Johnson Press Conference

[Claudethecat]

Is he just trying to nudge up the booster numbers, or is he genuinely concerned?

Turning to Covid, I want to update you on our progress,and, in particular, on these storm clouds that are gathering over the continent

A new wave of Covid has steadily swept through central Europe and is now affecting our nearest neighbours in western Europe.

Our friends on the continent have been forced to respond with various degrees of new restrictions, from full lockdowns, to lockdowns for the unvaccinated, to restrictions on business opening hours and restrictions on social gatherings.

We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will wash up on our shores, but history shows we cannot afford to be complacent.

Indeed in recent days cases there have been rising here in the UK, so we must remain vigilant.

Because there is one lesson we can draw from the current situation in Europe.

Those countries with lower vaccination rates have tended to see bigger surges in infection, and in turn been forced to respond with harsher measures.

While those countries with higher vaccination rates have, so far, fared better.

This shows us once again that if we want to control the epidemic here in the UK,and if we want to avoid new restrictions on our daily lives, we must all get vaccinated as soon as we are eligible.

I think it's primarily to drive up booster numbers. I think he knows that those that are unvaccinated at this point are unlikely to do so, so he's hoping that those of us that are more willing, will get a 3rd jab and that should be enough to hold it off.

I also got the impression that you might need the full 3 jabs to be considered fully vaccinated. Where does that end though? Only fully vaccinated if you've had 7 jabs or whatever further down the line? Surely at some stage, it has to become like the flu jab?

For full disclosure, I am fully vaccinated and will get a 3rd jab when it's time.

Bit of both I would imagine, really hope unvaccinated people reconsider their stance going into winter.

My daughter tested positive last week and I am so glad I ended my dithering and am fully vaccinated (2). Would be so scared now if I wasn’t

I think Boris is warning people yes what can happen if people don’t take up vaccinations

You know when they foreshadow events in films?

Our government tend to have a warning "buck your ideas up" press conference a little while before the new restrictions press conference.

Did he mention Austria at all?

Is it actually that bad in Europe? I haven’t kept up but I was under the impression we had higher numbers?

I think it will become like the flu jab eventually.

@TokyoSushi

I also got the impression that you might need the full 3 jabs to be considered fully vaccinated. Where does that end though? Only fully vaccinated if you've had 7 jabs or whatever further down the line? Surely at some stage, it has to become like the flu jab?

For full disclosure, I am fully vaccinated and will get a 3rd jab when it's time.

I don't think anyone knows ,I have had my two vaccinations and I had my Booster last week ,this is all very new hopefully we will get to a point where vaccination,s last long term .

@Itsnotallaboutyoubaby

Is it actually that bad in Europe? I haven’t kept up but I was under the impression we had higher numbers?

We've had high numbers for months, but some areas in some countries took away mitigations as they went into winter time and things got worse pretty fast.

Sluggish booster rollouts and low vaccination rates also play a part.

Did he mention Austria at all?

I don't know as I just saw his opening remarks on the Guardian website (I couldn't bear to watch it live as I can't stand the sight of the man). I very much doubt they would try that approach here!

So the European wave is still YET to arrive here? 😳 WTF have the 40k cases per day for the last few weeks been, an ebbing tide?!

From his remarks fully vaccinated will now mean fully boosted as well I’m presuming?

In the context of fears of a European wave why won’t he just initiate plan B so we could potentially avoid a winter lockdown by preventing the coming next wave?

@Thewiseoneincognito we might not get a wave here. Our results were far higher than Europe’s over the summer. It might be that we’ve already had ours… in fact I thought that was the plan. The plan was to take away all restrictions so everyone caught it summer / autumn before winter as we all know it’s worse to have a surge in winter.

@Thewiseoneincognito

So the European wave is still YET to arrive here? 😳 WTF have the 40k cases per day for the last few weeks been, an ebbing tide?!

From his remarks fully vaccinated will now mean fully boosted as well I’m presuming?

In the context of fears of a European wave why won’t he just initiate plan B so we could potentially avoid a winter lockdown by preventing the coming next wave?

Mmmm doesn’t sound good

Remember we were watching Europe (Italy ) and thinking it wouldn’t happen here the first time round

If Boris says it's time to "Save Christmas", then Christmas is already fucked.

We've all played knifey spooney before.

I'm hoping to get to lapland for the second year in a a row so fx no lock lock in the immediate future.

Im just not sure about the third booster or whatever it's currently called. I'm not eligible yet anyway so not a pressing concern. I just dont want another lockdown

@PicsInRed

If Boris says it's time to "Save Christmas", then Christmas is already fucked.

We've all played knifey spooney before.

Haha yes !

In the context of fears of a European wave why won’t he just initiate plan B so we could potentially avoid a winter lockdown by preventing the coming next wave?

Yes, it is a bit at odds with his *we cannot afford to be complacent" spiel, isn't it? I wonder if he is softening people in England up for a Covid Passport in line with Wales (where I am) and Scotland.

Also, the Welsh government has mooted passports for restaurants and pubs. I have a feeling that might happen now.

That’s a long way to say “Christmas is cancelled mother fuckers”

@Claudethecat it’s crossed my mind this could be a fairly imminent move, how this would work when we still have a quarter of the population unvaccinated is another thing.

I missed this was happening, was it earlier today?

But yes I’d say to push boosters, any messaging that does this fine by me

As if people would comply with restrictions this Christmas!

Even the most sanctimonious, 'stay the fuck home', curtain twitchers I know are now saying they are sick of it and will definitely be seeing family this Christmas.

There was a question about Christmas:

Q: Can you rule out a lockdown at Christmas?

Johnson says he cannot see any reason why the government would need to move to plan B (which does not amount to a lockdown anyway). But he says he “cannot rule anything out”

@Thefartingsofaofdenmarkstreet

As if people would comply with restrictions this Christmas!

Even the most sanctimonious, 'stay the fuck home', curtain twitchers I know are now saying they are sick of it and will definitely be seeing family this Christmas.

Yep even Tesco has an ad on it ;

[quote Itsnotallaboutyoubaby]@Thewiseoneincognito we might not get a wave here. Our results were far higher than Europe’s over the summer. It might be that we’ve already had ours… in fact I thought that was the plan. The plan was to take away all restrictions so everyone caught it summer / autumn before winter as we all know it’s worse to have a surge in winter.[/quote]
Yeah, but that was bullshit.

Why would thousands of deaths then prevent thousands of deaths now?

Wide waves over 8 months of the fear kill just as many people as high peaks - just slower.

And they don't give the health service any respite.

We're still in that summer wave. It never ended did it?

All it has achieved is to build a sizeable iceberg of undetected covid ready for winter time.