would happily have the vaccine for the greater good. Don’t see why some adults get to refuse - they are not more precious than the rest of us. If you want to refuse, you opt out of the benefits of society, end of.
Those refusing for genuine mental health issues/medical reasons need GP sign off which I am sure would be forthcoming but they cannot necessarily expect to benefit from what private businesses offer (eg all night clubs/sport venues) but definitely from state provided things (education, health care, benefits).

Safe and tested vaccine that is currently in its trial phase for another 2 years, with already 1000's of yellow card reports, involving blood clots and heart inflammation. I wouldn't LET a 12 year old get a trial phase drug for the 'greater good', and frankly I'd prefer to be on this side of the division. Fuck that.

Bluethrough

40% of double jabbed (in the UK) are being hospitalised.

In America, where mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are being used, they're saying that double jabbed rarely require hospital.

People in the UK, particularly the clinically vulnerable, who had astrazeneca need a mRNA booster. (As soon as possible, once supply allows).

Remember that the Beta strain is already in France. If it's true that astrazeneca is not effective against Beta, people who have had AZ are pretty much the same as unvaccinated.

Remember that the Beta strain is already in France.

It’s in the U.K., Spain, Greece, SA, Germany and do on.

Not just France.

@Tealightsandd

Bluethrough

40% of double jabbed (in the UK) are being hospitalised.

In America, where mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are being used, they're saying that double jabbed rarely require hospital.

People in the UK, particularly the clinically vulnerable, who had astrazeneca need a mRNA booster. (As soon as possible, once supply allows).

Remember that the Beta strain is already in France. If it's true that astrazeneca is not effective against Beta, people who have had AZ are pretty much the same as unvaccinated.

Do you actually mean "40% of double jabbed are being hospitalised"?

Around where I live 71% of adults have had both doses. With an adult population of 250,000 that would mean that 100,00 are being hospitalised.

If you're talking about donating doses to other countries, the donations are just a drop in the ocean. Nowhere near enough to make much of a difference.

Meanwhile we have millions of vulnerable in the UK potentially insufficiently protected. Which, given the risks of developing a vaccine resistant strain (one that resists all the vaccines), is a danger to the whole world.

President Biden is right. The best and quickest way to get the rest of the world vaccinated is a temporary vaccine patent waiver.

Sorry got distracted. Correction

Do you actually mean "40% of double jabbed are being hospitalised"?

Around where I live 71% of adults have had both doses. With an adult population of 250,000 that would mean that 71,000 are being hospitalised.

We all make mistakes, but that's a whopper ... sorry, but given the way the original number's been leapt upon, the cynic in me wonders if he's been sat on and made to fudge it

Apparently he said it 3 times and went into detail as to why there are a higher percentage of double vaccinated hospitalised. Is there a transcript of what he said somewhere?

This seems to be a very obvious lie/cover up.

@PopcornMuncher

Patrick Vallance - the very same who gave us 4k deaths a day by Christmas he is not averse to telling porkies

Modelling data is by definition inaccurate, though we do need to do it.

Projected figures may well turn out to be wrong later, especially if we change our behaviour along the way.

Getting actual data wrong is different, though I really don't think this was intended.

I missed the conference but seeing pics Boris does look unwell again.

@Dustyboots

We all make mistakes, but that's a whopper ... sorry, but given the way the original number's been leapt upon, the cynic in me wonders if he's been sat on and made to fudge it

Apparently he said it 3 times and went into detail as to why there are a higher percentage of double vaccinated hospitalised. Is there a transcript of what he said somewhere?

This seems to be a very obvious lie/cover up.

I don't think so

The government are keen to get as many people vaccinated as possible (see their new vaccine passport for clubs plan). They have no qualms in twisting the facts or outright lying when it suits them, but I don't see how it benefits them in the slightest to say that more vaccinated people are ending up in hospital than the reality

As for the detailed explanation - it works as a reassurance as to why it's not alarming that a larger proportion of people are hospitalised despite vaccination, no matter what those percentages are

No idea why he made the mistake though!

@jgw1

Patrick Vallance originally said 60% of those in hospital are double jabbed. But then he corrected himself - to say he meant 60% were unvaccinated. I assumed he'd got it the wrong way round.

But actually... perhaps the 40% who've been vaccinated only had one jab? He talked about double jabbed in the press conference but perhaps he got confused (he must be so stressed and tired).

