Freddie Sayer's interview with Israeli vaccine chief

[scottishtablet23]

Does anyone follow FS and his channel UnHerd? This is his latest interview with Professor Cyrille Cohen, head of Immunology at Bar Ilan University and a member of the advisory committee for vaccines for the Israeli Government, who said:

• The Green Pass / vaccine passport concept was no longer relevant in the Omicron era and should be phased out (he expected it to be in short order in Israel)
• He and his colleagues were surprised and disappointed that the vaccines did not prevent transmission, as they had originally hoped
• The biggest mistake of the pandemic in Israel was closing schools and education – he apologised for that
• Widespread infection is now an inevitable part of future immunity — otherwise known as herd immunity
• Omicron has accelerated the pandemic into the endemic phase, in which Covid will be “like flu”

for those who wish to watch it:

Thank you for sharing this, will give it a watch.

That Freddie is hot to trot. Anyway, nice to hear common sense. I have subscribed to UnHerd for a while now.

@scottishtablet23

Does anyone follow FS and his channel UnHerd? This is his latest interview with Professor Cyrille Cohen, head of Immunology at Bar Ilan University and a member of the advisory committee for vaccines for the Israeli Government, who said:

• The Green Pass / vaccine passport concept was no longer relevant in the Omicron era and should be phased out (he expected it to be in short order in Israel)
• He and his colleagues were surprised and disappointed that the vaccines did not prevent transmission, as they had originally hoped
• The biggest mistake of the pandemic in Israel was closing schools and education – he apologised for that
• Widespread infection is now an inevitable part of future immunity — otherwise known as herd immunity
• Omicron has accelerated the pandemic into the endemic phase, in which Covid will be “like flu”

Yes but surely the vaccines were to slow down the inevitable stage of an epidemic? They do slow down spread ( proven) so to prevent the decimation of health services around the world surely they have their place?

Yes but surely the vaccines were to slow down the inevitable stage of an epidemic? They do slow down spread ( proven) so to prevent the decimation of health services around the world surely they have their place

No, actually many people had high hopes, including among the public health people, that the vaccine would prevent transmission and even prevent infection. If you look back, the initial numbers floated by the companies in terms of efficacy were far and above what has actually been the case.

The fact that hasn't been the case does not mean they are useless, but a heck of a lot of people were sold by the health and political authorities as being a solution that would solve the problem. It's prevented a lot of people being able to accept that covid will be endemic.

Interestingly, he also says there is a narrow difference only in infection rates between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, especially with omicron.

but the vaccines have been a big part of getting death rates lower, which is quite significant

@herecomesthsun

but the vaccines have been a big part of getting death rates lower, which is quite significant

Watched it last night so cannot remember, but I think that is also being acknowledged. However, the prof also goes on to saying that a nasal spray-type jab would be much more effective against this virus. This, I think, has also been established by other medical professionals previous to this.

Actually, flu vaccines do not stop people getting flu completely at all.

When covid vaccines were initially being discussed, it was thought they would take much longer to become available and there was always a question mark over how effective they would be.

I agree the initial figures were quite remarkable; even if the overall effect is not as extraordinary as the initial figures indicated, the vaccines have been a big help in getting through the pandemic.

As someone who was previously shielding, I am very grateful for the degree of protection that the vaccines have provided.

Covid vaccines are a game changer as they prevent severe disease. IMO it's a good thing they don't prevent infection. This way the population is exposed, builds up natural immunity but the horrible impact Covid had in 2020/21 before vaccines has been significantly reduced.

@LittleAndMellow

Covid vaccines are a game changer as they prevent severe disease. IMO it's a good thing they don't prevent infection. This way the population is exposed, builds up natural immunity but the horrible impact Covid had in 2020/21 before vaccines has been significantly reduced.

Omicron has shown that you don’t build natural immunity though….

Omicron has shown that you don’t build natural immunity though….

What makes you think that?

@herecomesthsun

but the vaccines have been a big part of getting death rates lower, which is quite significant

He isn't saying they are insignificant.

But for some reason many people freak out any time someone tries to realistically talk about what they do and don't do. There are new, so we are still learning, but it's basically heretical to many to say that vaccination doesn't much change your chances of catching covid.

When people don't have a realistic sense of what to expect they make bad decisions about what policies are going to work, or they do things like blaming the unvaccinated for the fact that covid is still around, or they have unrealistic expectations which lead to frustration.

There are still a lot of people who are operating under the impression that the vaccines with be 90% effective at totally preventing covid. And that people saying otherwise are anti-science.