Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

Yes, doesn't "compute" does it?

Don't suppose you mean Madeira and not Mauritius, Tash?
Given the "colonial" link history?

definitely Mauritius
it was weird we were on the initial uk list (since there was no covid here and a mandatory quarantine for the trickle of inbound travelers)
Despite being 2000 miles away I suspect someone realised we're part of continental africa and the word africa also appears in South Africa and didn't they read somewhere about a covid strain in South Africa.... 2 + 2 make 7 :eek: best to stick em on the list :unsure:
 
Well that's just mental
So we had no cases or lockdown for 9 months and were still put on the initial red list :unsure:
Last week we have a mini outbreak (now at 135 cases) following a quarantine breech, we're back under lockdown, the airport is shut and we're off the UK red list! :cautious:

Looks like the forum meet is off ☹️ Stay safe slab
 

Let me help unbaffle them, Ros.

Sky News earlier.

Pause on Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccinations are due to the rare nature of the side effects - not the number - says head of France's vaccine programme

Alain Fischer has said the moves from several countries to temporarily halt use of the vaccine was due to "somewhat atypical thrombosis anomalies".

"It is reasonable, when the alerts are clearly significant – more by their atypical nature than by their number, which remains very low in relation to the number of people vaccinated – for national health authorities to be cautious," the French vaccine head told local radio.

He continued that some people given the vaccine had symptoms not usually seen in "'classic' pulmonary embolisms" that are often "only associated with serious illnesses".

Denmark, which has also suspended the jab's use, said it had seen "highly unusual" symptoms in a 60-year-old recipient who died from a blood clot.

Meanwhile, Norway spoke of "unusual symptoms" in three people under 50 being treated in hospital, as two health workers - both aged under 50 and thought to be fit and healthy - died of brain haemorrhages.

The country's national medicines agency said it could "neither confirm nor exclude that it has something to do with the vaccine".

Scientists have pointed out that COVID-19 infection is known to cause blood clotting, while there is no evidence so far of a causal link from the vaccine.
 
Had my vaccine yoday - AZ as expected. All fine although long queue and about an hour after my appointment time before I got stuck. Not much else to do with my time though!
 
BREAKING: The European Union’s medicines regulator has said there is “no indication” that AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine is the cause of reported blood clots.
 
My Mrs is having to keep close to the news as the breast cancer helpline she works on is getting lots of calls from women with questions and concerns over the vaccines - and so on news of last couple of days on the AZ vaccine and blot clots in context of tumours; chemo and maintenance drugs...

Of course the charity has experts assessing and advising the helpline nursing team - but my Mrs has to understand the concerns being expressed and how she should answer related questions. And she asks me what I think of what she has to say - asks me how it sounds...what I might think if I asked the question...and got the answer she is to give...quite stressful actually.:(
 
?BREAKING: France is considering suing AstraZeneca over a lack of vaccine deliveries, despite the country suspending the use of the jab

Via @spectator https://t.co/wrXdd1C1D8

I'm not sure that legally they could sue them anyway. As far as I understand it the EU negotiated with AZ over vaccine supplies and signed the contract for XX million doses which would then be shared out between EU countries. France, as an individual country, doesn't have a contract with AZ so I'm not sure that they can sue them.
 
I'm not sure that legally they could sue them anyway. As far as I understand it the EU negotiated with AZ over vaccine supplies and signed the contract for XX million doses which would then be shared out between EU countries. France, as an individual country, doesn't have a contract with AZ so I'm not sure that they can sue them.


But the 'story' fits perfectly with the diarrhea the spectator spews...
 
My Mrs is having to keep close to the news as the breast cancer helpline she works on is getting lots of calls from women with questions and concerns over the vaccines - and so on news of last couple of days on the AZ vaccine and blot clots in context of tumours; chemo and maintenance drugs...

Of course the charity has experts assessing and advising the helpline nursing team - but my Mrs has to understand the concerns being expressed and how she should answer related questions. And she asks me what I think of what she has to say - asks me how it sounds...what I might think if I asked the question...and got the answer she is to give...quite stressful actually.:(

I would suggest she says that the issue is one of proportion. The risk of these clots in the normal population is very low. it is not known if the vaccine increases that risk, but if it does, it only raises it to a number which is still very low. The risks of Covid, on the other hand can be very high if you are older or have other health issues. There is really no comparison between the two risks, so anyone offered the vaccine should accept it, particularly those at higher risk. The parallel is air safet. People get very concerned about air safety, but plane crashes are very very rare. There is more risk driving to the airport. Even so, massive effort goes into ensuring air safety and every crash receives huge attention and investigation. Planes are very safe, and so are these vaccines. Accept the first one you are offered.
 
I feel for the people making these decisions, weighing up ‘pausing’ vaccination of several million people across 11 countries for 1-2 weeks (I think Ireland have stopped using AZ until 29/3) versus the potential side effects. Across 11 countries that might be a lot of deaths in due course. There is an inherent gamble either way.
 
I may be wrong but I would have thought that situations like this go on all the time with medication, albeit not in the face of a global pandemic and not on the front pages of the national newspapers who seem determined to make this a 'brexit' thing. Still happy to take whatever vaccine I am offered when my turn eventually comes.

Any idea when the other vaccines are starting to be distributed as I guess that may help up the pace even more.
 
Top