COVID-19 (The artist formally known as Coronavirus)

[Cube]

Wales revealed their Covid rules plans recently. 7th August is the planned date for ending most restrictions, but face masks will be required in indoor shops and stuff, as well as public transport. The only exception is hospitality (were you take your mask off to eat/drink anyway). 

 

Much more sensible, even if I'm not sure we should be opening up quite as much yet.

[Ashley]

Got my second dose earlier. Went to the vaccination site two weeks ago to try and get it at 6 weeks and they said to come back at 8 but when I went back today I saw a sign saying you had to wait 6. Typical.

But at least its done! 

[bob]

Managed to move our second doses forward to July 31st. Woop woop!

[Dog-amoto]

On 14/07/2021 at 8:57 AM, bob said:

My wife's school is going to continue to enforce bubbles and social distancing at school for the one remaining week before the summer holidays because......well. Why the hell would you drop all precautions in schools one week before they break up for summer?

My daughter’s class had a Covid case last week so they’re now isolating. So they won’t be going back to school until the new term in September. Yet, had it happened on Monday instead, they wouldn’t have had to isolate 

[Goafer]

On 16/07/2021 at 8:31 PM, bob said:

Managed to move our second doses forward to July 31st. Woop woop!

I got an email saying that I'm now eligible to move mine, so I've now got it on Friday. Excellent.

[Will]

Here we’re back into full lockdown until the middle of August. Hopefully the vaccine rates pick up during this period and they finally start easing up properly. We’ve just hit 50% fully vaccinated but apparently 100k people in the critical group have not even had their first. I’m really quite shocked by the skepticism to vaccines here and now it’s starting to hold everyone back. I’m definitely not a supporter of the authoritarian rule here but I am starting to think they should use some of them to force this thing through.

[bob]

Roam about the streets with vaccine rifle. It's the only way.

[Goafer]

Did the weekly shop last night and I was genuinely impressed by how many people were still wearing masks. It basically hasn't changed from when they were mandatory, with only a few people not wearing them (who may have been exempt TBF).

It'll be interesting to see how many people keep it up though in the coming weeks/months.

[Raining_again]

On 20/07/2021 at 12:00 PM, Will said:

Here we’re back into full lockdown until the middle of August. Hopefully the vaccine rates pick up during this period and they finally start easing up properly. We’ve just hit 50% fully vaccinated but apparently 100k people in the critical group have not even had their first. I’m really quite shocked by the skepticism to vaccines here and now it’s starting to hold everyone back. I’m definitely not a supporter of the authoritarian rule here but I am starting to think they should use some of them to force this thing through.

I'm not surprised that there are sceptics, but i AM surprised that there are in the vulnerable category.  A family member of a colleague is in the CEV list, got covid, spent 4 months in hospital, and basically had to learn to walk again.  Like that aint a life i'm willing to leave to chance.  We are the people who are likely to get covid and still get sick even with the vaccine, but even a reduction of risk by 10% is still worth something.

Think I read somewhere that only 19% of adults in NI have not had or booked their first vaccine, which is wild, and brilliant.

On 20/07/2021 at 12:07 PM, bob said:

Roam about the streets with vaccine rifle. It's the only way.

lets go pew pew

 

re the mask thing, i just..... i can't understand it..... have the government not learned?

Its literally the EASIEST thing we can all do as a society to keep as many of us safe.  No masks arent 100%, no they arent comfortable, but i think we need them right now. 

If anything the hospitals have stepped up the policy - i went to a hospital recently for OP appt, (one with an ED and wards) and they said we all now have to wear the blue hospital ones, rather than any reusable ones.  So i hope people aren't expecting that they can just rock up to appointments now with no masks on, if anything its stricter and rightly so  >_>

The thought of public transport right now with a bunch of maskless morons brings me out in a sweat.... and its too hot for that shit lol

[Jonnas]

I just realized I haven't said anything on my end... but I got my shot last week. Turned out to be the Janssen vaccine (single shot), so just like that, the process was done.

The vaccination process in Portugal started off pretty slow, but it really ramped up this past month or so (with the under 18 demographic scheduled to get vaccinated in August). Hopefully this means we can have a fairly safe Christmas this year, my extended family has gained 5 new babies since the pandemic started, and I've yet to meet any of them.

