Covid-19 Virus

My dad doesn't do tech very well, expect a global Windows crash very soon.

 

Yep. My concern is that, due to the worldwide volumes and complexity of mass vaccination processes, we will be constantly 12 months behind the virus. Will be like taking the winter 2019 flu jab to fight winter 2020 flu.

 

He doesn't need to. With his unique personal indentifier in his vaccine jab, you can track him without him knowing or needing to log into anything. Everyone wins.

 

And even better select Mute Parents.

 

And they smell of p155

 

Yes, this strikes me as the other side of the "young people out enjoying themselves at university and spreading the virus without regard for the rest of us" coin.

Having said that, one thing that I think needs more coverage in the news is that the vaccine doesn't make you immune. People should still be cautious until we have vaccinated enough that we've reached herd immunity levels.

 

Agreed, I think the government's suggestion of getting as many people as possible to have the first jab should allow the UK to get to herd immunity quicker than giving people two jabs over a longer period.

 

On a slightly different note, the company I work for only ever pay SSP for anybody with Covid or those that have to self-isolate because they have been in contact with somebody who tested positive. I think that's rubbish but is that similar to other companies?

 

Check the contract you signed. Assuming it was before Covid. The first part about sick pay is should be adhered to, I would imagine a positive test result would be as good as a doctor's note, so they should pay you as per your contract states. The second part is more tricky because I doubt there was something there about "looking after a sick person". You may want to check near the end in case they cover the gotchas such as war, political uprisings etc., check if it covers pandemics.

 

From https://twitter.com/HantsPolice/status/1350578672990900224

 

The issue I have the equation is quite simply that we've all made huge sacrifices but those sacrifices overwhelming benefit older folk.

I perfectly understand my parents in their 70s have had to sacrifice lots this past year - seldom seeing their grandchildren, no holidays, no days out etc - but that's simple self-preservation. They've done it because the alternative is contracting a virus which has a relatively high chance of killing them. On the other hand my generation have made similar sacrifices but we've not really done it for ourselves. The number of people in my age bracket who've died from Covid is tiny. For my kids the risk is essentially zero.

I've no fuss at all with everyone getting back to normal ASAP and booking holidays or whatever. But at least let's do it together. The government was careful, if not overly cautious, at the outset in turning this into a 'we're all in it together' thing. It publicly refused to just lock down an older subset of the population and chose to make everyone lockdown and to apply the restrictions equally, despite the fact the virus obviously doesn't affect everyone equally. So as we come out of this, I hope it doesn't accidently engineer a situation through policy or design where the vaccinated folk, who just happen to be the older generation, get to taste freedom first.

 

I know that the group of people, who are most at risk, are over 80 years old and the risk for younger people is much less, but I have read that hospitals in the U.K. now contain a much greater proportion of people under the age of 55 than previously. One can not be sure how one will be affected by the disease (whatever one’s age) - it does not just depend on whether one has underlying health issues.

Another problem is that we do not know about the long term impact of the disease. Today I was reading about a 30 year old man, who is still suffering from the effects of the virus six months later, and apparently there many similar cases. Lascelles and Saint-Maxim (both Newcastle players) are fit young athletes, but they were unable to train for many weeks after they had caught Covid-19. Lascelles returned to the Newcastle team for their F.A. Cup game in January, but had to be substituted at half-time due to fatigue.

 

I think most elderly people will have made huge sacrifices for their children. Certainly most of my circle of friends have, and have seen it as their duty, even if now the bank of mum and dad has meant an extended period of sacrifices than they may have initially thought. I would say that far more grandparents are looking after grandchildren as a matter of course now, not just the odd weekend as it was in the past. My neighbours daughter was telling me how it would be terrible if her parents died from covid as she would lose her baby-sitters (and was probably only half-joking).

Is it too much for the elederly who have sacrificed so much for their children, to get a little back?

 

Is anyone saying that younger people won't be able to go on holiday (etc) though?

I would guess that most restrictions will be lifted once those in the priority groups have been vaccinated. As Arakel says, that's risky because that's not enough people to secure herd immunity (and this is probably why the possiblilty of getting all adults done by June has been talked up, though that seems wildly optimistic to me), but it makes sense from an economic perspective. And would placate Boris' backbenchers.

Hancock has just said in the press conference that he has booked a holiday this year. He's 42.

 

But as we know 42 is the answer,we just don't know what the question is!

 

Well, if Matt Hancock is the answer, God help us all.

 

I can think of a few questions "Matt Hancock" would be the answer for.

 

They are adhering to the contract but when the goverment tells people not to go to work it seems harsh to pay them SSP. I have a lot of staff on low wages who will struggle if they are not paid fully so will probably not tell us about symptoms or if they have a positive test to make sure they get paid fully

 

The life, the universe and everything I thought

 

Instead of using the miserable-looking baldy in an ill-fitting shirt, Chris Whitty, why doesn't the Government get someone more charismatic to front its 'Hands, Face, Space' Covid public information advert? I'm sure the public would be more receptive to the important message if it were delivered by, say, Graham Norton, Michael MacIntyre or the Mrs Brown character from the hugely popular sit com

 

Now I *know* the isolation is getting to you.

 

I can't see any scenario where the government will ease lockdown & travel restrictions on a particular subset of society only. They've certainly not restricted us like that so far. The only problem I can see happening is when people want to travel abroad and need proof of vaccination which may be delayed for the younger groups. As the different vaccines continue to roll in then this will get quicker and also cheaper to get done privately.

Plus the older generation HATE going away in school holidays, so consider your summer safe.

 

It’s more that it costs a ******* fortune to do so...

 

Also you miss the fiercest heat in southern Europe or the most extreme weather in the US. We usually aim for June.

 

Have you ever watched Cocoon? If your Dad starts skate boarding or break dancing we know whats going on.

 

And moth balls, probably a whiff of lavender on the ladies too.

 

Us too. Now the lad has left school we’ll be off to Cromer in June and no one can ******* stop us.

 

So finally my Dad gets his Vaccination notification. Go on-line to book. Online offers Wembley Stadium, some pharmacist in Edgware or Stevenage. None of them practical for an 83 year old with Parkinsons. There is a centre in Ruislip, but this is not available as an option on-line.
There is a note on the letter suggesting that if this is not convenient then wait for your GP to contact you.
A quick call to the GP yesterday - no problem plenty of spaces as long as you've had the letter, will book you in to Ruislip Weds.
So it would appear that they're trying to push the mass centres which I think would be understandable with younger more mobile groups.

 

Well, of course they are. They can get more jabs done more quickly and without too much impact on other GP surgery work.

 

The point I was making is the Ruislip centre is within walking distance and is specially set-up as a vaccination centre, not a GP surgery or anything. It doesn't really make sense to me to get people to travel if there's capacity locally, especially for the elderly, but really I'm offering a tip to those that might be arranging similar for their relatives.
More than anything it's a weight off of my mind as getting my father over to Wembley or Stevenage would be problematic. A 5 min car journey on the other hand, doable.

 

Fair enough. It's slightly puzzling why that option wasn't available online.

 

Got a feeling there's 2 systems the national one that links to the main hubs and then the more local one run by GP surgeries.

 

Hmmm not sure. There's votes in them there old'uns and the government knows it. That determines policy decisions across the board. Plus I think the idea of a vaccine passport is quite attractive to the government and so they're going to have to get it up and running in a way that incentivises people to want to take part - the carrot of additional freedoms is probably the best selling point.

It appears the idea is already being debated in Germany:

https://www.thenationalnews.com/wor...-restrictions-for-vaccinated-people-1.1148904