Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Stanley]

As I said earlier, it looks as though all our crap detectors went off and I applaud the decision to zap the post. It wasn't adding anything to the site.

[Tripps]

From today's Guardian.

‘Breakthrough’ Covid infections – Scientists have urged eligible people to have Covid booster shots after a major survey in England found evidence of “breakthrough infections” more than three months after full vaccination. Infection rates were still three to four times higher among the unvaccinated than those who had completed their initial two shots. But the protection may start to wane between three and six months afterwards, researchers from University College London say. The findings are not yet peer-reviewed, and other studies have suggested that the protection given against hospitalisation and death by initial vaccination is far more robust.

Probably too soon to reach conclusions, but the duration of vaccine protection was always an unknown, which would eventually be found. Perhaps evidence is starting to emerge that it's on the low side of estimates / hopes? .

[PanBiker]

Our Isla who has just turned 12 has just got a positive result from her recent PCR test.

[Tripps]

That's a shame - I'm sure she'll be fine after a few days.

That's the reason half my family are not on 'speakers ' at the moment as I said I didn't want them to visit with the children at close quarters. Seemed to cause offence, which wasn't intended. OK out of doors in the summer - and we did it several times, but now it's quite a different matter.

[Stanley]

Re. duration of protection. It looks as though they are keeping an eye on it David. No doubt we will be informed. I just take everything they offer me. It's just about 6 months since my second Jab so I suppose I'll be getting the call for a booster shortly....

[Stanley]

THIS BBC article is worth a read on the subject of GP provision and the state of the health service as we go into what could be a rough winter.
In addition Sajid Javez has ruffled feathers by seeming to announce the publication of 'league tables' showing which were the most efficient practices. This can only be seen as a sanction as you can't shop around for a doctor and quite rightly the doctors are furious.
As I have said before, I am old enough to remember what medical practice and treatment was before 1947 and the advent of the NHS. The service is a national treasure and successive governments spend money on atomic bombs, aircraft carriers with no planes and high speed railway lines that nobody wants while underfunding something we all need sooner or later.
[Incidentally, in repeated studies, the UK NHS is one of the most economical services in the world, beating all health for profit services hands down.]

[Stanley]

I have an appointment for the Covid booster shot and it is at Well pharmacy which is good.

[plaques]

Covid booster late yesterday afternoon. Colne health centre. Usual military precise organisation. No waiting. All the small print read out before the cold steel injection. A little surprised by the 10 minute wait after the injection to check for adverse reactions. We were told to expect a bit more discomfort as part of the after effects. Sure enough the shoulder muscle was more tender and we both had disturbed sleep. Don't expect to be excused duties though.

[Stanley]

Ken, when I signed up for mine at Well in Barlick the Colne booster location was given as the arcade above the Market Hall on the main street and I saw it sat there ready on Friday when we went to the baker who goes home when he sells out. (I got some Bara Brith, first time I have ever seen it outside Wales.....)

[Stanley]

A lot of concern is being voiced about the fact that UK deaths from Covid are the highest in Europe and rising. Factors quoted are more gatherings indoors, less mask wearing and a general assumption among many people that the worst of the pandemic is over·
It seems they may be wrong.

[Tripps]

Letter from my grandchildrens' school (to the North of London) dated today. It's in strong contrast to what I see on TV where 'they think it's all over' seems to be the order of the day.

Good morning Parents,
As you are aware from my newsletter on Friday and the letter to the Year 5 Parents, our numbers of Covid-19 positive cases are rising.
This morning, I took advice from Public Health England, and have decided to implement several controls in school and on the playground.
This is to prevent onward transmission and we want to avoid reaching the threshold for an outbreak.

The measures of control at school:
1. All Assemblies will be delivered via Microsoft Teams
2. Staff in communal areas need to maintain 1m+ distance
3. Staff in close contact with other staff need to wear masks
4. Children will be reminded to continue with good hand hygiene
5. Staff will maximise ventilation by opening windows and doors to increase fresh air flow
6. Continue enhanced cleaning of frequent high touch points
7. Teachers will try to limit shared equipment.
Parents, please could you wear face covering at pick up on the playground and at drop off down xxxxxx

Please maintain a safe social distance when standing waiting for your child at the end of the day.

Please wear a mask when entering the front office and try to correspond with the school through emails or phone calls.

Thank you for your support during these difficult times.