[Beast]

14 hours ago, Raining_again said:

I'm not surprised that there are sceptics, but i AM surprised that there are in the vulnerable category.  A family member of a colleague is in the CEV list, got covid, spent 4 months in hospital, and basically had to learn to walk again.  Like that aint a life i'm willing to leave to chance.  We are the people who are likely to get covid and still get sick even with the vaccine, but even a reduction of risk by 10% is still worth something.

Think I read somewhere that only 19% of adults in NI have not had or booked their first vaccine, which is wild, and brilliant.

lets go pew pew

 

re the mask thing, i just..... i can't understand it..... have the government not learned?

Its literally the EASIEST thing we can all do as a society to keep as many of us safe.  No masks arent 100%, no they arent comfortable, but i think we need them right now. 

If anything the hospitals have stepped up the policy - i went to a hospital recently for OP appt, (one with an ED and wards) and they said we all now have to wear the blue hospital ones, rather than any reusable ones.  So i hope people aren't expecting that they can just rock up to appointments now with no masks on, if anything its stricter and rightly so  >_>

The thought of public transport right now with a bunch of maskless morons brings me out in a sweat.... and its too hot for that shit lol

For me, regarding the mask thing, I understand when it comes to places like a bus or somewhere extremely close but anywhere else should be fine. I don't like them because sometimes, communication for me has been bad. I can ask people to remove their mask for me to lip-read even though I'm keeping 2m away or behind a screen but they still won't and it can be frustrating to the point you just walk away because you literally see no point. I even have the lanyard with a card stating "please remove your mask so I can lip-read" but nobody took any notice so now I don't bother. Out of 10 people, I would honestly say 3 would remove their mask, 5 move it down to their nose still covering their mouth and 2 wouldn't do it. I have hearing difficulties and it's something I've got by with by lipreading and I've been fine until now. Sometimes I can hear but when there's noise, sometimes I struggle very bad to the point when they don't remove their masks because I can't hear, they constantly have to repeat themselves. My heart truly goes out to the fully deaf people who have to go through this worse than I do. Whilst I think masks should always be a choice, and whilst you don't have to agree with me and that's okay, all I ask of you guys is if someone struggles to hear you and asks you to remove your mask to lip-read, please...PLEASE do it and just keep a respectable distance. I'm not saying you don't or anything but it's just a tad annoying because it's literally cutting someone away from communication.

The thing that will never fail to astonish me is how invincible people think they are just because they've had two jabs. I genuinely know people with and without jab(s) who have Covid or are/was in hospital. That worries me. 

I've had people literally try to shake my hand or hug me now they've had the vaccine and I'm like *fist bump if you really need to and then hand sanitiser* 😂 

Thats another thing. Hygiene. It's literally the easiest thing (or should be the easiest thing) but people hardly/never do it. As you all know, I'm exempt from a mask because I have bad asthma (especially in this heat) however I sanitise my hands a lot, wiped stuff before it enters my car with Dettol wipes, wash my clothes and mouthwash and shower as soon as I get in the house.

The fact is people think slapping a piece of fabric on your mouth (not even covering your nose with most of the people and re-used time again without swapping or washing them with some people) is enough but fact is, you touch something a thousand people have touched and then you touch your nose or face or mouth or even adjust your mask without thinking because it's second nature...well, that's not good.

I'm all for everything returning to normal but come the fuck on. Basic hygiene should honestly be the bare minimum over everything else. 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Beast

[Julius]

Went into Birmingham to meet up with some friends today for the first time in over a year, and while we on the whole had a great time...man were there waaaaaaaaay fewer people wearing masks that I saw than I expected. I kept mine on as much as I could apart from quieter areas where there was virtually no-one else around, when we went to eat, and in the cinema, also trying my best to keep my distance apart from my friends (who I all trust to be sensible and who I all know have had their first vaccine). While walking through the Bull Ring for a brief shortcut, on the train in and out, on the train platforms, and in some more congested corners though, I'd say there's a ballpark figure of more than 40% of people not wearing their masks where you think they should. For example, the massive pedestrian junction by the bull just outside the Bull Ring, where easily hundreds of people pass through every minute or two when it's busy, there were virtually no masks being worn or distancing actively happening. 

