Rants and WTF are you talking about and Coronavirus!

[QUOTE=PaulInZurich;2534907]Countries with a federal system like Germany or Switzerland have their own challenges, you get friction between federal and local governments. Right now, the main issue is that not enough vaccine is available, but at least in Switzerland they would need to severely ramp up vaccination capabilities to keep the promise that everybody who wants to be vaccinated will have the opportunity by June / July.[/QUOTE]It seems that a lot of the supply issue came from the fact that the EU nations were slow to approve the vaccines. Hopefully that just means that EU nations are just a month behind.

For the US, there was no so much an issue with friction between levels of government but more issues with lack of direction and coordination. The result is having some states with vaccination rates of 25% and some with less than 5%.

[QUOTE=RockyV;2534872]Having looked closely at the controversy about AZ vaccine, the issue seems to be related to the fact that AZ didn't include enough over 65 people in their clinical trials and so various governments are only recommending this vaccine only for younger people. This is simply because the AZ vaccine wasn't tested enough in elderly people and they need to wait and see more evidence that it works in such a frail population. US is also likely to reject permission to use AZ vaccine in US, so here is another big country having the SAME concerns as the EU.

I also live in the UK and we all know we are now under a sort of Tory dictatorship, which twisted the MHRA arm to speed up approval of AZ vaccine. In the end MHRA was forced to approve the vaccine, but with reservations and subject to continued monitoring. Also the UK strategy to give only one dose of the vaccine instead of two, so that the vaccination numbers look good, may be a gamble the government is taking on people's lives. We all know the Tories don't care about people, in fact, among the few people (below 500,000 to date) that have received the two doses of the vaccine there are the Boris Johnson's parents and few other relatives of Tory MPs.

Rock.[/QUOTE]Hahaha, it's laughable to see what kind of left wing weirdos with tinfoil hats this forum attracts.

[QUOTE=RockyV;2534872]Having looked closely at the controversy about AZ vaccine, the issue seems to be related to the fact that AZ didn't include enough over 65 people in their clinical trials and so various governments are only recommending this vaccine only for younger people. This is simply because the AZ vaccine wasn't tested enough in elderly people and they need to wait and see more evidence that it works in such a frail population. US is also likely to reject permission to use AZ vaccine in US, so here is another big country having the SAME concerns as the EU.

I also live in the UK and we all know we are now under a sort of Tory dictatorship, which twisted the MHRA arm to speed up approval of AZ vaccine. In the end MHRA was forced to approve the vaccine, but with reservations and subject to continued monitoring. Also the UK strategy to give only one dose of the vaccine instead of two, so that the vaccination numbers look good, may be a gamble the government is taking on people's lives. We all know the Tories don't care about people, in fact, among the few people (below 500,000 to date) that have received the two doses of the vaccine there are the Boris Johnson's parents and few other relatives of Tory MPs.

Rock.[/QUOTE]I totally agree with your comments regarding Johnson & the Conservatives, they have completely mismanaged the epidemic with horrendously poor communication and a general lack of intellect in the Cabinet.

However I think you're maybe giving a disservice to some of the medical & scientific team like Jonathan Van Tam who have guided the country out of the mess along with the marvellous NHS. It was them who pushed the Government to do the one dose strategy in 12 weeks ignoring the advise of the WHO and everyone else as their data & info was pointing them in this direction.

It won't be the UK politicians that gets us through this pandemic but the scientists & NHS.

Hopefully I will be able to raise a glass to them in the Sharks garden later this summer?

[QUOTE=Mursenary;2534772]I hold some reservations that as we approach critical mass in vaccinations, say 50%, that the pool of willing recipients of the vaccine will shrink, slowing down vaccination rates. Another issue may be as cases dwindle, younger and healthy people will delay their efforts to get vaccinated. There has to be a concerted effort to make getting the vaccine as effortless as possible as the slow appointment system will easily deter personal efforts. In my city, FEMA (Disaster response agency) and the National Guard has set up a drive through vaccination clinic. As supply increases, more of these setups will be of most importance.[/QUOTE]You certainly have a point that the younger age groups may not be so bothered to take the vaccine but hopefully people in the UK and indeed throughout Europe & the world have more sense and will ignore some of the anti vaccine propaganda which is frankly being disproved with new data every week.