Kind regards,

xxx Headteacher



PS Looks like no one in the Commons (at least on the Government side) is taking any of the precautions listed above.

[Stanley]

How sensible! I'm glad that some people are keeping their heads and maintaining a protective stance. I think you agree with me David, it's not over and what we should be doing is constructing the 'new normal.

[Tripps]

I just heard a FT medical journalist on LBC, - he used the phrase 'waning immunity' , and I think it's the first time I've heard it. He said that we have more cases than comparable European countries, as we were quicker to get the population vaccinated, hence quicker to suffer from 'waning immunity'.

He says we need to get the booster jabs speeded up. He was vague on whether the immunity would wane to zero or to a plateau, and whether the redcuctions in deaths and hospitalisations were related.

I suspect they don't know exactly what the situation is regarding duration of 'immunity'.

PS Just heard that Gen Colin Powell has died from/with Covid 19.

[Stanley]

Never heard the phrase before you mentioned it David but I can see the meaning and it sounds feasible. All the more reason to use a sensible level of precautions.

[Tizer]

There have been warnings to expect waning resistance to the covid vaccines since the beginning of 2021. That, combined with a surge in schoolchildren infected and a lackadaisical attitude from some people with regard to avoiding and preventing infections, has led to a jump from about 35,000 infections a day before I went on my week's holiday to nearly 50,000 now. You probably heard too about the 43,000 people (mostly in the south-west) who were told their PCR test was negative even though they were getting positive results from lateral flow tests. They were told they could go out and safely mix with other people. Nothing wrong with the tests, apparently, so there must be something wrong at the Wolverhampton lab were the PCR work was done. `An investigation is underway'.

[Stanley]

I heard a brief reference to the fact that it is one of the testing services that started from nothing with a juicy contract at the start of the pandemic. I have no idea whether this is true or not or if this has any bearing on the mistakes. The only reason I mention it is that this is the line investigations go down from the start, the assumption that there is something dodgy about the genesis of the service and the profits it makes. You can find examples in PPE as well as testing. Instead of well regulated supervision and clear reporting, we have a swamp of rumour and speculation.
Roll on a proper enquiry!

[Tizer]

Here's the latest on the Wolverhampton lab. For some reason it doesn't surprise me...
`UK lab investigated for false negative Covid tests is not fully accredited: Neither Immensa nor Dante Labs has ever been accredited, Ukas says, contrary to government comments' Guardian
`The private laboratory that is under investigation for potentially issuing more than 40,000 false negative Covid tests was not fully accredited to perform the work, contrary to assurances made by health officials. The UK’s independent accreditation service, Ukas, told the Guardian on Monday that neither Immensa Health Clinics Ltd nor its sister company, Dante Labs, had ever been accredited by the service, and that it had informed the Department of Health that statements suggesting otherwise were incorrect. The UK Health Security Agency announced on Friday that it was suspending operations at Immensa’s laboratory in Wolverhampton pending an investigation into concerns that at least 43,000 people with coronavirus had been wrongly told their swabs tested negative for the virus. Because many of the individuals would have believed the typically more accurate PCR tests performed by Immensa over simpler lateral flow tests, there is a substantial risk they unwittingly spread the virus on to thousands more people..'.
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On the home front, my teenage relative at school here in Taunton doing her A levels has become ill and tested positive for covid-19. We're not surprised, given the lack of protection in the schools. I hope her parents and sister manage to avoid it, but that must be difficult.
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Mrs Tiz went into the local chemist's shop yesterday and says it had a very unpleasant smell of body odour, although there were no other customers in there. More important than the nastiness of the smell is the fact that the shop must not have adequate ventilation - hazardous in these covid times!

[PanBiker]

Our Isla's latest test has been negative. She only had mild cold symptoms while she had the virus and was isolating.

[Stanley]

I thought as much Peter (about the lab), thanks for confirming what I thought I had heard or seen.
I've been listening to the various opinions about the present situation and on balance it seems pretty obvious to me that we need 'Plan B' and proper sanctions against those who refuse to conform. When I hear the business Minister Quasi Kwarteng saying that the present lax regime is not the cause of the 10% week on week increase in Covid cases that is bringing the NHS down I reflect that he shouldn't be giving an opinion as it is in his interests to let freedom reign so the economy can have a chance.
My own opinion is that the politicians are paralysed because they know that what we are seeing is the natural consequence of running the NHS down for ten years and breaking every promise made about wages, staff and training. My question is how can this be allowed in a modern society. The Tories say they are saving money. No they aren't, they are spending it on the wrong things! What good are high speed trains, nuclear capability and white elephant aircraft carriers if children are going hungry and we have the highest death rate in Europe from Covid?