I know there's definitely some bias to what I saw today - it was my first time actually going out to meet up like this since the first lockdown started last year, and I'm sure most sensible people are still continuing to stay away from busy places like the middle of Birmingham - but this was an absolute embarrassment. If there were more people dying (not that I would want that, obviously)  it would almost feel like a controlled culling of the population. The stupidity of those running our government knows no bounds. 

There was also a vaccine passport protest going on which we kept our distance from, walking in front of busy lanes and traffic and taking up entire pavements (even some of the wider ones, such as those between New Street and the Chinese Quarter), with almost all involved not wearing their masks, some even dragging their little kids around or hoisting them up on their shoulders. Some people seriously just aren't fit to be parents. It's disgusting. 

It's exhausting to even type this out to be honest. It's excruciatingly frustrating. 

[Beast]

41 minutes ago, Julius said:

Went into Birmingham to meet up with some friends today for the first time in over a year, and while we on the whole had a great time...man were there waaaaaaaaay fewer people wearing masks that I saw than I expected. I kept mine on as much as I could apart from quieter areas where there was virtually no-one else around, when we went to eat, and in the cinema, also trying my best to keep my distance apart from my friends (who I all trust to be sensible and who I all know have had their first vaccine). While walking through the Bull Ring for a brief shortcut, on the train in and out, on the train platforms, and in some more congested corners though, I'd say there's a ballpark figure of more than 40% of people not wearing their masks where you think they should. For example, the massive pedestrian junction by the bull just outside the Bull Ring, where easily hundreds of people pass through every minute or two when it's busy, there were virtually no masks being worn or distancing actively happening. 

I know there's definitely some bias to what I saw today - it was my first time actually going out to meet up like this since the first lockdown started last year, and I'm sure most sensible people are still continuing to stay away from busy places like the middle of Birmingham - but this was an absolute embarrassment. If there were more people dying (not that I would want that, obviously)  it would almost feel like a controlled culling of the population. The stupidity of those running our government knows no bounds. 

There was also a vaccine passport protest going on which we kept our distance from, walking in front of busy lanes and traffic and taking up entire pavements (even some of the wider ones, such as those between New Street and the Chinese Quarter), with almost all involved not wearing their masks, some even dragging their little kids around or hoisting them up on their shoulders. Some people seriously just aren't fit to be parents. It's disgusting. 

It's exhausting to even type this out to be honest. It's excruciatingly frustrating. 

I get it. I don't go to the cinemas because I feel too closed-in and feel like sitting there for over 2 hours would heighten my risk of catching it and I absolutely love going to the cinemas. I think in busy places such as trains and buses is completely understandable as it's closed spaces but even so, it's their choice and as long as they don't get in my personal space, they can do what they like, in my opinion. As I've said before, keep a respectable distance and have good hygiene. As I've also said before, I see nobody even washing their hands in and out and even going around today in shopping centres, the bottles aren't being filled up. It's funny though because as I enter a shop, I put on sanitiser and I always see someone behind me, who blatantly wasn't going to sanitise their hands, sanitise them because they see me do it. 

I do disagree with the passports and I think it's very wrong that the government are trying to do this. It is your body and it should be your choice. I'm quite intrigued to know how this would work for people who can not get it for personal, medical or religious reasons. How are they even going to police it? I just think be aware, keep a distance as much as you can and just keep your common sense about you. If you feel like you need a mask, have it on you along with hand sanitiser. I keep everything I need in my bag: dettol wipes, dettol spray, mask, hand sanitiser, gloves, etc.

[Will]

12 hours ago, Beast said:

I think in busy places such as trains and buses is completely understandable as it's closed spaces but even so, it's their choice and as long as they don't get in my personal space, they can do what they like, in my opinion

The thing is, on a train or a bus your personal space is not going to give you some magical barrier to catching anything. If someone even nearish to you has decided to do what they like and not wear a mask they are putting you at risk. It’s totally idiotic that people are allowed to make their own choice (that will impact everyone) in that situation.

