Coronavirus (2021) thread

[birch villa]

Nope. Just managed to find out what's going on and Mum's local health centre will *start* vaccinating the highest priority groups on 15th and 16th. They are *starting* vaccinations in the care homes on the 18th. WTF if taking them this long???

My mum 88 goes for 2nd vaccine 2moz pal lives stockport, so yes they seem to dragging their heels for your mum

 

[waspish]

What on earth happened to the Nightingale hospitals?

Ive seen comments from ex nurses and others who have written letters offering to work in them but have been ignored.

They are useless because there isn’t enough qualified staff to use them! Seems they didn’t think of that!?

 

[Healdplace]

England hospital deaths tragically appear to be setting us on the way to the worst ever number of deaths in one day.

717 - way up on 420 last Friday,

 

[Healdplace]

England hospital deaths FOUR regions with over 100 deaths in that 717.

North West happily not one of them - at 'just' 82.

We have sleep walked into this disaster in an all too predictable way by issuing the message to have a Merry Christmas when it should have been - but if you do it will be a tragic new year.

But as per usual we waited and preferred to do what people would like rather than what was needed.

And the UK is about to reap the whirlwind.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

a question

my wife tested positive on monday the 4th
so we have to isolate for 10 days.
ive sent my test off yesterday, if it comes back say tomorrow does my wife have to start her 10 day isolation again ?, my daughter is waiting for her self test to arrive, if it comes today and we do the test and it comes back in 2 days positive, do we then have to start isolation for 10 days ?

You will be lucky if you get your result back in 48rs I chased mine up this morning after 48hrs and was told it is likely to be received 2-5 days after i took it.

 

[blueparrot]

I wonder if the issue is that there is 'usually' a 6th dose, but not always. So they either drag some 80 year old in and potentially have to turn them away. Or they just use the 6th dose on anyone who happens to be around.

This is exactly what is happening, it’s how my daughter got it quicker, her hospital was doing booked in staff but had some ‘leftovers’ that would have been thrown away, presumably as it was Pfizer ,they couldn’t be re cooled, So they called her in to use up. It was only a few days before she was due for it anyway.
Not really sure there is a solution to it as the vials can’t be decanted into smaller doses. Maybe the Oxford vaccine is different.

 

[kaz7]

The benefits of the UK's coronavirus vaccine roll-out may be outweighed by a rise in infections from people believing they no longer need to follow COVID rules, the government's scientific advisers have warned.

A survey found more than a quarter of people (29%) planned to adhere less strictly to coronavirus restrictions once they have received a vaccine, according to the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on

COVID-19: Vaccine benefits may be outweighed by people ignoring restrictions, scientists warn

A survey found 29% of people planned to adhere less strictly to coronavirus restrictions once they have been vaccinated.

news.sky.com

 

[blueparrot]

They are useless because there isn’t enough qualified staff to use them! Seems they didn’t think of that!?

They did, but as it will involve, volunteers ,students, retired staff. It was and will be a last resort. Besides some are being used for non covid nhs uses.
Lets hope they are and remain useless.

 

[Healdplace]

This is exactly what is happening, it’s how my daughter got it quicker, her hospital was doing booked in staff but had some ‘leftovers’ that would have been thrown away, presumably as it was Pfizer ,they couldn’t be re cooled, So they called her in to use up. It was only a few days before she was due for it anyway.
Not really sure there is a solution to it as the vials can’t be decanted into smaller doses. Maybe the Oxford vaccine is different.

As my post from 18 December reposted on the previous page shows it IS the Pfizer vaccine as this was known about when that was the only vaccine approved.

But the policy WAS to throw it away up to that date.

For some reason the media did not pursue this story then.

 

[kaz7]

City Hall said growing infection rates are "putting immense pressure on an already stretched NHS", with the number of people on mechanical ventilators up by 42% - from 640 to 908 - in the week up to 6 January.

There are 7,034 people currently in hospital with COVID-19 in London - 35% higher compared to the first peak of the pandemic in spring.

COVID-19: 'Major incident' declared in London due to hospital pressure

Sadiq Khan warns that "if we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die".

news.sky.com

 

[MillionMilesAway]

This seems like a manufacturing issue to me. Ie you fill it with more than 5 doses to make sure you're never underfilling and leaving someone with a short dose which would not protect them.

The NHS will be getting its guidance from the manufacturer, they aren't going to be the ones who decides how many doses in a vial. The idea that Pfizer is giving away a free dose with every 5 dose vials unnecessarily seems very unlikely.

Yes, I expect that's the case. Didn't Peston's chain say the advice was "if you can get a 6th"?

I suppose they have enough needles to spare the extra one which may have to be thrown away by not being filled properly.

