Corona Virus

And while they debate they may want to show us the possess, or do they Muddy Waters and Status Quo, boom boom.

 

Foreign travel for me-just been asked to do an installation in Scotland....

 

Boom Boom is by John Lee Hooker

 

Fair point Andy, not the intention.

Well tbh I think it’s pretty impossible to stop this virus from spreading internationally without completely locking down all of a country’s borders à la NZ. And I don’t think that is or ever was a realistic option for the UK because of four reasons:

1 We are a significant net importer of food so have no choice but to allow people and products in

2 We are a very connected country and major international transport hub

3 Our citizens are as close as you can get to global citizens, so at any point in time we will be pretty much everywhere in the world and will need to return

4 We have an open and essentially unmanaged border with Ireland


Therefore while “closing the borders” may be superficially attractive it is in practice impossible other than in an “end of days” situation.

I would however have introduced testing of all arrivals at an earlier stage as I can’t see any downside to doing so.

As to the government’s handling, I think they have let themselves - and therefore us - down by being indecisive. They seem to have been Canute-like (actually Canute-unlike) in repeatedly decrying suggestions, only to finally adopt them as a last desperate resort after the entire country has already decided to do so ahead of them. Examples:

- initially going for herd immunity only to abandon it when the entire population said “bugger that for a game of soldiers”
- refusing to have a second lockdown in October only to do so in Nov
- insisting that Christmas would be ok only to give it up too late
- having a proper second/third lockdown post Christmas which was made inevitable by the partial Christmas relaxation
- refusing to introduce testing at the airports until nine months after Heathrow pleaded for them to do so

you can debate whether any of these decisions was good or bad. But every one of them was a reversal of a public stance.

 

Ok Martin you think the government has not managed the pandemic very well, and that is ok cause it is your view.
I just want to pick out your point about Christmas. If the government had not allowed people to mix on Christmas Day do you honestly think if they had cancelled Christmas the population would have adhered to that restriction?
There is no way people would have agreed to that and they would have gone ahead with their plans anyway. This would have damaged any control that could be levelled going into 2021.
It was not an ideal situation for anybody.
As @andypandy has said they have had an impossible job, in which it is easy to pick holes after the fact...

 

I think the stats on deaths bear out that they have consistently done too little too late, but they have a chance to redeem themselves with the vaccine and, so far, they have been excellent in how they have invested in and secured doses with Pfizer and Oxford and ensured early approval, so top marks.

All I’m saying is that they keep reversing their public position. They criticise Starmer and then two days later do exactly what he was suggesting.

in other words they keep falling into holes they themselves are digging.

 

We have to be thankful we’re no longer in the EU,where their vaccination plan and roll out has been woeful.

 

Can’t argue with you there. Certainly true here in NL

 

FWIW I don’t feel like it’s bragging rights or,we’re better etc,I genuinely feel sorry for all those people who feel that they’ve been let down in Europe.

 

You’re right Tom

From what I’ve read on MSM it appears that the EU buying decision was heavily influenced by Macron wanting a French vaccine (GSK/Sanofi) only to find it has problems and won’t be approved - if at all - for some time.

That said progress across the EU is patchy too, with France in particular incredibly slow. It seems that, at first, they required anyone wanting a vaccine to have to visit their GP first, have an explanation, sign consent forms, and then have a 5 day “cooling off” period. I think that has now gone, but talk about building in delays.

The French also seem reluctant to even mention the Oxford vaccine even though the EU is supposed to have ordered some.

 

I voted Remain, Brexit is likely to upset my retirement plans somewhere or other. However, the vote was the only occasion of genuine democracy I can remember. I'm old enough to remember Thatcher and Blair, in particular, getting substantial majority victories in elections where they secured a minority of votes. This was simple-the most votes won. The four years of subsequent bickering did no one any good.

 

At the risk of straying off topic, there’s an interesting piece in the Telegraph today about how well the UK’s vaccine task force, led by Kate Bingham, has done. It’s behind a paywall and too long for here but this is the conclusion:

I have no idea whether Ms Bingham was a Remainer, like me, or a Brexiteer. But whether she intended it or not, her work may well end up being the most persuasive test case for Brexit yet to emerge. The small task force she led has not only given the UK a head start on vaccines. It has also planted other seeds, encouraging work to replace syringes with oral doses for future pandemics, funding the development of an antibody manufacturing industry and finding new ways to use the UK’s impressive virus genome sequencing capacity.

The British state might have proved its mediocrity in all too many ways over the past year, but this one, crucial project has shown that success isn’t about scale and uniformity. It is about competence and focus. There is no reason why any other policy area, from trade to agriculture and business regulation, cannot prove the same point.

 

Don't normally get involved in these discussions but will this once. I think its very easy when you're not in government to say the government should have or should be doing this or that without any responsibility. It's a different story when you're in power and it's your neck on the line.

 

We’re supposed to be getting the Moderna vaccine. Don’t think the others have even been mentioned.

 

Which is a shame because the Astra Zeneca one is cheap, easily transportable and likely plentiful but Macron will be doing all he can to keep it out of the EU.

 

Just wished they’d get on with it

 

Regretfully,France is the home of chauvinism,and right now,not portraying itself in a very good light.
Having spent a lot of time there when I was younger with friends and French family,I am saddened by what I see now.
Macron would appear to be self harming for the sake of patriotic stupidity,something I’m sure not all Frenchmen will agree with.

 

Looks like it's not just something that happens in France:

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/n...fusing-pfizer-covid-vaccine-wait-english-one/

 

Interesting article @TillyB . In my mind the details about which vaccine is being used does not need to be published. People should just be told to attend and if they choose not to take the one on offer they should go to the back of the queue, with all the risk associated with their decision. Short sighted folk should not waste any time on them.

 

There is a difference,in that this is still a free country and rightly or wrongly it’s a personal choice,not my choice,not your choice perhaps,but theirs.
The situation in Europe is entirely different,where people haven’t had the chance to refuse the vaccine,due to availability.
If it was mandatory,that would be a different matter,but it isn’t mandatory.