Straya!

[Scot Dutchy]

The federal government squandered our precious Covid advantage – now Sydney is in lockdown

After a world-leading response in 2020 it did not have to be this way

Eighteen months into the Covid pandemic, Australians by now should have been looking forward to prudently and cautiously opening to the world.

But rather than opening up, our largest city is shutting down.

The residents of inner-city Sydney have been thrown into a lockdown that ought to have been imposed a week ago.

Vaccination is the only answer.

[Brian Peacock]

Vaccination, and surprise....

[Hermit]

The federal government squandered our precious Covid advantage – now Sydney is in lockdown

After a world-leading response in 2020 it did not have to be this way

Eighteen months into the Covid pandemic, Australians by now should have been looking forward to prudently and cautiously opening to the world.

But rather than opening up, our largest city is shutting down.

The residents of inner-city Sydney have been thrown into a lockdown that ought to have been imposed a week ago.

Vaccination is the only answer.

Vaccination is undoubtedly the best answer, but in Australia only 4.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.

Strangely enough, while 48% of the UK's population is fully vaccinated, the rate of new Covid-19 cases is skyrocketing. A month ago the rate was 248/100,000. Now it up to 413/100,000.

So, no, vaccination is not the only answer. Not yet.

[JimC]

The federal government squandered our precious Covid advantage – now Sydney is in lockdown

After a world-leading response in 2020 it did not have to be this way

Eighteen months into the Covid pandemic, Australians by now should have been looking forward to prudently and cautiously opening to the world.

But rather than opening up, our largest city is shutting down.

The residents of inner-city Sydney have been thrown into a lockdown that ought to have been imposed a week ago.

Vaccination is the only answer.

Vaccination is undoubtedly the best answer, but in Australia only 4.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.

Strangely enough, while 48% of the UK's population is fully vaccinated, the rate of new Covid-19 cases is skyrocketing. A month ago the rate was 248/100,000. Now it up to 413/100,000.

So, no, vaccination is not the only answer. Not yet.

In the UK, I'd love to know how many of the new cases are amongst the vaccinated, and whether they (as promised) will have much lower rates of serious health issues and deaths than the un-vaccinated. Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

The other, more frightening possibility is that the rise of new variants is itself making vaccination less effective.

[Hermit]

In the UK, I'd love to know how many of the new cases are amongst the vaccinated, and whether they (as promised) will have much lower rates of serious health issues and deaths than the un-vaccinated. Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

While I could not find any quantitative information relating to the UK, the statistics from other regions are better than anticipated.

Can you catch Covid-19 from someone who’s vaccinated? Vaccines don’t always prevent infection. Researchers had hoped to design safe Covid-19 vaccines that would prevent at least half of the people vaccinated from getting Covid-19 symptoms.

Fortunately, the vaccines have vastly outperformed expectations. For example, in 6.5 million residents of Israel, aged 16 years and older, the Pfizer–BioNTech mRNA Covid-19 vaccine was found to be 95.3 per cent effective after both shots.

Within two months, among the 4.7 million fully vaccinated, the detectable infections fell by 30-fold. Similarly in California and Texas, only 0.05 per cent of fully vaccinated health care workers tested positive for Covid-19.

The article I lifted this excerpt from is dated May 30, 2021

The other, more frightening possibility is that the rise of new variants is itself making vaccination less effective.

Uncharted territory. We'll just have to wait for data to become available.

[JimC]

When the fairies get around to generating it...

[pErvinalia]

The federal government squandered our precious Covid advantage – now Sydney is in lockdown

After a world-leading response in 2020 it did not have to be this way

Eighteen months into the Covid pandemic, Australians by now should have been looking forward to prudently and cautiously opening to the world.

But rather than opening up, our largest city is shutting down.

The residents of inner-city Sydney have been thrown into a lockdown that ought to have been imposed a week ago.

Vaccination is the only answer.

Vaccination is undoubtedly the best answer, but in Australia only 4.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.

Strangely enough, while 48% of the UK's population is fully vaccinated, the rate of new Covid-19 cases is skyrocketing. A month ago the rate was 248/100,000. Now it up to 413/100,000.

So, no, vaccination is not the only answer. Not yet.

In the UK, I'd love to know how many of the new cases are amongst the vaccinated, and whether they (as promised) will have much lower rates of serious health issues and deaths than the un-vaccinated. Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

The other, more frightening possibility is that the rise of new variants is itself making vaccination less effective.

I read some stats the other day and the death rate (and hospitalisation rate) is way way down for the vaccinated.

[JimC]

I did too, but from memory it was the US. I think it was that less than 1 % of recent covid deaths in the US have been in the vaccinated population.

Sucks to be an anti-vaxxer...

[pErvinalia]

Natural selection.

[rainbow]

Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

I'm not sure how the hair is split here.

What is the difference between avoiding it, and not catching it?

[Hermit]

Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

I'm not sure how the hair is split here.

What is the difference between avoiding it, and not catching it?

Avoiding involves causality. Not catching is mere correlation.

[JimC]

Medical experts have been saying that although vaccination does not prevent you catching covid-19 (it may give you a higher chance of avoiding it), it should make a huge difference to death rates.

I'm not sure how the hair is split here.

What is the difference between avoiding it, and not catching it?

I did not express myself well. From all I've read, getting fully vaccinated will reduce your chances of catching the infection. How much of a statistical reduction may depend on the vaccine, and the strain you are exposed to. But you can still be infected, of course. If infected, your chances of successfully fighting off the virus (and also not dying) are much better than an unvaccinated person.

[Brian Peacock]

What about that Robodebt debacle eh? Morrison govt very keen on keeping the relevant documents out of the public domain.

[Woodbutcher]

Get a group of Croc Dundee wannabes and give them repeater tranquilizer guns loaded with the vaccine. Then set them loose in antivax meetings.

[NineBerry]

Not a good idea, Australia