Coronavirus: General discussion (see opening post for rules)

[korifugi]

Nipping for my booster later on today - ruddy hell, I've become a responsible human!

 

 

stop sniggering you lot

 

Update - I had the Moderna (my first two were AZ) and today it is seriously prodding my buttocks.

 

 

 

 

Still - it's all about the greater good

 

[3s-gtech]

Got mine tomorrow.

 

It’ll either write-off Christmas Day, or do very little.

 

First two were fine, but can’t guess too much as this will be a different vaccine.

 

Paracetamol and gin to the rescue!

Edited December 23, 2021 by 3s-gtech
Speelong

[elsiegee40]

My eldest is getting daily texts from her GP surgery in London asking her to book a vaccine appointment.

 

She has booked an appointment. It’s here on Monday. I guess the texts will stop when they finally realise she has had it done.

[LeMarchand]

Finally got Mme LeMarchand booked it for Monday. Just need to get her to get a flu jab later in the month...

[mikeprice]

Looks like maybe a 4th jab is coming

 

 

maybe

[caffrey]

I too got Moderna yesterday after the initial two AZ and today it feels like the worst hangover

[korifugi]

I too got Moderna yesterday after the initial two AZ and today it feels like the worst hangover

 

That was mine - it gradually turned into flu-like symptoms and a general feeling of "bleh".

[caffrey]

That was mine - it gradually turned into flu-like symptoms and a general feeling of "bleh".

 

It's "only" supposed to last a day, hopefully we're all okay for tomorrow

[korifugi]

It's "only" supposed to last a day, hopefully we're all okay for tomorrow

 

In my case it pretty much was - I felt terrible yesterday, but there's only a small amount of lingering fatigue and arm pain left.

[elsiegee40]

…

[3s-gtech]

Got mine tomorrow.

 

It’ll either write-off Christmas Day, or do very little.

 

First two were fine, but can’t guess too much as this will be a different vaccine.

 

Paracetamol and gin to the rescue!

 

Nothing at all, yet. Normal light bruise from being punctured. Not going to be too optimistic yet - my immune system may yet kick me in the backside!

[Andrew_C]

[ATTACH]64039[/ATTACH]

…

Here Miss; Isn't that political?

[mavhc]

Highest hospital admissions since feb, and 120k new cases, highest ever

[stevejp]

[ATTACH]64039[/ATTACH]

…

 

Just think how different the last two thousand years would have been if it hadn’t been for Mary’s positive test a few months before?

[Ditto]

Highest hospital admissions since feb, and 120k new cases, highest ever

 

On hospital admissions that sounds dramatic and it is not welcome news, but to bring some better context, especially given the record recorded case numbers, here is a chart of those numbers.

 

They are going to go higher yet and by mid January will show just how much so, but even if the current vaccines are less effective against Omicron, the picture today in reality is very different to last February.

[elsiegee40]

Endless deliveries for Xmas and only one courier *&!"'s up so the kids can't give their mum a present on Xmas day. Yodel, you're an embarrassment [emoji35]

I am going to respond to this in here to put it in perspective.

 

Mr gee40’s cousin is a postman. He caught Covid and returned to work on December 22nd only to find that that Royal Mail had been so short staffed due to Covid that none of the post for his rounds had been delivered during his 10 day absence.

 

He worked until 7pm (unpaid overtime) on Wednesday trying to shift the backlog. A friend who was supposed to be on annual leave came in and helped do an even longer day on Thursday. And on Christmas Eve started early yet again and finished at 4.30pm. He failed to deliver everything. He did his best. He spent Christmas Day mostly asleep and feeling lousy.

 

I imagine it’s the same at all the delivery businesses. Be grateful if any of your deliveries arrived. Your frustration at items that didn’t arrive is understandable, but the businesses just can’t cope due to the highly infectious omicron.

[Ditto]

I agree it is right to call out the sterling job done by the majority of delivery service companies in challenging times. Just locally I would call out DPD, Amazon and Parcelforce. Our post lady did extra shifts and explained she was delivering to known customers after dark that she wouldn't otherwise do so. I'd also add our local refuse and garden waste collectors who have done their jobs without a hitch whilst adjoining councils have cancelled garden collections for months on end. The reason Yodel got my wrath, is they were the only company that failed to deliver in time Xmas four years ago (pre-pandemic). I recall they were voted 3rd worst in some survey at the time. Whilst it's right to cut some slack at this time, a quick search on ratings shows Yodel now 2nd lowest in this survey. Whilst it is entirely possible that staff absence at Yodel could be a contributory factor, I suspect would hazard a guess their issues run deeper.

 

*** Edit, P.S. I'm glad to hear your cousin recovered from covid ***

Edited December 26, 2021 by Ditto

[Ditto]

I caught up with an old friend just before Xmas, who retired to the Leicester area from Surrey a few years ago. His daughter had a delayed reaction to the jab, one whole week later. The reaction was akin to anaphylactic shock and resulted in an emergency ambulance trip to hospital. Everything turned out fine in quick time and a lot of the treatment after was basically antihistamine. My friend used to work in pharma industries, so he researched it. It is a known, but rare side effect but it's the first time I'd come across this one. It's not clear what caused the issue, whether it's the active ingredient or the substrate used to dispense. The other situation I learnt of was a fellow badminton club player's 12 year old daughter ending up in ICU for a couple of days. Again, this was a very rare reaction. A couple of days later she was out and fine and back to school the following week.

