New Covid variant *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[Wingingthis]

Can anyone talk some sense about how dangerous this is or is it just the media over exaggerating?

Good news about the booster rollout.

With one major caveat. Many of the higher risk to serious illness - over 40s, and particularly over 50s (plus 18-49 underlying conditions) haven't yet had a chance to have theirs yet.

Appointments weren't instantly available for many (lack of availability and/or needing to wait 6 months after second). And, some struggled to book an accessible appointment.

Remember the socioeconomic risk factors.

The poor and disabled have been disproportionately affected. They need easy to get to appointments (that don't involve excessively long journeys and/or travel costs).

Those hopefully looked at issues aside, it's good news.

Next up. Temporary vaccine patent waiver please. Donations won't get the whole world jabbed quick enough.

good point

These measures are all well and good , but many won't be vaccinated and maybe only a money incentive might work ( for a few anyway )
It's too ingrained that the vaccines don't work. There are millions who will not have anything at all. You'll never get 100 percent take up.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

The scaremongering is quite something

Again, completely foreseeable I'm afraid

Omicron appears to be this winter's variant, and since Covid's going nowhere there'll doubtless be another one some time next year and every single year after that
... so I'm honestly wondering just how long some will be prepared to whip themselves into a state for

The anti vaxxer/let the bodies pile up eugenics lite /I WONT comply/It's all a conspiracy lot do quite like whipping themselves into a frenzy don't they.

Probably better to remain calm but (for once) learn from past mistakes, and take sensible precautions.

Proactive mitigations always beat reactive panic.

It won't last forever. It's a tough ride along the way, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

How tough depends on how we (the world) choose to get there.

Vaccines can be tweaked. Boosters can be given. Drug treatments have come along - antivirals and monoclonal antibodies (with potentially more treatments in development). Short supply right now but they'll be more eventually.

In the meantime we need to take necessary temporary (if done properly) mitigations. To protect lives, heath, and eeconomy.

No, but every little extra will help and it sounds like some good decisions were made in super quick time today.

It may be that with the new variant coming and the possibility of further measures, some people will change their minds and get vaccinated.

The messaging is a bit clearer right now, that will help too.

Meanwhile, the seven day average of hospitalisations and deaths continues to fall

I wonder at what point we will be allowed to book our boosters now. When will they open it up from 3 months?

assess what will happen in an aging south asian population with high levels of things like diabetes but with relatively high vaccine uptake living in the North West of England in late November. They aren't directly comparable.

Not for the NW maybe, but there is a very large ageing south asian community in London... Which is also the part of the country with the llowest vaccine take-up rate.

This media driven everyone but Londoners matters agenda. Wonder why the Conservatives lost Old Bexley and Sidcup today? Because 'London centric' is the very opposite of Londoner centric. Time to level up Londoners.

@JesusIsAnyNameFree

I wonder at what point we will be allowed to book our boosters now. When will they open it up from 3 months?

The JCVI have still recommended boosters are prioritised by vulnerability so the government could decide to work down the ages like they did with the first doses. So I imagine most people will be three months + anyway by the time their age group is reached? I’m in my late twenties and four months post second dose.

@SickAndTiredAgain

Ah darnet.

If it was less than 3 months, it wouldn’t be a booster, just more vaccine. Even 3 months is very early to assume immunity will be waining.

@AnnieSnap

If it was less than 3 months, it wouldn’t be a booster, just more vaccine. Even 3 months is very early to assume immunity will be waining.

In the bit of the press conference I caught it was said that the booster produced levels of antibodies way over the original ones produced by the original two injections. It’s not just replacing waning antibodies it’s surpassing them.

I think that any covid vaccine that becomes common place in the future will be a three dose vaccine like others already common in our vaccination programme.

The anti vaxxer/let the bodies pile up eugenics lite /I WONT comply/It's all a conspiracy lot do quite like whipping themselves into a frenzy don't they

I'd say they both do, Tealights, the it's-going-to-be-hell and the anti-vaxxers

Personally I'm neither, but strange as it may seem to some, it's perfectly possible to appreciate having the vaccines and also to question some of the issues around them

I don’t think i made my point very eloquently.