Latest figures for the UK for vaccine uptake are:

94.3% of people aged 80 and over had received their first dose.

100% of people aged 75-79.

94.4% of people aged 70-74.

75.3% of people aged 65 to 69. (this age range continue to be vaccinated).

[QUOTE=Canary;2534560]1: As I stated the June 20th date (when UK hopes to return to some sort of normality) was from the UK Government (PM Johnson).

Finally the UK Government are complying with the advice of scientists & the data flow.

2: The vaccines currently available in the UK are all working against all the variants. Hospitalisations & deaths for those who.

Have taken the vaccine have been drastically reduced.

3: No one knows, not even the experts about new variants however UK scientists are confident that the current working vaccines.

Can be "tweaked " to accommodate & reduce the effects of new variants.

The AZ vaccine has been declared unreliable by various EU government's & medical people when new data continues to emerge of its success. In Scotland 95% reduction of hospitalisations for those who've taken AZ.[/QUOTE]AZ is not forbidden in France, but many and medical don't trust so much. Only given to less than 65 yo in France. When lack of vaccine, when need to vaccine old, weak, at risk, to protect them, for less deaths, but virus still spreading, mostly now UK one.

Lots of UK citizens on the internet are harping about Germany and its vaccine rollout. It's clear that this is about Brexit and, partly, English nationalism. The British people don't seem to realize they are part of a large scale trial of the AZ vaccine. It looks like it could turn out just fine but the data on efficacy among elderly just wasn't there. Otherwise it would have been used by the EU.

That being said: vaccine rollout shows that plenty of Germans are crazy and irrational like hell. I haven't heard anything from where I am but wouldn't have been surprised to hear the same thing. It looks like we dodged a bullet but maybe it's just not reported.

[QUOTE=RockyV;2534872]Having looked closely at the controversy about AZ vaccine, the issue seems to be related to the fact that AZ didn't include enough over 65 people in their clinical trials and so various governments are only recommending this vaccine only for younger people. This is simply because the AZ vaccine wasn't tested enough in elderly people and they need to wait and see more evidence that it works in such a frail population. US is also likely to reject permission to use AZ vaccine in US, so here is another big country having the SAME concerns as the EU.

I also live in the UK and we all know we are now under a sort of Tory dictatorship, which twisted the MHRA arm to speed up approval of AZ vaccine. In the end MHRA was forced to approve the vaccine, but with reservations and subject to continued monitoring. Also the UK strategy to give only one dose of the vaccine instead of two, so that the vaccination numbers look good, may be a gamble the government is taking on people's lives. We all know the Tories don't care about people, in fact, among the few people (below 500,000 to date) that have received the two doses of the vaccine there are the Boris Johnson's parents and few other relatives of Tory MPs.

Rock.[/QUOTE]

There are also "plenty of non-Germany crazy and irrational like hell" - BTW. Stop picking on one nation. The swiss for example are planning to not use but sell their AZ vaccines.

[QUOTE=Ararat;2535014]Lots of UK citizens on the internet are harping about Germany and its vaccine rollout. It's clear that this is about Brexit and, partly, English nationalism. The British people don't seem to realize they are part of a large scale trial of the AZ vaccine. It looks like it could turn out just fine but the data on efficacy among elderly just wasn't there. Otherwise it would have been used by the EU.

That being said: vaccine rollout shows that plenty of Germans are crazy and irrational like hell. I haven't heard anything from where I am but wouldn't have been surprised to hear the same thing. It looks like we dodged a bullet but maybe it's just not reported.[/QUOTE]

This is an important milestone.

[URL]https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/eu/eu-gipfel-corona-121.html[/URL]

I expect the vaccine passport to become key in the reopening of all the "high-risk" establishments, eg. Discos, clubs, saunas, massage parlors, FKK, amusement parks.

Most likely also indoor-dining, and so much more.

