Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Trying to calm Mrs SILH down at the moment as she’s not long off the phone with a friend who has her youngest at a local private school and as he has a kid in their class whose parents are GPs her friend reckons the GPs will sort it so that the teachers at the private school get prioritised for getting vaccinated. My Mrs blew her top when her friend suggested that she was being naive to think it wouldn’t happen as money always speaks and will speak in getting the vaccine to those who have the money. My Mrs is still steaming...
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Ha a message from our MD yesterday that they are talking to the Department of Transport about getting us drivers prioritised to get it asap. Not sure how I feel about that, yes I would gladly take it if offered but do I really need it over others? My wife for instance works in pre school. 1st lockdown they stayed open to look after key workers children of all ages, I would put her and her colleagues above my need.
 
Billysboots said:
I think any GP who prioritises anyone on anything other than medical grounds will find themselves deep in the smelly stuff with the GMC.
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Exactly. Think about it. Are two GPs going to risk their careers, th ir reputation in the community, possible criminal proceedings for diverting NHS resources( if it involves that ).
It isn't as if this is a secret, and wouldn't come out. If true, it would be bound to.
Sounds like some have speculated on what they think the GPs could do, and it's grown from there , facebook style.
 
Swinglowandslow said:
Exactly. Think about it. Are two GPs going to risk their careers, th ir reputation in the community, possible criminal proceedings for diverting NHS resources( if it involves that ).
It isn't as if this is a secret, and wouldn't come out. If true, it would be bound to.
Sounds like some have speculated on what they think the GPs could do, and it's grown from there , facebook style.
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This would happen if a “health passport” were to come to light.
People getting who don’t really need it before those who do need it.
Heck if it meant me going back to normal quicker with an adverse affect on somebody I didn’t know id slip some notes to get it before X Y or Z or got it.

Money talks, its the system we created. Have more more money, have more advantage. And we love the system.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Trying to calm Mrs SILH down at the moment as she’s not long off the phone with a friend who has her youngest at a local private school and as he has a kid in their class whose parents are GPs her friend reckons the GPs will sort it so that the teachers at the private school get prioritised for getting vaccinated. My Mrs blew her top when her friend suggested that she was being naive to think it wouldn’t happen as money always speaks and will speak in getting the vaccine to those who have the money. My Mrs is still steaming...
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Sorry SILH, but that very much smacks of being one of those "the-son-of-a-friend-of-someone-I-know" stories that have plagued us all the way through this pandemic. By now we all, including Mrs SILH, ought to be able to spot them for what they are .
 
pauldj42 said:
Ethan, Can you clarify that Covid-19 has to be put on the death certificate, regardless off cause of death, if the person has tested positive in previous 28 days as it is one of the 5 “notifiable diseases” or something like that? Sorry to be vague, I’m sure there was an article I read somewhere saying certain illness’s MUST be recorded regardless of whether they were the cause of death.
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Anyone who dies with a positive test in the previous 28 days will be listed in that 70k figure. The death certificate lists only the relevant causes. If someone got hit by a bus, then Covid would not be mentioned as a contributory cause. In people who die with terminal cancer (or another serious illness) it can be hard to separate which one was the greater contributor to death and triggered the final event, so it could go either way on the DC, but both should be mentioned.

The number of people who have Covid but die from something entirely unconnected is so small as to be safely ignored from a data integrity point of view. The great majority die, as you say, from Covid, and in a smallish percentage it is a mix with something else.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Trying to calm Mrs SILH down at the moment as she’s not long off the phone with a friend who has her youngest at a local private school and as he has a kid in their class whose parents are GPs her friend reckons the GPs will sort it so that the teachers at the private school get prioritised for getting vaccinated. My Mrs blew her top when her friend suggested that she was being naive to think it wouldn’t happen as money always speaks and will speak in getting the vaccine to those who have the money. My Mrs is still steaming...
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That won't happen. GPs have to vaccinate according to priority, and they would be risking their medical licenses and contracts with the local PCN if they did that. Unless teachers are reprioritised by Govt, and that is possible, they have to take their place alongside ordinary citizens. The vacc is not available for private prescription, so the only money that could change hands would be in acts of bribery, so if they did that, they could be prosecuted as well.
 
I saw this earlier today. A BBC report apparently, quoting a front line AE doctor, a Professor, speaking about why the sharp rise in cases.
Seems to me an interesting view he is raising in the first paragraph.
It is not the full interview. He goes on to talk about the ages of most patients.

"He told Radio 5's Rachel Burden it was wrong to blame the surge in cases and deaths on the new variant of coronavirus, which was only "slightly" more transmissible and caused the same symptoms.
"It is making me actually very angry now that people are laying the blame on the virus, and it is not the virus, it is people, people are not washing their hands, they are not wearing their masks," he said."
 
Ethan said:
Letter from the CMOs to healthcare professionals on the new scheduling. I have not always agree with policy on Covid, but I agree with this

CMO letter
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I absolutely understand and agree with this. It makes perfect sense from a public health perspective.

Nevertheless, I look forward to the conversation I will have today with my 83 year old mother, who has moaned like you would not believe every time one of her friends has received the vaccine ahead of her, when she now hears that others will now be getting their first dose before she gets her second, having had the jab yesterday.

I have said many times here that the pandemic has brought out the worst in people, and I’m afraid I include my own mother in that. I have seen a degree of selfishness in her I never knew was there, even extending to begrudging my sister in law, a nurse, getting the vaccine ahead of her. She has harassed her GP repeatedly about her place in the queue, and even moaned to officials at County Hall, asking when she will be vaccinated, all whilst telling her 95 year old housebound neighbour to remain patient.

I’ve seen a side of her which, frankly, I do not like very much.
 