12 hours ago, Beast said:

I do disagree with the passports and I think it's very wrong that the government are trying to do this. It is your body and it should be your choice.

As with most things the UK government does, any attempt to create some sort of vaccine passport system will fail miserably. They have no system to link it back to and make so many exceptions with the rules it’s basically impossible to follow through with anything. Over here they’ve made it quite clear that there is going to be different freedoms given to those people who have had the vaccine and under the circumstance I find it hard to disagree with that. Your body your choice is still taken care of here, you’ve made the decision to not help protect society and you will not be able to take part in that society as much as if you had.

12 hours ago, Beast said:

I'm quite intrigued to know how this would work for people who can not get it for personal, medical or religious reasons.

For those people with (genuine) medical issues you would hope the system in place was robust enough to deal with it properly. It really shouldn’t be that difficult to create the system to deal with those cases. For the personal and religious folk, your beliefs aren’t compatible with society so you are excluded from it. In this situation I really have no issue with that stance.

12 hours ago, Beast said:

I just think be aware, keep a distance as much as you can and just keep your common sense about you. If you feel like you need a mask, have it on you along with hand sanitiser. I keep everything I need in my bag: dettol wipes, dettol spray, mask, hand sanitiser, gloves, etc.

I agree with this, of course. But there seems to be a huge amount of people without the common sense necessary for this to work.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Will

[Beast]

51 minutes ago, Will said:

The thing is, on a train or a bus your personal space is not going to give you some magical barrier to catching anything. If someone even nearish to you has decided to do what they like and not wear a mask they are putting you at risk. It’s totally idiotic that people are allowed to make their own choice (that will impact everyone) in that situation.

As with most things the UK government does, any attempt to create some sort of vaccine passport system will fail miserably. They have no system to link it back to and make so many exceptions with the rules it’s basically impossible to follow through with anything. Over here they’ve made it quite clear that there is going to be different freedoms given to those people who have had the vaccine and under the circumstance I find it hard to disagree with that. Your body your choice is still taken care of here, you’ve made the decision to not help protect society and you will not be able to take part in that society as much as if you had.

For those people with (genuine) medical issues you would hope the system in place was robust enough to deal with it properly. It really shouldn’t be that difficult to create the system to deal with those cases. For the personal and religious folk, your beliefs aren’t compatible with society so you are excluded from it. In this situation I really have no issue with that stance.

I agree with this, of course. But there seems to be a huge amount of people without the common sense necessary for this to work.

I get your points. However if you're wearing a mask (a strong one and not a fashion one as most people wear) and you're not in someone's personal space, that's not bad, right? I just don't think a mask is going to MASSIVELY help as most people either don't wash their rewashable ones, reuse their disposable ones, the majority never wear them properly anyway or they're not strong enough. I get something is better than nothing but still. I'm not even saying this but I've known people get it who do wear masks just as much as those who don't. I've also seen people who "wear masks" mostly (as in it only covers their mouth and exposes their nose, defeating the purpose). As I previously mentioned too, the hearing impaired are the ones who truly suffer with lack of communication due to people refusing to remove their masks. It wouldn't be bad if they wore the window masks exposing their lips but everyone don't. I've not seen one person with one and yet you can get them from shops everywhere. 

Like I say, I just ALWAYS notice people doing the bare minimum which is wearing a mask and nothing else. They almost never sanitise their hands, their trolley handles, basket handles, sanitise their hands before touching phones, etc, and germs spread just as much and live on surfaces. Now with this in mind, next time you go out, actually take a look around and see how many people do it. I don't know about other countries as I'm in the UK but very little people do it. The only time I can honestly say I see them always do it is in my gym, which is very surprising.