[Ditto]

One last post in this thread from me today. I recall Prof. Whitty in a recent briefing suggested we all 'raised a glass' to the scientists. I got our gathering to do so and added tothem, all the volunteers supporting Xmas day jabbing. So in the virtual world, once more I do so

[mavhc]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sage-101-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-23-december-2021/sage-101-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-23-december-2021

[6Foot2]

Link: Staff shortages could force schools in England to send some pupils home | Teacher shortages | The Guardian

 

Severe staff shortages could undermine the government’s efforts to keep pupils in schools, with headteachers in England saying that they may be forced to send some children home if they cannot muster enough staff.

 

Despite a pledge by Boris Johnson to avoid a repeat of January 2021, when the government insisted schools would remain open only for them to be closed after an abrupt U-turn, school leaders are warning that the rapid spread of the Omicron variant could lead to mass absences for teachers and other members of staff when schools reopen for the new year.

 

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told the BBC that staff absences had been at “unsustainable” levels at some schools, with up to 25% of staff off in the week leading up to the Christmas break.

 

“We don’t know what next week will look like. We’re not catastrophising that but we are saying we must have a sense of realism around this,” he said.

 

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said it would be “naive” to think Omicron would not have an impact on schools when they reopen. “It does seem as though choppy waters lie ahead and that some form of disruption at the start of next term is looking sadly inevitable.”

 

Barton said he “absolutely agrees” with the government’s guidance allowing schools to restrict attendance only as a last resort, but argued that school leaders would need to make difficult choices if there were widespread staff absences.

 

“The problem is that if you are running a primary school, and you have got 20 staff and seven of them can’t come in next week, and the pool of supply teachers that you would normally call upon – that is, people have got a relationship with your school and therefore will come and step in at the last minute or a supply agency that will charge you money for doing that at a higher rate – that pool is limited,” Barton said.

 

“You will find yourself in a very difficult position of perhaps trying to teach two classes at once in the hall, stuff which will not be good for the quality of education, or you will be in the position of making a decision about whether some year groups should be in school while some aren’t.”

 

Barton said secondary school leaders could be faced with the dilemma of prioritising classroom teaching for year groups taking exams ahead of teaching for others, “because GCSEs and A-levels really need to go ahead if possible this year”.

 

Last week the Department for Education launched a public relations campaign to encourage former teachers in England to sign up with supply agencies, with the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, urging people “to come forward if they are available to temporarily fill absences in schools and colleges in the new year.”

 

The Daily Telegraph reported that DfE sources were unable to confirm how many had actually signed up with agencies so far, but that it was “at least hundreds”.

[mikeprice]

I might be more inclined to think about maybe going back to teach for a while 'to help out' if I was sure that the schools are doing everything possible to reduce the spread

 

things like increasing ventilation, installing systems to get rid of airborne viruses

 

and had the funding to do that

 

but every school I have worked in over the last 10 years has had b****** awful ventilation and windows that, if they exists and actually open, open so little that about 17 atoms per house can go out through the tiny gap

 

and yesterday I read an article saying how well they are doing in evaluating some systems to kill the virus using UV of filters

"doing well" - wasn;t that a kinda obvious thing that should have been looked at 'quite a long time ago'

 

 

I just have no confidence that I could go to a school and find they were totally on top of things

and anyway - if I go to an agency could I even get to ask a possible school these questions and check things out before I start???

 

 

What are people's thoughts about how schools are doing?

[stevejp]

I might be more inclined to think about maybe going back to teach for a while 'to help out' if I was sure that the schools are doing everything possible to reduce the spread

 

things like increasing ventilation, installing systems to get rid of airborne viruses

 

and had the funding to do that

 

but every school I have worked in over the last 10 years has had b****** awful ventilation and windows that, if they exists and actually open, open so little that about 17 atoms per house can go out through the tiny gap

 

and yesterday I read an article saying how well they are doing in evaluating some systems to kill the virus using UV of filters

"doing well" - wasn;t that a kinda obvious thing that should have been looked at 'quite a long time ago'

 

 

I just have no confidence that I could go to a school and find they were totally on top of things

and anyway - if I go to an agency could I even get to ask a possible school these questions and check things out before I start???

 

 

What are people's thoughts about how schools are doing?

 

Can’t speak generally - but 4 windows in my classroom, each of which have window locks so that they can only open about 4 inches ( I ‘May’ have access to the bar which opens the locks, but to take them off is a disciplinary offence - we’re on the second floor). Two doors, one of which opens onto another classroom, so can’t be propped open to give a bit more airflow. No artificial ventilation - someone keeps nicking my desk fan…

[mavhc]

https://theconversation.com/type-of-ultraviolet-light-most-effective-at-killing-coronavirus-is-also-the-safest-to-use-around-people-169602

 

Given we have multiple known ways to combat the virus, what's stopping people?

 

Primary school kids are infecting adults, why are we still not vaccinating them?

[mikeprice]

https://theconversation.com/type-of-ultraviolet-light-most-effective-at-killing-coronavirus-is-also-the-safest-to-use-around-people-169602

 

Given we have multiple known ways to combat the virus, what's stopping people?

 

Primary school kids are infecting adults, why are we still not vaccinating them?

 

funding for LEAs and school to make changes to improve ventilation safely and install UV/HEPA filters (or whatever) to take the virus out of the air

 

 

but most of all - people in charge not thinking ahead

and by people - I do NOT mean politicians - I mean very highly paid people in highly placed admin and management positions well above those working in a school

 

I mean - when I used to work inIT in a big business then main Network support person was like these people

 

I would come across a change that could have been made to greatly improve the way it all worked

 

his response - "no-one ever asked for that"

 

of course they didn;t - they didn;t know what was possible - that was our job

 

 

 

stopping before this become a rant/story

 

 

once this pandemic is over we need to have another EDIT and I can tell you all some stories in person

possibly with some enhancements