Billysboots said:
I absolutely understand and agree with this. It makes perfect sense from a public health perspective.

Nevertheless, I look forward to the conversation I will have today with my 83 year old mother, who has moaned like you would not believe every time one of her friends has received the vaccine ahead of her, when she now hears that others will now be getting their first dose before she gets her second, having had the jab yesterday.

I have said many times here that the pandemic has brought out the worst in people, and I’m afraid I include my own mother in that. I have seen a degree of selfishness in her I never knew was there, even extending to begrudging my sister in law, a nurse, getting the vaccine ahead of her. She has harassed her GP repeatedly about her place in the queue, and even moaned to officials at County Hall, asking when she will be vaccinated, all whilst telling her 95 year old housebound neighbour to remain patient.

I’ve seen a side of her which, frankly, I do not like very much.
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I can understand her enthusiasm to get the second one, and I know that GPs are spitting feathers at having been left with hundreds of appointments to reschedule. It is not at all likely that things will be any easier in 12 weeks time either. I think you can reassure your mother that one of the reasons this is possible is because the vaccine has been more effective than expected. Pfizer designed their study based on about a 60% response rate after 2 doses. Instead it has turned out to be over 90% after 1 dose. She will already received more protection than anyone could reasonably have hoped for.
 
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AmandaJR said:
Why the reluctance (BBC may have said outcry!) about the decision?
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People are anxious and scared and see the second vacc as getting past it.

Swinglowandslow said:
I saw this earlier today. A BBC report apparently, quoting a front line AE doctor, a Professor, speaking about why the sharp rise in cases.
Seems to me an interesting view he is raising in the first paragraph.
It is not the full interview. He goes on to talk about the ages of most patients.

"He told Radio 5's Rachel Burden it was wrong to blame the surge in cases and deaths on the new variant of coronavirus, which was only "slightly" more transmissible and caused the same symptoms.
"It is making me actually very angry now that people are laying the blame on the virus, and it is not the virus, it is people, people are not washing their hands, they are not wearing their masks," he said."
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Hugh Montgomery, physician at UCL, I think. He is right, but a small increase in transmissibility can cause a large rise in cases because of the exponential effect. He is right that it wouldn't be nearly as big a problem if everyone practised rigorous hygiene in hand washing, masks and social distancing, but that is probably rather hopeful.
 
backwoodsman said:
Sorry SILH, but that very much smacks of being one of those "the-son-of-a-friend-of-someone-I-know" stories that have plagued us all the way through this pandemic. By now we all, including Mrs SILH, ought to be able to spot them for what they are .
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Oh we are sure that it is - just speculation by someone who thinks that their money can buy anything - in this case indirectly through the private school. What has most infuriated my wife is that her friend - who did 20yrs as a nhs nurse - thinks that it would be appropriate and OK we’re it to happen - and that my wife would also think it ok and be impressed. But as her friend said - why not - it’s the way of the world - networks and money. As you might imagine her friend isn’t a socialist ?
 
Billysboots said:
I absolutely understand and agree with this. It makes perfect sense from a public health perspective.

Nevertheless, I look forward to the conversation I will have today with my 83 year old mother, who has moaned like you would not believe every time one of her friends has received the vaccine ahead of her, when she now hears that others will now be getting their first dose before she gets her second, having had the jab yesterday.

I have said many times here that the pandemic has brought out the worst in people, and I’m afraid I include my own mother in that. I have seen a degree of selfishness in her I never knew was there, even extending to begrudging my sister in law, a nurse, getting the vaccine ahead of her. She has harassed her GP repeatedly about her place in the queue, and even moaned to officials at County Hall, asking when she will be vaccinated, all whilst telling her 95 year old housebound neighbour to remain patient.

I’ve seen a side of her which, frankly, I do not like very much.
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I think she might just be scared, It's natural.
 
AmandaJR said:
Why the reluctance (BBC may have said outcry!) about the decision?
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Maybe consider new year resolution to give up a little on your obsession with the BBC. We know how much you love it, but maybe a period watching Sky or ITN News as well as the BBC will help for a bit of balance...but I think you’ll find that they report things in pretty much the same way. ?
 
Ethan said:
People are anxious and scared and see the second vacc as getting past it.



Hugh Montgomery, physician at UCL, I think. He is right, but a small increase in transmissibility can cause a large rise in cases because of the exponential effect. He is right that it wouldn't be nearly as big a problem if everyone practised rigorous hygiene in hand washing, masks and social distancing, but that is probably rather hopeful.
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Yes, it was he. What it boils down to is people behaviour more than the virus getting too much naughtier.
What I think is not highlighted enough, and is the major cause of this large increase, is the fact that the spreading is indoors. It is the breathing of each other's expelled breath. The timeline supports that: ( the increase in summer , outdoor , months was negligible, even reduced the spread) the winter, which combined with the allowing of indoor "meet ups", pubs, cafes etc caused a very large opportunity for the aerosol effect to occur.
And instead of being more vigilant, we have become less so!
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
Oh we are sure that it is - just speculation by someone who thinks that their money can buy anything - in this case indirectly through the private school. What has most infuriated my wife is that her friend - who did 20yrs as a nhs nurse - thinks that it would be appropriate and OK we’re it to happen - and that my wife would also think it ok and be impressed. But as her friend said - why not - it’s the way of the world - networks and money. As you might imagine her friend isn’t a socialist ?
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Sadly money and its networks do make things happen, I believe when Eton reopened after summer, every child and staff member was tested before being allowed back or to start.

I don’t blame them and hats off to them, but the simple fact is, they could only do this because they had the funds.

Its what should of happened at every school/university etc in the Country.
 
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