I still find it wrong that you're not allowed freedom if you don't have a vaccination because it "don't help society". A lot of people don't have flu jabs and other vaccinations so do they get restricted freedom because of that? Not only that but people talk about helping society but I'm willing to take this point a little further and possibly OTT and stray a little but actually ask if people help their fellow man. Do they partake in charity work? Help feed the homeless? Etc. I know it isn't the same as having a vaccination but that too would be helping build a better society but because people may choose to not have a vaccination they're unsure of (and rightly so if it makes them feel anxious about their own health that they have to live with for the rest of their life), they should be more or less blackmailed into having one? Most are innocent, law abiding human beings who deserve to have the right to accept or refuse vaccination for whatever reason they may have. I might agree or disagree and that is my God given right as a human to have my opinion just as its your right to agree or disagree with me respectfully.

The belief thing is where it becomes very problematic as not only will you gain a huge divide in society on which there's already one regarding race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc, but you'll also cause them within these sectors too. It's very troublesome and will ultimately cause issues with discrimination and lack of freedom. Personally, in my opinion, the fact this is happening quite frankly disgusts me considering you have crooks and true criminals out there such as paedophiles and rapists that do not deserve freedom and should have more time focusing on having less crime in areas and yet could possibly be given more freedom than a person who has not been jabbed because they're unsurehow it will impact their health? We are living in crazy times. 

This horrible illness won't be going away anytime soon. I think people are deluded if they think it will. We need to resemble as much of a normal life as possible because honestly, this is no proper life. Mental health issues is very high right now and it's going to get worse. I know mine has suffered tremendously but slowly I'm starting to come back to my normal self again. 

[Nicktendo]

1 hour ago, Will said:

Your body your choice is still taken care of here, you’ve made the decision to not help protect society and you will not be able to take part in that society as much as if you had.

For the personal and religious folk, your beliefs aren’t compatible with society so you are excluded from it.

[Will]

21 minutes ago, Beast said:

I get your points. However if you're wearing a mask (a strong one and not a fashion one as most people wear) and you're not in someone's personal space, that's not bad, right? I just don't think a mask is going to MASSIVELY help as most people either don't wash their rewashable ones, reuse their disposable ones, the majority never wear them properly anyway or they're not strong enough. I get something is better than nothing but still. I'm not even saying this but I've known people get it who do wear masks just as much as those who don't. I've also seen people who "wear masks" mostly (as in it only covers their mouth and exposes their nose, defeating the purpose). As I previously mentioned too, the hearing impaired are the ones who truly suffer with lack of communication due to people refusing to remove their masks. It wouldn't be bad if they wore the window masks exposing their lips but everyone don't. I've not seen one person with one and yet you can get them from shops everywhere. 

I think it’s like you said previously, a bit of common sense goes a long way. Do I want to be a on a train without a mask on? Not at all. Would I pull it down to speak to someone with a hearing difficulty? Absolutely. 

24 minutes ago, Beast said:

I still find it wrong that you're not allowed freedom if you don't have a vaccination because it "don't help society". A lot of people don't have flu jabs and other vaccinations so do they get restricted freedom because of that?

If those other things were new and having the same impact as covid then yeah, they probably would be.

26 minutes ago, Beast said:

Not only that but people talk about helping society but I'm willing to take this point a little further and possibly OTT and stray a little but actually ask if people help their fellow man. Do they partake in charity work? Help feed the homeless? Etc. I know it isn't the same as having a vaccination but that too would be helping build a better society but because people may choose to not have a vaccination they're unsure of (and rightly so if it makes them feel anxious about their own health that they have to live with for the rest of their life), they should be more or less blackmailed into having one? Most are innocent, law abiding human beings who deserve to have the right to accept or refuse vaccination for whatever reason they may have. I might agree or disagree and that is my God given right as a human to have my opinion just as its your right to agree or disagree with me respectfully.

For sure helping the homeless and doing charity work is great, but choosing not to do it does not mean you play an active part in harming other people. Not having the vaccine might do. I totally agree that people should have the right not to have a vaccine if they don’t want to. I just also think that everyone else has the right to choose not to be around them and exclude them from certain things if they’ve taken that decision with no good reason.

29 minutes ago, Beast said:

The belief thing is where it becomes very problematic as not only will you gain a huge divide in society on which there's already one regarding race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc, but you'll also cause them within these sectors too. It's very troublesome and will ultimately cause issues with discrimination and lack of freedom. 