Still, the risk of Beta suggests we do need to look at mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) boosters for people who had AZ. When we have enough supply.

Also there's research suggesting that an AZ first dose followed by mRNA second dose gives the strongest protection. Angela Merkel had AZ as her first and her second was Moderna.

@Tealightsandd

Bluethrough

40% of double jabbed (in the UK) are being hospitalised.

In America, where mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are being used, they're saying that double jabbed rarely require hospital.

People in the UK, particularly the clinically vulnerable, who had astrazeneca need a mRNA booster. (As soon as possible, once supply allows).

Remember that the Beta strain is already in France. If it's true that astrazeneca is not effective against Beta, people who have had AZ are pretty much the same as unvaccinated.

No! Not 40% of double jabbed adults ending up in hospital. Fgs. Read it back before publishing.

You can hardly blame people, myself included, TooManyPlatesInMotion for being a little confused as to the situation wrt double jabbed or not in hospital. After what Patrick Vallance said in the press conference. (I know i's not his fault he also got confused, as he's under huge stress).

Regardless of the exact figures, the threat of Beta means we really do need to look at getting Pfizer and Moderna boosters to people who've has Astrazeneca. As soon as we have enough supply.

but I don't see how it benefits them in the slightest to say that more vaccinated people are ending up in hospital than the reality

It doesn’t benefit them. That’s the point. The truth is 60% hospitalised are double vaccinated. They realise that will put people off being vaccinated and so are now covering up.

All these people claiming they've been jabbed for 'the greater good' 😂 let's face it, not many of you gave a toss about your fellow human beings even in March 2020, grabbing home delivery slots from vulnerable people and stockpiling reams of loo roll and packets of pasta. Me me fucking me.

Having an experimental jab or two doesn't make you immortal (and it IS experimental, post market surveillance doesn't begin until 2023), people are dying of many many other things than covid but that also doesn't appear to matter... The body and mind are sovereign, to quote Jean-Francoise Bellamy, western Europe (in this context France and England) are at a crossroads, either: "it goes the way of totalitarian regimes or stays true to intangible rules on which are founded our democracies - fundamental freedoms, equal rights, civic friendship are not privileges for calm times but the principles that make us who we are"

The passports are a slow creep on civil liberties towards a technocracy, it will not stop at nightclubs. Look at the push towards a cashless society when there's been numerous articles showing that surface transmission of covid is extremely small.

A supermarket at Christmas is a crowded indoor space, are we going to need to show a pass to pick up a turkey and some twiglets?

How can anyone justify a member of NHS staff testing positive for this potentially deadly virus and STILL being allowed to care for vulnerable patients, putting these patients at an increase risk of covid complications and/or death? It does not add up.

[quote PopcornMuncher]@herecomesthsun the problem was that they knew the figures were wrong at the time they presented them. They got criticised by a select committee for it[/quote]
My recollection is that the figures (projected ones) were on a slide that the politicians had insisted on using.

Not much blame to attach to the scientists.

And not lies.

@Dustyboots

but I don't see how it benefits them in the slightest to say that more vaccinated people are ending up in hospital than the reality

It doesn’t benefit them. That’s the point. The truth is 60% hospitalised are double vaccinated. They realise that will put people off being vaccinated and so are now covering up.

think you've got it the wrong way round @Dustyboots?

From his twitter account:

Correcting a statistic I gave at the press conference today, 19 July. About 60% of hospitalisations from covid are not from double vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalisations from covid are currently from unvaccinated people.

How will passports work with the expiry of the protection from the vaccine? If the effects only last, say, 6 months on average (but will obviously vary from individual to individual) then if not everyone is offered the booster, will the passport have a limited application?

All these people claiming they've been jabbed for 'the greater good' 😂 let's face it, not many of you gave a toss about your fellow human beings even in March 2020, grabbing home delivery slots from vulnerable people and stockpiling reams of loo roll and packets of pasta. Me me fucking me.

hello @Horseyhorsey3

I'm guessing you haven't been vaccinated?

The fact that most people are doing it for their own benefit (even indirectly - I'm as low risk as you can get but I'm not claiming I'm doing it for primarily altruistic motives) is not an argument to not get the vaccine

It was a very obvious mistake at the time. He just seemed to get a bit lost in his comments and answering the question. Not the ideal time to get muddled but it happens.