Australia in a mess - NZ with a plan

[StartupRepair]

More than half of Australia is in lockdown now, sparked (imo) by the intransigence of the NSW Premier who ignored all warnings about Delta. Our procurement of and messaging around vaccines has been dangerously incompetent.
It all feels a bit bleak today. At least NZ seems to have a plan.

They appeared to not be against it, just not in a rush to book the bloody thing I wondered about that. No urgency if there is no direct threat? The longer you leave it the "fresher" it will be when you open up? Immunity seems to wane, especially if the 3 week gap is followed (sorry if I've missed this).

Why would any media push against the vaccine? Baffling

One thing I have to pipe up and say is there is so much animosity between states. No, not every person from every state but the feeling of being one nation is becoming more and more eroded. I know people making comments on social media and news outlet comments pages don't represent the whole of Australia or every Australian but if you read enough of them it becomes pretty apparent that it definitely exists.

That's just one example from one page but I've been following the news closely for the best part of the year and it's like a broken record. Really sad to see. There was some humour to it at first but people are getting tired and cranky now.

Murdoch himself was one of the first in the U.K. to get his jab and as the U.K. was first to start their roll out that means he was actually one of the first people in the world. His local GP surgery to where he lives in the countryside near to London closed early so he could whip in and out.
If his news outlets are now anti vaccine in Australia that is pretty shameless behaviour.

I watch a lot of Aussie news, and it's not as simple as being anti vax.

Sky News Australia (murdoch) I wouldn't describe as anti vax. PETA Credlin is pro vax choice, being on the cusp of the age cut off for AZ vs Pfizer. She wanted to see people get the choice regardless of age.

Then Kenny (I think or was it Chris Smith? But same channel) was saying for a while "why should I rush with zero Covid" at the height of the AZ coming out as having clotting issues - fair point as there was no community transmission at the time and no choice for him other than AZ so in terms of risk benefit, with no Covid, the vaccine will lose.

ABC news and shows like The 7:30 report, and 9 news Melbourne etc were a bit quick to do a full 30 minute complete with photo montages and sad music and interviews of outraged family members when someone got a clot and were sometimes too slow to say they survived it and what the odds actually were. This changed a bit more as Delta took hold but even the other day there was a massive news piece on a clot straight after a clip about asking your GP to consider Astra from a different news source on my Facebook watch stream.

So it's a bit more subtle and subliminal than being anti vax and am not for a gagged media but nor does knowing the name age and inside leg measurement of the person who developed a clot necessarily help you say sod it, I'll get it.

Only now am I starting to see positive stories emerge of 34 year olds who chose AZ and lived to tell the tale.

Appreciate that living in the UK and not subscribing to a broadsheet may mean I miss some of the finer nuances of it.

Only now am I starting to see positive stories emerge of 34 year olds who chose AZ and lived to tell the tale.

But there are literally millions of us in the UK who've had itonths ago and miraculously survived to tell the tale? We were guinea pigs of a kind I guess but most of us more than happy to trust our incredible scientists rather than Kevin's mate on FB...

@Planesandflying

Only now am I starting to see positive stories emerge of 34 year olds who chose AZ and lived to tell the tale.

But there are literally millions of us in the UK who've had itonths ago and miraculously survived to tell the tale? We were guinea pigs of a kind I guess but most of us more than happy to trust our incredible scientists rather than Kevin's mate on FB...

Google tells me there have been 3,200,000,000 doses of Astra Zeneca given around the world.

I'm glad the poster has heard of a 34 year old who survived........

I think the poster meant that re stories in the media re 34 year old.

We’ve had news used in a similar way here - reports from ICU at certain times etc

I'm a double jabbed AZ fan living in the UK. The point I am making is despite watching Australian news daily, it's only now that a. 34 year olds are starting to choose to get jabbed with AZ and b. the media posting positively about it.

Many of the reactions on Facebook watch by Aussies are shocked faces or laughing faces though, amongst the thumbs ups and there's a few angry faces in there too.

It's fascinating.

DS is in Sydney and had his first AZ vaccine at the beginning of July, when younger people were told that they could, if they were prepared to take the risk. The nurse tried to talk him into waiting for five weeks, when he could have the Pfizer, as there 'was a much greater risk of bloods clots and death with AZ'.

Fortunately he had done his research and was comfortable in his decision, but how many others would have said they'd come back in five weeks for the Pfizer - which of course is no longer easily available.

So far he's survived!

This kind of thing. There was nothing like this till Delta took off and even then it's quite a shock to the population to the extent that someone is being interviewed as being brave and pioneering enough to take one for the team...

It just seems all over the place and constantly changing so it's a bit of a minefield

@Planesandflying

Only now am I starting to see positive stories emerge of 34 year olds who chose AZ and lived to tell the tale.

But there are literally millions of us in the UK who've had itonths ago and miraculously survived to tell the tale? We were guinea pigs of a kind I guess but most of us more than happy to trust our incredible scientists rather than Kevin's mate on FB...