2-8 weeks makes no sense to answer on something as important as this.

We either have to conclude it’s not really important. (So why the panic?)

Or that it actually is really serious. (But then, obviously waiting 2-8 weeks is just playing fast and loose with health, jobs, economy, family, etc.)

We’re slipping back into the bad old days of Borris’s pandemic approach — doing things half way when the only appropriate responses are all or nothing.

@puppeteer

I don’t think i made my point very eloquently.

2-8 weeks makes no sense to answer on something as important as this.

We either have to conclude it’s not really important. (So why the panic?)

Or that it actually is really serious. (But then, obviously waiting 2-8 weeks is just playing fast and loose with health, jobs, economy, family, etc.)

We’re slipping back into the bad old days of Borris’s pandemic approach — doing things half way when the only appropriate responses are all or nothing.

But they aren't waiting. It isn't a choice. They simply need time to gather data. They can't gather data in 3 days because, well, it's simply not there.

Or am I still misunderstanding?

Yes, it is important.

However, there is no way of speeding up the workings of the virus, we just have to watch what it does in real time, in a real life observation, and see how many people get hospitalised, or die, and what the characteristics are of the people worst affected.

@puppeteer you’re expecting answers from evidence that doesn’t exist yet and can’t exist till more people have confirmed cases.

I’m not.

I’m suggesting that if it’s really seen as that important — like because we really think it might be quite deadly — then waiting until “a few weeks” isn’t the right thing to do.

In that case, we need a different reaction — like lockdown?

Because remember the famous exponential growth graph — things get serious quick. And that’s bad if you’re one of those infected.

Doesn’t it seem inconsistent that we’re told to be really concerned and wear masks (but only in some places!). And on the other hand, carry on as normal for a few weeks while we find out.

It’s a balance though isn’t it @puppeteer? Because we don’t know it’s a currently middle ground response because it could still go either way.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

The anti vaxxer/let the bodies pile up eugenics lite /I WONT comply/It's all a conspiracy lot do quite like whipping themselves into a frenzy don't they

I'd say they both do, Tealights, the it's-going-to-be-hell and the anti-vaxxers

Personally I'm neither, but strange as it may seem to some, it's perfectly possible to appreciate having the vaccines and also to question some of the issues around them

Fair enough.

We shouldn't panic. Take precautions, yes.

And it's definitely important to take time out of the news, whichever angle we're coming from.

Stress is bad for the immune system.

I like to be healthy but there's always a need for a little bit of eat, drink, and be merry... too. 😷💉

@puppeteer

I’m not.

I’m suggesting that if it’s really seen as that important — like because we really think it might be quite deadly — then waiting until “a few weeks” isn’t the right thing to do.

In that case, we need a different reaction — like lockdown?

Because remember the famous exponential growth graph — things get serious quick. And that’s bad if you’re one of those infected.

Doesn’t it seem inconsistent that we’re told to be really concerned and wear masks (but only in some places!). And on the other hand, carry on as normal for a few weeks while we find out.

Well I don't disagree there. However, we still need to let it spread a bit in order to collect this data. Unless of course we just let other countries do that work for us, which seems horrible.

@Cornettoninja

It’s a balance though isn’t it *@puppeteer*? Because we don’t know it’s a currently middle ground response because it could still go either way.

Yep, acting proactively because no-one really knows how omicron will behave in a country with high cases of delta and relatively high vaccination levels.

All suppression policies are a fine balance between managing the potential risks of coronavirus and causing other harms.

The current situation doesn't justify a full scale lockdown and all the associated issues alongside it.

A man on channel four was very gloomy ( about 20 mins ago )
He said ' the outlook is poor '
:(
I'm currently fighting off covid and it's nasty.

@the80sweregreat

A man on channel four was very gloomy ( about 20 mins ago ) He said ' the outlook is poor ' :( I'm currently fighting off covid and it's nasty.

Which man? And why?

A vaccine developer said it should be ok today

For balance ;

@MarshaBradyo professor John Edmonds - well known doom mongerer from SAGE