I don’t really think it’s the same thing. Religion aside a person can’t control those things but they can control whether they get vaccinated or not. If a religion doesn’t allow you to have a covid vaccine then that sucks, but it’s still your choice.

32 minutes ago, Beast said:

Personally, in my opinion, the fact this is happening quite frankly disgusts me considering you have crooks and true criminals out there such as paedophiles and rapists that do not deserve freedom and should have more time focusing on having less crime in areas and yet could possibly be given more freedom than a person who has not been jabbed because they're unsurehow it will impact their health? We are living in crazy times. 

Well yes, it’s definitely crazy if a pedophile has more freedom than someone who hasn’t had a vaccine but you can start making any crazy excuse if you go down that route. Just because one thing is fucked up doesn’t mean other things should be to compensate for it.

35 minutes ago, Beast said:

This horrible illness won't be going away anytime soon. I think people are deluded if they think it will. We need to resemble as much of a normal life as possible because honestly, this is no proper life. Mental health issues is very high right now and it's going to get worse. I know mine has suffered tremendously but slowly I'm starting to come back to my normal self again. 

I totally agree with this but there has to be some sort of sense to coming out of all of this. It’s fine to say we need to get back to normal for people’s mental health but if going back to normal means millions of people sick and thousands dying doesn’t that just get us back to step one? I don’t know what the right balance is but going straight back to normal doesn’t really feel like it’s anywhere near the right thing to do.

[Goafer]

Got my second jab on Friday and, despite being told at both jabs that the second one is the one that sucks the most, the side effects seem to be fairly mild. Same sore arm as before, but the flu like symptoms actually seem milder this time.

[Happenstance]

15 minutes ago, Goafer said:

Got my second jab on Friday and, despite being told at both jabs that the second one is the one that sucks the most, the side effects seem to be fairly mild. Same sore arm as before, but the flu like symptoms actually seem milder this time.

I’d always heard that the second one was a lot milder.

[Beast]

36 minutes ago, Will said:

I think it’s like you said previously, a bit of common sense goes a long way. Do I want to be a on a train without a mask on? Not at all. Would I pull it down to speak to someone with a hearing difficulty? Absolutely. 

If those other things were new and having the same impact as covid then yeah, they probably would be.

For sure helping the homeless and doing charity work is great, but choosing not to do it does not mean you play an active part in harming other people. Not having the vaccine might do. I totally agree that people should have the right not to have a vaccine if they don’t want to. I just also think that everyone else has the right to choose not to be around them and exclude them from certain things if they’ve taken that decision with no good reason.

I don’t really think it’s the same thing. Religion aside a person can’t control those things but they can control whether they get vaccinated or not. If a religion doesn’t allow you to have a covid vaccine then that sucks, but it’s still your choice.

Well yes, it’s definitely crazy if a pedophile has more freedom than someone who hasn’t had a vaccine but you can start making any crazy excuse if you go down that route. Just because one thing is fucked up doesn’t mean other things should be to compensate for it.

I totally agree with this but there has to be some sort of sense to coming out of all of this. It’s fine to say we need to get back to normal for people’s mental health but if going back to normal means millions of people sick and thousands dying doesn’t that just get us back to step one? I don’t know what the right balance is but going straight back to normal doesn’t really feel like it’s anywhere near the right thing to do.

I do wish there were more people like you who would remove their masks for them because in all honesty, it's a pain in the arse for me and I've noticed I become more impatient and frustrated whereas before, I had loads of patience. As I say, keeping a distance and still removing their mask should be okay but there's seems to be extremes on both sides of the mask and unmask debates. 

As I said, I understand Covid has had a huge impact and whilst I understand they're not the same, the flu can also kill just as much. Why else do you see adverts every year to "catch it, bin it, kill it" and to get flu jabs for? It can be bad news for the elderly and people with severe asthma and immune system difficulties if they did catch it but in my experience, people refuse to get it because "they don't want to be ill for a couple of days". With that in mind, considering it would be bad for those people, isn't that not helping build a better society? A person is a person after all. 