I'm happy to be a "guinea pig". I've had my 2 doses of Astra. I actually signed up for the Novavax trial but they ran out of quota. I had my best pants on ready to lob at the clinic👍🏻

Despite being Aussie, this is my home here in the UK and it's interesting to watch the different media slant. Ours ain't perfect here in the UK either.

I watch Aussie news to try and get a positive sign that I might get to see my mum again one day. Helps you "read the room".

As messy as things are in NSW I think a serious outbreak was needed to create

To create the needed urgency to get enough people vaccinated.

Easy for me to say when I’m not under lockdown I know but it was always going to be messy at some stage.

I was very keen to get vaccinated. When bookings opened for my age group I booked at the earliest opportunity. For me the incentive is not that I’m terrified of Covid but that I’m just over the whole thing and I want as much of my normal life back as possible. As much as those in the UK might have though life in Australia was back to normal it really isn’t. If nothing else state borders have been hugely disruptive. I haven’t seen relatives in NSW for over 2 years now.

I’m also in the group of Australians that travel overseas most years. It is a huge passion of mine and I miss it terribly.

All of NSW to go into lockdown for at least 7 days from 5pm 14/08/21 (on top of the already in place restrictions for Greater Sydney etc) and 10 km rule now reduced to 5km.

www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-14/covid-live-blog-latest-updates-nsw-vic-act-lockdown/100376634#live-blog-post-1202867503

I have recently moved to NZ from the UK (am a Kiwi). I do not feel NZ has a proper plan, or at least one that involves living with Covid.

I'm pretty sick of hearing from locals how terribly the UK has handled the pandemic. This is from people who have never visited the UK and have absolutely no understanding of the geography and economics. Boris and friends definitely made huge errors at the beginning of the pandemic, however it was s a steep learning curve for all world leaders.

NZ has been able to pursue a policy of elimination due to geographical isolation and a high level of self-sufficiency. They should have taken further advantage of this and started vaccinating people earlier and in higher numbers. They congratulate themselves for hitting 106% of the vaccination target, a target that is pitifully low.

Covid is always in the news here, esp with the situation in Australia, and has not been forgotten by anyone, however no one really thinks they are at risk of being infected. If (when) Delta does get in they are in for a huge shock.

Lockdown announced via deputy premier's social media with 2.5 hours notice .... media release came later and still no one is fronting up publicly to own this decision that affects millions of lives. What an absolute shocker.

Poor NSW.

twitter.com/jamesmassola/status/1426414984314036226?s=21

By this logic wouldn't everyone be in permanent lockdown? I'm shocked that Australians aren't questioning this more tbh (well aware some are but majority support it). I'm an Australian in England so well aware of the issues.

I too am sick of hearing either from friends over there or sometimes a sea of comments on social media (which are becoming fewer) how well they've done over there. On deaths from Covid only, yes, but that's about it and government seem to be in many ways stuck in a 2020 mindset.

My mum is in her 6th lockdown and can't even see my brother in the SAME COUNTRY as her flight has now been cancelled 5 times. It's been nearly 2 years since she saw either of us.

It all sounds great on paper but all this disruption including to education and many Aussies have never come within a kilometre of anyone who has had Covid. I realise it's due to these measures but they are becoming increasingly fatigued. Protests are getting more violent and I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before "anti Covid extremism" or an incident of "Covid terrorism" happens. People have lost houses and businesses, kids are not in school, but without those numbers we were seeing in January (yes, I know this is why but it can't go on like this)

Moving forward, once that magic percentage is vaccinated they need to prime their population for a hell of an exit wave, open the borders and move on, because the alternative is years of this shit.

I got so many 😯 wow faces when 8 posted a photo montage of my trip to Greece that I recently returned from btw. I think they are starting to see so much footage of the world opening up, starting with Wimbledon, UEFA, the Tokyo olympics, USA being welcomed back here, etc.

I realise the vast majority of Aussies don't want that - you know that saying that says "if you could throw your troubles in the air you'd want to catch your own". I think that is generally true of Covid restrictions and exposure, you get used to and comfortable with the level you are used to as dealt by your own local area - but I ponder often how things will move on.

My mum claims she is desperate to see me here but I think it would be a big change in mindset she doesn't quite realise.

@TattyDevine I also have a close family member in the city having its sixth lockdown. They live alone and I'm trying to check in regularly with them. I worry that the govt are using up their lockdown goodwill and once they let covid circulate and there may be a serious need for restrictions, there will be little compliance. Not to mention the economic costs.

Moving forward, once that magic percentage is vaccinated they need to prime their population for a hell of an exit wave, open the borders and move on, because the alternative is years of this shit.

I agree with this. Also Israel have shown us the vaccines are not totally effective (they've reintroduced maximum number of people meeting indoors again) so all the countries that are taking a zero covid approach need to find a new strategy which includes living with the virus.

I'm pretty sick of hearing from locals how terribly the UK has handled the pandemic. This is from people who have never visited the UK and have absolutely no understanding of the geography and economics.

I agree many have low understanding of these differences and impact they’ve had. If you’ve lived in both places, as some of us have, it’s easier to see.