IOM Covid removing restrictions

[CrazyDave]

Personally I shall be skipping any more jabs and instead focusing on my own immune system, weight, fitness and general health.  
 

Clearly not everyone can do that, but I really wish government and DHSC would stress more to people the simple steps you can take yourself rather than the lazy option of a jab.

I need to get my BMI and blood pressure down and my fitness levels back up and believe that is a better overall approach  than putting my faith in a vaccine.

I would rather tackle COVID as a fit and strong person without a jab than a fat lazy one with a jab.

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

That variant article is another mess from the doomsters at the guardian. 'Pirola' isn't a real name, its just made up by that T Ryan nutjob and pushed by the same gang who have been wrong all pandemic. It makes no difference. 

The Guardian article is a little behind, possibly because it's triggered by a Government note and those are always with a lag.  But even the article admits it's beginning to look as if the BA.2.86 variant may not be as dangerous as was feared.  As I pointed out earlier, caution was justified, but there was nothing to confirm it then and all the evidence since has been generally reassuring.

This article from CNN Heath (four days old but still useful) gives a useful roundup.  It also explains why everyone was so spooked at first:

BA.2.86 captured the world’s attention because it looks radically different than any other variants of the coronavirus that we’ve seen so far.

This new lineage has more than 30 changes to its spike protein compared with both its next closest ancestor, BA.2, and with the recently circulating XBB.1.5 lineage. It was an evolutionary leap on par with the one that the original Omicron variant, BA.1, made when it appeared almost two years ago — and everyone remembers how that went down.

During the Omicron wave, infections and hospitalizations hit their highest points of the pandemic in the United States. Weekly deaths reached their second-highest peak, a lesson in how even a tamer version of the virus can be a serious threat if it causes a tidal wave of infection across the population. The vaccines had to be updated.

That similarity to how the original strain of Omicron emerged was the cause of the nervousness.   But mercifully everything we've seen so far suggests BA.2.86 (yes Pirola's a silly name) is not more infectious or deadly that previous ones and (more surprisingly) that there's reasonable protection from existing vaccines.

[John Wright]

24 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

While your health issues are long documented on here and you are exactly the kind of person who should be offered a booster, honestly, do you think it will do any good? 

A vaccine is not a medicine.

Honestly, I don’t think it’ll do me any harm, or the risk of harm is minuscule compared to the risk of getting covid. I know what a vaccine is, I never suggested it was a medicine.

[GD4ELI]

9 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Honestly, I don’t think it’ll do me any harm, or the risk of harm is minuscule compared to the risk of getting covid. I know what a vaccine is, I never suggested it was a medicine.

I'm almost 66, low BMI, fit, healthy (few minor creaks) and will get my booster as soon as it's available. It's not *really* a booster as COVID is mutating, anyway I prefer to take the advice of medical professionals rather than muppets on the internet.

Flu jab September 19th.

Edited September 8, 2023 by GD4ELI

[TheTeapot]

20 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Honestly, I don’t think it’ll do me any harm, or the risk of harm is minuscule compared to the risk of getting covid. I know what a vaccine is, I never suggested it was a medicine.

I don't think it'll do you any harm either. 

I also don't think itll have any benefit. You'll get covid, and you'll be fine or you won't 1 jab or 10.

[code99]

23 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

The Guardian article is a little behind, possibly because it's triggered by a Government note and those are always with a lag.  But even the article admits it's beginning to look as if the BA.2.86 variant may not be as dangerous as was feared. 

An updated Guardian article:

"Ministers are facing urgent calls to consider widening the availability of Covid vaccines amid concerns that a new variant of the virus could put pressure on the NHS and cause more sickness in the workforce this winter...two of the main arguments for more boosters were reducing pressure on the NHS and helping the economy by having fewer people off sick with the virus or from long Covid."

"Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said the government should “absolutely” extend the eligibility of Covid vaccines to over-50s, and also consider offering them to all adults".

“In the US, President Biden is encouraging all Americans to get an updated Covid-19 booster, in addition to an updated flu jab. It is right to prioritise those over 65 and clinically vulnerable, but in the UK the decision to limit to the over-65s only seems to have been made on too narrow a definition of cost-benefit. Cost-effectiveness, looked at from a broader perspective, is about more than just reducing deaths and hospitalisations.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/08/uk-mps-press-for-wider-covid-vaccine-access-amid-concern-over-new-variant

[alpha-acid]

59 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

Personally I shall be skipping any more jabs and instead focusing on my own immune system, weight, fitness and general health.  
 

Clearly not everyone can do that, but I really wish government and DHSC would stress more to people the simple steps you can take yourself rather than the lazy option of a jab.

I need to get my BMI and blood pressure down and my fitness levels back up and believe that is a better overall approach  than putting my faith in a vaccine.

I would rather tackle COVID as a fit and strong person without a jab than a fat lazy one with a jab.

Well you are wrong

[Jarndyce]

1 hour ago, TheTeapot said:

A vaccine is not a medicine.

 

48 minutes ago, John Wright said:

I know what a vaccine is, I never suggested it was a medicine.

A vaccine is a medicine, in that vaccines are Prescription Only and controlled under the Medicines Act.  Would you disagree, John?

Edited September 8, 2023 by Jarndyce

[John Wright]

3 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

 

A vaccine is a medicine, in that vaccines are Prescription Only and controlled under the Medicines Act.

That’s some vaccines. Not all vaccines.

[CrazyDave]

7 minutes ago, alpha-acid said:

Well you are wrong

Why?

[Jarndyce]

1 minute ago, John Wright said:

That’s some vaccines. Not all vaccines.

I’m not convinced.   Mass vaccination programmes need an exemption from the Act - the vaccines are still medicines with product licences.

[CrazyDave]

Just now, CrazyDave said:

Why?

 

8 minutes ago, alpha-acid said:

Well you are wrong

Do you think an unvaccinated 65 year old with normal blood pressure, normal BMI  and able to run 10k is more at risk than a vaccinated overweight 65 year old with high blood pressure who gets a sweat on going up the stairs?

To quote yourself “ you are wrong”

[John Wright]

Just now, Jarndyce said:

I’m not convinced.   Mass vaccination programmes need an exemption from the Act - the vaccines are still medicines with product licences.

Under the National Protocol Covid vaccines do not need to be prescribed. There are 2020 regulations. 

[Jarndyce]

2 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Under the National Protocol Covid vaccines do not need to be prescribed. There are 2020 regulations. 

Doesn’t mean it’s not a medicinal product.   Why the reluctance to call a vaccine a medicine?   I don’t really understand it.

eta: and presumably the regulations provided the exemption required?

Edited September 8, 2023 by Jarndyce
eta

[A fool and his money.....]

1 hour ago, CrazyDave said:

 

I would rather tackle COVID as a fit and strong person without a jab than a fat lazy one with a jab.

They're not mutually exclusive. You could tackle it as a fit strong person with a jab. Or you could tackle it as a (probably) still fat person with an overinflated ego and superiority complex without a jab as will likely be the case.

I had two, won't have any more. I had Covid before them and after them, am quite confident I can survive further bouts on my own. If I had any conditions that put me at risk though I'd be first in the queue with my sleeve rolled up. I've never had a flu jab either, but similarly think it's probably a good idea if you're vulnerable.