Here's the thing for me: whilst you're not harming people, you're still effectively harming the homeless and your society. Also, you say this but isn't it harming yourself (mentally or physically) getting a vaccine. People can say all they like that they get it for strangers but let's be real, the majority are not really doing it for society but for their own health and potentially their friends and family too. I do agree that PEOPLE have a PERSONAL right to stay away from those who have not been vaccinated as it is THEIR CHOICE but for the government to make it law to treat others differently just doesn't sit well with me. Also, I'm not religious but I believe that it's their right to not have one if it falls on to religious reasons. We've been taught growing up to not treat others differently due to their religious beliefs, race, sex, orientation, etc. Wouldn't this be totally throwing it all out of the window? 

As regards to the paedo quote, I believe it is something to absolutely think about. If it's this easy to exclude others from society for not injecting something into their bodies that they're unsure of, why isn't it this easy to do the same with paedophiles, rapists and very violent people? We talk about a safer society but wouldn't that be safer especially if they are repeat offenders? 

Finally, I understand this one and I believe there should be a balance but I don't think this approach is it. 

[sumo73]

24 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

I’d always heard that the second one was a lot milder.

I had my second jab almost two weeks ago and it was a lot milder than the first one. The first one was really bad for me so I was worried the second would be a repeat experience.

On a side note, it's sad to see the muted Tokyo Olympics. I have issues with the current UK government but we have got coming up to 60% of the population vaccinated. Had Japan acted faster the Olympics would more popular than it is now. I wonder how the winter games will do in 2022?

[Goafer]

Maybe it was something that was hinted at in the trials, but isn't proving true in the general rollout? A quick Google also seems to suggest the second Pfizer is the worst, but it seems the opposite from what people are saying, including my own experience.

What was fun was being told that new research shows that there's a small chance of myocarditis or pericarditis. After looking it up, it's a negligible chance, but they were vague enough to make me think about it until I could research what "small chance" actually meant and how serious those conditions were. Turns out 300 cases in 177m vaccines and generally not serious. Would have been nice to have been told that by them though.

 

[Nicktendo]

The left on abortion:
"my body, my choice! A foetus is not alive, dummy, I'm not killing it"

The left on vaccines:
"NO! my body, my choice doesn't apply here because you are LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE"

 

Masters of hypocrisy.  

Loving your hate boner for religion as well. "Stupid religious people shouldn't be allowed freedom". Always the same playbook from the devout holier-than-thou atheists. "Trust the science!" they exclaim, while ignoring the fact that these vaccines are experimental and rushed to market, the pharmaceutical companies are immune from litigation for injury, illness and death, and people are being bribed and coerced into taking them rather than carefully and methodically persuaded. The science, you should know, dictates that a virus become more transmissible but less deadly as it evolves. Look at the case and death numbers for widely unvaxxed Eastern Europe. Only ~30% fully vaccinated in my country, and while the numbers are much lower than Winter, cases are still 10 or more times higher than last Summer, yet deaths are only 2-3x higher than this time last year. No doubt it'll come back again in Winter, but critical care has also had more than a year to improve, we are in a much better place to fight this disease now, which the vaccines are a critical part of. Ivermectin (a very cheap and patent-free alternative to vaccination) has been proven as a very, very effective prophylactic and preventer in Latin America. The sensible thing to do would have been to offer the old and the vulnerable the vaccine, improve medical prevention and critical care, and then carry on as normal. If people, quite rightly, don't want to take the vaccine, that should be their choice, understanding all the risks associated with taking it or not. 

It seems to me that many of you are motivated by nothing but fear. If you've "done your part" and got the vaccine, what is there left to fear? Why are you worried about whether other people might die? Surely if they have the vaccine too, they'll be fine? Maybe you're fearful of being locked down forever, so you're willing to adopt China-style QR codes, thus far unproven and untested vaccines (with only <40% efficacy against Delta, by the way) and fucking health passports to get back to normal? How many booster shots are you going to take until this is finally over? Is that really "normal"? In addition to banning them from public spaces and polite society, maybe we could get those who don't have health passports to wear some kind of star so we can easily identify and avoid them? 