[QUOTE=PaulInZurich;2534907]Countries with a federal system like Germany or Switzerland have their own challenges, you get friction between federal and local governments. Right now, the main issue is that not enough vaccine is available, but at least in Switzerland they would need to severely ramp up vaccination capabilities to keep the promise that everybody who wants to be vaccinated will have the opportunity by June / July.[/QUOTE]Federal systems like USA and Germany are total failures in a pandemic. China knew this very well, when they unleashed this plague on the Western democracies. Oh no, I'm going to get "cancelled" for speaking truth, aren't I? LOL.

[QUOTE=Clodius1;2535053]Federal systems like USA and Germany are total failures in a pandemic. China knew this very well, when they unleashed this plague on the Western democracies. Oh no, I'm going to get "cancelled" for speaking truth, aren't I? LOL.[/QUOTE]No one wants to "cancel" you. We just want to see proof of your diabolical conspiracies, which will include solid evidence from reliable sources. Stating a claim and calling it truth doesn't ever make it truth. Unsubstantiated claims in the age of the internet are dime a dozen, and frankly boring. And the burden here is all on you as the one making the claim. It's no one's job to disprove it.

[QUOTE=Clodius1;2535053]Federal systems like USA and Germany are total failures in a pandemic. China knew this very well, when they unleashed this plague on the Western democracies. Oh no, I'm going to get "cancelled" for speaking truth, aren't I? LOL.[/QUOTE]Maybe you're right. China's coming out of this barely economically scathed, although their international reputation is certainly taking a hit. But you did have one confusing typo. I think the correct spelling is "speculation", not "truth". It was probably just the autocorrect feature.

[QUOTE=Sirioja;2535009]AZ is not forbidden in France, but many and medical don't trust so much. Only given to less than 65 yo in France. When lack of vaccine, when need to vaccine old, weak, at risk, to protect them, for less deaths, but virus still spreading, mostly now UK one.[/QUOTE]Cautious optimism with variants seems to be prudent. And you're right that the UK variant is spreading quickly. In the UK, the variant makes up the supermajority of cases, over 90%.

[URL]www.wsj.com/amp/articles/lessons-from-the-u-k-about-a-more-contagious-covid-19-variant-11614253429[/URL]

Interestingly enough, when overlaid with the total incidence curve, the curve for variant case incidence in the UK shows inverse correlation. Their death data also shows a nice inverse correlation.

[URL]https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/gb[/URL]

Good for Britain for being bold with their vaccination play and showing one effective way. What I like even more is that their decision was data-driven. The FDA report showed that after only one dose, the vaccine was 52.4% effective. Supporting that case is that 0 of the severe cases were found in people who only received one dose. However, the sample size of the latter was quite small due to so few people getting severe illness with the vaccine in general.

[URL]https://www.fda.gov/media/144245/download[/URL]

I think Johnson and Johnson will be the difference maker in the rest of the world. One dose vaccination with no extreme cold storage requirements. The fact that it is not an mRNA vaccine may also be easier for people to accept.

[QUOTE=Kuni042;2535052]This is an important milestone.

[URL]https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/eu/eu-gipfel-corona-121.html[/URL]

I expect the vaccine passport to become key in the reopening of all the "high-risk" establishments, eg. Discos, clubs, saunas, massage parlors, FKK, amusement parks.

Most likely also indoor-dining, and so much more.[/QUOTE]Man, this is going to piss a lot of people off if they actually do this. I hope they do it, just so I can laugh when I see the AntiVaxxers in a club.

[QUOTE=Kuni042;2535051]There are also "plenty of non-Germany crazy and irrational like hell" - BTW. Stop picking on one nation. The swiss for example are planning to not use but sell their AZ vaccines.[/QUOTE]This is the Germany forum. I know British people often have a hang up about Germany but I'm not British so I only single it out because the vaccination is going slowly in Germany and partly because Germans don't seem too interested in being vaccinated.

[QUOTE=Kuni042;2535052]This is an important milestone.

[URL]https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/eu/eu-gipfel-corona-121.html[/URL]

I expect the vaccine passport to become key in the reopening of all the "high-risk" establishments, eg. Discos, clubs, saunas, massage parlors, FKK, amusement parks.

Most likely also indoor-dining, and so much more.[/QUOTE]Scan your QR-code everytime you enter Sharks. The information is stored in the Bundespolizei database for 10 years.

Whilst I agree in principle with the idea of a vaccine passport I'm a little bit concerned how it will be used.