Coronavirus (Covid19) Corner

[Stanley]

I'm with Col at 15:25 on Friday. Ladies first as they say.
As for which vaccine, I'll just have to trust them to know what they are doing.

[Tripps]

The Care Home (which I visited on Sunday) have just rung to say they have locked down due to two Covid cases among their staff. Let's hope the mask, gloves, and the rather fetching plastic pinny they made me wear, have done their job.

[Big Kev]

The Care Home (which I visited on Sunday) have just rung to say they have locked down due to two Covid cases among their staff. Let's hope the mask, gloves, and the rather fetching plastic pinny they made me wear, have done their job.

Always worth doing a lateral flow test too.

[Tizer]

...and you can get them free from the chemist's shop.

I'm just back from my booster jab, Pfizer BioNtech this time because I had AZ for the first two. The vaccination procedure was no different but this time they made us wait 15 minutes in a back room in case we sprouted extra arms and legs or turned into Donald Trump! The registration step was slower because there was only one person on the desk whereas last time there were at least two. I could see nurses waiting at their cubicles with nothing to do because of the bottleneck at registration. Lack of joined up thinking. I was give a 4-page A4 leaflet which listed a very long list of possible side effects, divided into sections. Section 1 was `More than 1 in 10 probability' and included nausea; section 2 was `Up to 1 in 10' and included diarrhoea and vomiting - and so on for several more sections. Enough to frighten off some folk I should think and ideal `evidence' for the antivaxers.

[Stanley]

That thought often strikes me Peter. They are looking over their shoulder at the legal eagles who are always telling them that they could be sued if they don't mention every possible outcome. Exactly the same syndrome as when I had to sign myself out of Airedale Hospital because they were frightened I might sue them if I was allowed to go home. I got into trouble all round because of that one but in the end the people that mattered, my family, agreed I was right. The anti-vaccers wouldn't hesitate to sue and that's why the medical profession are over cautious. (So let's blame the legal eagles!)

[Tizer]

I forgot to mention that the vaccine team had moved to new local site in the middle of Taunton. It consisted of a row of portacabins and a car park, all on the site of the old cattle market. Two cabins were in operation. Each had a reception desk plus lady just inside the doorway which meant we all had to queue outside on a raised walkway with no shelter from wind or rain. Most of us had come in our cars without waterproof jackets and warm clothes because of having to remove shirt sleeves to bare our upper arms. At the previous site used for the first two jabs everything was indoors, so we didn't expect to have to line up outside. Also it was slow and we had a long wait out there - not good considering most of the people were oldies like me and some had difficulty standing for so long. They could have easily put a shelter over the walkway and provided some plastic chairs.

The good news is that I'm feeling fine and all I have is a slightly tender upper arm!

[Gloria]

I had my booster together with flu jab on 6th Oct, booster jab site lightly bruised and sore for a couple of days, but everything else ok, no problems at all.

[Big Kev]

Booster reports sound good, we're still patiently awaiting our turn

[Tizer]

I'm still standing too! I feel great except for a weariness which is due to my usual poor sleeping, the state of the nation, and not to the booster.

[Tripps]

It consisted of a row of portacabins and a car park, all on the site of the old cattle market.

My venue is quite different. Bowls Club very congenial

[Wendyf]

I spent time with a friend on Friday who got a positive result with a lateral flow test on Monday. I keep getting negative tests but won't breathe a sigh of relief till the weekend at least.

[Gloria]

I spent time with a friend on Friday who got a positive result with a lateral flow test on Monday. I keep getting negative tests but won't breathe a sigh of relief till the weekend at least.

How is she Wendy? Had she had all her jabs?

[Wendyf]

She thought she had a cold at the weekend when she did the test and was surprised to test positive as she couldn't understand how she could have been infected. She tests regularly as she visits her elderly parents every day. This was why I thought it was safe for us to spend time together! She is waiting for PCR test results today but apart from feeling tired is now OK and yes she is double vaccinated.

[Big Kev]

It could be a cold, plenty of false positives have been reported with LFTs.

[Wendyf]

That's what I thought Kev.

[plaques]

I spent time with a friend on Friday who got a positive result with a lateral flow test on Monday. I keep getting negative tests but won't breathe a sigh of relief till the weekend at least.

Two nights in the barn for you my lass.

[Wendyf]

I spent time with a friend on Friday who got a positive result with a lateral flow test on Monday. I keep getting negative tests but won't breathe a sigh of relief till the weekend at least.

Two nights in the barn for you my lass.

It's quite cosy on this pile of straw.....

[Stanley]

Good luck with your friend Wendy!
Nice to hear the positive reports about the booster, I get mine on Friday.
One hears such conflicting reports about the lateral flow test. From what I read in PE the main supplier is a US contractor who is making a fortune out of a massive long term contract with the UK government. You can't help wondering how much money they are putting into positive PR for the tests.

[Wendyf]

I've had 2 packs of lateral flow tests, ordered online, and both of them have come from China not the US.

[Stanley]

I see that Private Eye is doing a special extended edition i a fortnight with a large article devoted to the sources of Covid supplies and who got the contracts. The title is 'Profits of Doom'. That will be worth reading and I trust their journalism.
Well rang me yesterday to offer me the flu jab they gave back word on but I told her I had been done at the surgery.
I shall be at Well this afternoon for my Covid booster at 15:25.
One thing that impresses me is that Susan's post-Covid therapist is continuing to visit her at home as part of the Long Covid study. They seem to be taking it very seriously and of course, as it's working well it doesn't hit the headlines....

[PanBiker]

I will do a lateral flow test today seeing that I was in mass company on the train and buses yesterday.

[plaques]

I've been following the weekly YouTube reports on Covid via the 'Zoe'. Prof Tim Spector. Site. Zoe. Heavy going (20 mins) but informative plenty of charts plotting trends etc: The one thing he explained was why his study always showed more cases than the Government / media. The explanation was that his group counted all the positive cases irrespective of what the major symptoms that were given whereas the government / media only counted those who had reported the 'classical' symptoms. Since the symptoms appear to be changing in line with the covid variant and the age group being affected it looks like the numbers are well below what is actually happening in the real world.

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Ken. I haven't as much patience as you and can't be arsed to trawl the different opinions but what you say accords with what I see around me. His methodology sounds sensible to me and being an old cynic I can't help wondering whether the government would prefer a methodology that gives fewer positives.
On a grass roots level I had my booster yesterday at Well pharmacy in Barlick. 15 minutes from arrival to leaving and that counts the obligatory 10 minute precautionary sit down afterwards. No discernible after effects so far, not even a sore arm. I shall take it easy for a day or two just in case.
I hope Col had as good an experience.

[Wendyf]

Col's jab is next Friday Stanley, mine is Monday lunchtime. I'm still testing negative a week after contact with my friend who was confirmed as positive. She thinks her husband brought it back from his first venture out to a local darts night.

[Stanley]

In that case I hope he has the same experience I had, no wait, in and out in under 15 minutes including the obligatory ten minutes sit and so far not even a sore arm.