All of that goes completely against our way of life, and ironically, by supporting and carrying on with this nonsense all you are doing is making sure the biggest and richest companies get bigger and richer and punishing the small and medium businesses, the backbone of our system. The vaccine has been available for half a year, those who want it have taken it. Those who don't, haven't. If you have it - you are protected. However, if you are under 40 with no comorbidities, you should really have no reason whatsoever to take this vaccine. All you need to do is look up the COVID death rate for these age groups in the US, the UK, and the EU. Here, inject shit this to stop the <0.002% chance you'll die from Corona. Fear. Unless of course Delta is somehow more deadly, which is actually, you know, anti-science. And just remember, those vaccines are not free, nor the boosters that are coming. Long live the tax payer. 

I am more than willing to take a vaccine against Corona once someone has explained to me:
a) a good, medical incentive for me personally to get it which isn't based on bribery (OMG! free stuff!!) or coercion (get it, or you can't go here!). If not, I'll take my chances at <0.002%
b) how I am "doing my part" by getting it. If you want to be protected, get the vaccine. This has nothing to do with me. And no, I am not getting a vaccine to protect the <1% of people who can't get it for "medical reasons". That's not a just trade-off. Society should never be bent to the whims of 1% of the population, unless your name is Jeff Bezos, of course. More hypocrisy. 
c) that there are no long-term health implications from getting an experimental mRNA vaccine - the detailed results of which will start to come out in mid-2023, but will probably take much longer. I'd be much more open to a non-mRNA vaccine, but I can't get one here because reasons  definitely helping. 

The burden of proof is on you, not me, to inject something into my body and I will not budge until all three of the above requirements have been fulfilled. I have already lost one of my jobs because I refused to get the vaccine, and I am completely at peace with that (big shout out to my Pfizer and Moderna shares for helping me through this potentially dark time). I'm willing to fight and to die before I give up my body autonomy and freedom to live under a China-style boot. I wonder how many of you would be prepared to die for something you believe in, or will you just carry on pushing to take away other people's freedoms for the benefit of "society" because you are scared? 

1 hour ago, Beast said:

Here's the thing for me: whilst you're not harming people, you're still effectively harming the homeless and your society. Also, you say this but isn't it harming yourself (mentally or physically) getting a vaccine. People can say all they like that they get it for strangers but let's be real, the majority are not really doing it for society but for their own health and potentially their friends and family too. I do agree that PEOPLE have a PERSONAL right to stay away from those who have not been vaccinated as it is THEIR CHOICE but for the government to make it law to treat others differently just doesn't sit well with me. Also, I'm not religious but I believe that it's their right to not have one if it falls on to religious reasons. We've been taught growing up to not treat others differently due to their religious beliefs, race, sex, orientation, etc. Wouldn't this be totally throwing it all out of the window?

It is being thrown out of the window because in modern society the individual is king. People should live according to MY rules and only my rules. Feelings, virtue and "the greater good" are more sacred and important than anything else and it's big daddy government's responsibility to make me feel warm and safe. They view people who don't agree with them as stupid, brainwashed or inferior, hence why they think they are in a position to dictate how they should live. The concept of people making their own choice about their own bodies or speech is not one they can comprehend because it clashes with their warped worldview, which is inherently "good" and "just". A generation of man-children who are simply too afraid to live in the real world and unable to make themselves feel safe so they covet and coerce power to remove all aspects of society they are fearful of or disagree with. Totalitarianism, in a nutshell. Sad to see it playing out like this.

[Goafer]

18 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

Why are you worried about whether other people might die?

Can't believe I have to say it, but caring about others is the right thing to do?

And to be clear, it's the people who CAN'T have the vaccine that need protecting, not the people that WON'T. The more people get vaccinated, the more those people are protected by proxy.

[Cube]

1 hour ago, Nicktendo said:

The left on abortion:
"my body, my choice! A foetus is not alive, dummy, I'm not killing it"

The left on vaccines:
"NO! my body, my choice doesn't apply here because you are LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE"

 

Masters of hypocrisy.  

.

Only hypocrisy to people who don't understand basic logic, who are too terrified to do any research in case they find out they may be wrong about something.

Single mums on Facebook aren't valid sources, btw.

 

Out of interest: do you grow all of your own food? The vaccines have been tested far more than most of our food, so you should probably be terrified of supermarket food as well.