[Tizer]

..I reflect that he shouldn't be giving an opinion as it is in his interests to let freedom rain so the economy can have a chance...

That triggered a memory of something recent....a judge has made scathing comments about the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service because he was forced to drop a £3 million fraud case involving diamonds, jewellery and other valuables that they had made against a celebrity. The reason was that the CPS and police hadn't followed the regulations and handed over to the accused's solicitors copies of the evidence they had against him. The judge was gobsmacked (my word, not his) that the CPS could be so incompetent - he described the failings as `systemic and catastrophic'.

But what caught my eye and relates to your statement above (about vested interests) was that the police force (the Met) had instructed expert witnesses employed by the auctioneers Dreweatts which had a contract with the Met police to auction jewellery and watches seized in raids and prosecutions. How can they be seen as objective and independent when they stood to make profits out of a prosecution?

[Stanley]

It's a long time since I voiced it Peter but I still believe that one of the factors that holds this country back is a staggeringly high level of incompetence in places and professions where it should not exist. The judge who was gobsmacked has discovered the same thing. I blame inadequate primary education, an education system that encourages learning curricula and not curiosity and too much specialisation in professions and careers. All of these things militate against well rounded intellects.

[Tizer]

I agree and I too have been boring everyone I meet with the same story. I think most people have given up and assume there's nothing they can do about it.

I've just wasted more than half an hour trying to book a covid booster jab. I received the NHS letter this morning telling me to book now through their system online or by phone. I attempted to do that and finally was given a list of vac centres. The obvious one was Boots Chemists here in Taunton - in walking distance for me. When I clicked on it I was thrown back to the beginning, went through the process again and this time Boots didn't come up - the nearest centres were over 20 miles away. Tried again several times but Boots wasn't showing. Also the online system seemed to go into a loop and kept throwing me back to the start. Tried to phone Boots to find out whether they were part of the system or not. Tried both their normal shop phone lines but couldn't get a response, not even a recorded message. Phoned our surgery to see if they could do the booster but they're not offering it. So I'm leaving it for the moment and will try online again later to see if Boots comes up. I don't want to travel to `forn parts'! The previous jabs were done at Taunton racecourse but that's not offered now - horse racing comes before covid prevention!

LATER...I found on a Boots web site that they are definitely taking part in the covid booster jabs but appointments have to be made through the NHS online or phone system. I've managed to get through to the local Boots shop and told them that when I clicked on the local Boots entry on the NHS site it then threw me back to the beginning. The response: `That must be because we're fully booked until the end of November'. Me `perhaps you should tell the NHS that. Can I book for after the end of November?' She: `No, you'll have to wait until the end of November'. Aaaargh!

[Big Kev]

We can't book a booster until November 22nd at the earliest. Been to Aldi today, good to see the staff wearing face coverings (with the exception of those behind the screens at the checkouts), shame the majority of customers don't choose to wear one. The 'science' is calling for face coverings but
Plan A - do nothing.
Plan B - do nothing 2 weeks after the 'science' says do something.
Plan C - do nothing and blame the public for not listening to the 'science'.

[Tizer]

People like you and I are trying to get booster appointments and yet I see this now on the beeb news site: Amid calls for more restrictions, Boris Johnson urged people to come forward for booster jabs when their time comes. The prime minister said those who become eligible for a third dose of vaccine should organise an appointment straight away. He might be able to book one `straight away' but it's not so easy for the rest of us.

The news story also says The UK recorded 52,009 new Covid cases on Thursday - it was still in the 30,000s a day before I went on holiday. The rules on masks and distancing have been relaxed too far.

[Tripps]

I was feeling a bit left out, but I've just had an email inviting me for a booster.

It's six months and three days since Jab2 so the system seems to be working well. I booked on the internet, and it took all of five minutes. I had a good choice of dates and venues. The nearest was 10 miles away, but I know exactly where it is and can drive myself so that's not a problem.

Big hint that the vaccine would not be the same as I had previously had (Pfeizer). Google says that's OK - or at least it doesn't say it's not.

Find out on the day. So we'll see a week on Sunday at the Bowls Club then.