Why are things ' kicking off ' in Europe ?

[genuinequestion21]

Please excuse my ignorance. But why is Germany for example stressing so much about covid right now ?

I think we have more cases per 100 k than them and have been having high cases for months and we are still open and not ' that much ' talk about lockdown etc. It seems we are kind of just about ' OK '. Well at least we aren't going to plan B yet.

However in Germany there have been few cases and cases are now exploding and there's talk of lock downs etc.

Hospitals also seem to be full again. Whereas in the UK, they don't seem to be on the brink.

Why these differences ? Germany and UK have a very similar proportion of the population vaccinated. Is it because cases are seeming to go up very rapidly, whereas ours have been high but flat for ages ?

Why are their hospitals full again and ours are not ?

Please correct any factual information which is incorrect.

The profile of those vaccinated is whats making a difference across Europe. The UK got that right from day 1.

Here we prioritised double vaxing over 18 since these account for almost all deaths and serious illness- yes younger people can be affected but infection distribution graphs show age is the single determining factor in serious illness and death.

If, for example Germany/Austria is at 66% fully vax but actually of that 66%, only 50% is in the at risk age groups and 80% are in teens, then their risk is still quite high as they have a low vax rate in their vulnerable groups.

We have vaccinated a huge proportion of our vulnerable adults - think its over 90% in some age groups which will have a completely different impact going into winter.

High cases here may not equate to the same difficulties of high cases in countries where kids are making a significant contribution to the overall %.

@1990butfeel21 oh, is it? It was on the news that it was nearly 90%. That’s a bif difference in that case.

www.rivm.nl/en/covid-19-vaccination/figures-vaccination-programme

A quick google shows that NL have fully vaccinated 72% of their population, so that would be around 90% of the eligible groups, yes. I don’t know where the 41% has come from because it’s not true. Unless the poster was referring to one region in particular?

Sorry if that was wrong. I got it from google, apologies

@Watapalava

The profile of those vaccinated is whats making a difference across Europe. The UK got that right from day 1.

Here we prioritised double vaxing over 18 since these account for almost all deaths and serious illness- yes younger people can be affected but infection distribution graphs show age is the single determining factor in serious illness and death.

If, for example Germany/Austria is at 66% fully vax but actually of that 66%, only 50% is in the at risk age groups and 80% are in teens, then their risk is still quite high as they have a low vax rate in their vulnerable groups.

We have vaccinated a huge proportion of our vulnerable adults - think its over 90% in some age groups which will have a completely different impact going into winter.

High cases here may not equate to the same difficulties of high cases in countries where kids are making a significant contribution to the overall %.

Totally agree with all of this.
And also we went for a 12 week gap between doses whereas most other places it was 3 or 4 weeks.
So even although they started bit later than us, over 70s in Germany, Austria etc are probably at least 7 months since their 2nd vaccine and if they've not stated booster yet I hat will be seriously worrying for their healthcare services

I’m early 20s, in Germany, and have been offered a Covid booster already.

Where did people read that Germany hasn’t started doing boosters yet?

The vaccine was offered to all age groups including the vulnerable. Many people chose not to take it. There’s nothing a government can do about that, except trying to encourage them to take it now, by imposing additional restrictions.

EileenGC

"Where did people read that Germany hasn’t started doing boosters yet?"

Probably in the Daily Mail.

I knew older people who were quite sceptical of the vaccines as talk about them began.
However slow it seemed in the beginning we did in the UK offer appointments to everyone in order of need. The whole waiting for the appointment letter (whilst hospitalisations were rising!) seemed to motivate everyone tbh and everyone I know in the older categories got it.
Waiting for people to come forward, to opt in, would have resulted in a different skew in the take up population. (For example I might have dashed to get it while the elders prevaricated!)

@KrispyKale

I knew older people who were quite sceptical of the vaccines as talk about them began. However slow it seemed in the beginning we did in the UK offer appointments to everyone in order of need. The whole waiting for the appointment letter (whilst hospitalisations were rising!) seemed to motivate everyone tbh and everyone I know in the older categories got it. Waiting for people to come forward, to opt in, would have resulted in a different skew in the take up population. (For example I might have dashed to get it while the elders prevaricated!)

Yes I agree with this.

Better to invite in order

Hang on it was Eileen who said it was third doses, don't you know, in Germany "not boosters!"😂

Some odd posts here. Night folks.

@KrispyKale

Hang on it was Eileen who said it was third doses, don't you know, in Germany "not boosters!"😂

And I then proceeded to explain that they were one and the same thing in Germany. Some people on here have very poor reading comprehension skills.

Like I said.

Old gimmer alert. At 65 in perfectly good health, I am eligible and booked in for my third/booster vaccine on December 1. My understanding is that this time around I shall have another vaccine rather than AZ, because the clinical evidence suggests that a mix of vaccines produces a stronger immune response.

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being used for booster jabs.

@EileenGC have you seen the amount of tests. The uk do ? I think a lot are still testing regularly especially in school etc and some work places ask for it.
Its easy to get the kits , but it is quite heavily resisted here to insist on vaccinations / tests to go out etc

My dd does just have a sniffle. But she's been isolated for3 days while we get a pcr test and results. There's no passing anything as a sniffle I'm the UK even if we want to, even if it's best for her!

@EileenGC in Germany 4.5 million people have had their third dose, in the UK 14 million.
In Germany it is said that 20 million need to get theirs between now and Christmas. That will be a challenge

Sorry, 5 million in Germany

Here's why Austrian cases are so high in some areas of the country, from an Austrian's point of view. All sounds very familiar...
mobile.twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1461935711951671298

[quote lonelyplanet]Here's why Austrian cases are so high in some areas of the country, from an Austrian's point of view. All sounds very familiar...
mobile.twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1461935711951671298[/quote]
No, they are just unlucky. The virus comes in waves, they only had 60% vaccination rate, cold weather and waning immunity to delta. Its really no more complicated than that.

The difference between the U.K. and Germany regarding booster numbers was actually mentioned on the ITV 10pm news last night. Nothing jingoistic, just an explanation by a doctor as to why we in the U.K. are in a different place to some countries in Europe and why she (the doctor) was not predicting a lockdown in the U.K.

No, they are just unlucky. The virus comes in waves, they only had 60% vaccination rate, cold weather and waning immunity to delta. Its really no more complicated than that.
I guess we'll wait and see.

I think we in the UK got the peak right - probably more by luck than design - but I doubt we'll have a lockdown, over Xmas anyway

@Kikkomam

I think we in the UK got the peak right - probably more by luck than design - but I doubt we'll have a lockdown, over Xmas anyway

It’s more design than luck - so if it works I’ll appreciate that, let’s hope so