 

[artfuldodger]

My mum 88 goes for 2nd vaccine 2moz pal lives stockport, so yes they seem to dragging their heels for your mum

Some areas are doing much better than others. I know of several people in Tameside now who've had the second jab and my sister is getting it next week in adult social care at Hyde. Meanwhile my friends parents, 88 and 89 in Middleton have heard nothing

 

[MillionMilesAway]

Some areas are doing much better than others. I know of several people in Tameside now who've had the second jab and my sister is getting it next week in adult social care at Hyde. Meanwhile my friends parents, 88 and 89 in Middleton have heard nothing

This is just going to cause anger as frustration grows.
Surely there has to be a plan to contact everyone over 80? That must have been known in December at least.

It may be annoying to be told that Area 1 is a week behind Area 2, but if there are no more than 100k being done a day due to filling/delivery issues, people will wait their turn - as long as they have been told when their turn will be!

 

[Healdplace]

Northern Ireland data: No good news here either sadly.

20 deaths

1500 cases at 31.5% positive.

7 day total cases 11, 075 - it was 7100 two weeks ago and 4106 three weeks ago. So tripled since week before Christmas.

Care home outbreaks up from 133 to 137 in 24 hours (means at least 2 cases present)

Patients 641 - up 42 in last 24 hours and from 447 week before Christmas

Ventilators 36 - up 4 in 24 hours and 12 since week before Christmas.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

As my post from 18 December reposted on the previous page shows it IS the Pfizer vaccine as this was known about when that was the only vaccine approved.

But the policy WAS to throw it away up to that date.

For some reason the media did not pursue this story then.

It is not generally considered good practice to do this

Extract from FDA guidance on how much excess should be filled into vials:



So it's not surprising that healthcare providers have been slow to take the opportunity - this goes against normal ways of working. Also it may well be that as Pfizer optimise their process, this extra volume disappears in future - without warning as it's not on the label.

I wouldn't be too critical.

 

[Healdplace]

This is just going to cause anger as frustration goes.
Surely there has to be a plan to contact everyone over 80? That must have been known in December at least.

It may be annoying to be told that Area 1 is a week behind Area 2, but if there are no more than 100k being done a day due to filling/delivery issues, people will wait their turn - as long as they have been told when their turn will be!

As I have pointed out over and over this IS a scandal.

My best friend is 88, with asthma so bad it killed her son at 30, with permanent heart failure that requires regular hospital treatment to keep her alive and who had both pneumonia and sepsis last Christmas and was in a coma for days in the MRI pbut pulled through.

She had to witr 5 weeks before they confirmed she was on the at risk list in the Spring so got no food deluveries util they got around to doing that 'due to pressure of work'.

She was told a month ago that she would get her jab LAST week and even told it would be at the Etihad conpokex then, She woulde get a date after Christmas.

Still nothing. And they do not know when they will call her in is all they will say.

This roll out is being handled as well as everything else has been so far.

And this time it is going to kill people by making them wait due to incompetence.

 

[Healdplace]

It is not generally considered good practice to do this

Extract from FDA guidance on how much excess should be filled into vials:

View attachment 7915

So it's not surprising that healthcare providers have been slow to take the opportunity - this goes against normal ways of working. Also it may well be that as Pfizer optimise their process, this extra volume disappears in future - without warning as it's not on the label.

I wouldn't be too critical.

As you see in my post on 18 Dec reposted above. I raised the safety concerns then.

I am only just baffled why it has taken Robert Peston rediscovering this news 3 weeks later that is creating a story when it could and should have been aired properly when the story first broke a week before Christmas.

Why did all the media not ask these questions then?

They can hardly say it was unimportant.

 

[Healdplace]

So the total deaths today without the all settings ones from England are:- 886.

This is the highest yet and it seems certain another 1000 + total will result.

Unfortunately as we escalate this pandemic this next week or two it may yet get worse before it gets better as deaths will be the last thing to start to fall as in every wave.

By then the NHS may be swamped.

 

[Chippy_boy]

But as per usual we waited and preferred to do what people would like rather than what was needed.

And the UK is about to reap the whirlwind.

Absolutely.

I hate it when they talk about "if we don't do X, the *risk* is Y". When actually it's not a risk, it's a cast iron certainty. Anyone with half a brain could see the predicament we are in right now, as being the 100% unavoidable consequence - like night follows day - of our actions (aka inactions).

We entered the circuit-break far too late, meaning it needed to be for longer; we existed it too early; we should never have allowed the mixing we did allow at Christmas, and we should never have contemplated sending the kids back.

At every juncture, managing this virus needs firm, decisive action. And at every juncture instead we've had pontification, delay and a weak response. Too little, too late, every single time. How on earth have we allowed a situation to develop where the NHS is so overloaded that people are waiting 7 or 8 hours for an ambulance??? It's a bloody disgrace.

 

[Healdplace]

Cases from the three nations today are 6296 with England to come. That is up from 5777 yesterday.