All these big wigs telling us how great the new vaccine is...

[dutchman]

Genuine policies or PR stunts?



Something strange seems to be going on in the Conservative government.

Recent weeks have seen ministers announce mandatory vaccination to enter nightclubs, speak supportively of businesses that demand workers are jabbed and moot the idea of barring students from university who've not been inoculated.

Novel developments for members of the self-professed "freedom-loving" party.

The question being asked in Westminster is whether this is genuine policy - or just a PR stunt.

"There's a lot of attempts to drive vaccine uptake and lots of concepts being mooted subtly or not so subtly with no real intent behind them," said one Whitehall official.

Conservative MPs agree, with several telling Sky News earlier this week they didn't think plans to restrict access to nightclubs and other events would ever materialise.

One of the proposals has already been shelved, with the government announcing this weekend there are now no plans to use the COVID pass for access to learning.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is understood to have made clear there would have been legal implications and potentially little benefit, given polling shows a vast majority of students say they will have the jab.

But the fact these ideas are even being suggested is enough to drive some backbenchers potty.

Several MPs have already said they won't be attending this year's party conference if they are forced to show their vaccination status.

Others worry about sailing too close to compulsory vaccination and the ethical implications of a heavy-handed approach.

[rebbonk]

...sailing too close to compulsory vaccination and the ethical implications...

I think they're sailing very close to the Hague ruling and what they're doing is totally unethical. But since when did politicians care about ethics? They might, however, need to be a bit more careful as regards the Hague ruling as my understanding is that they can be held personally responsible. You can bet your life at the end of this some human rights lawyer will spot an opportunity for fame and potentially, a large pot of cash.

[dutchman]

Pfizer jab effectiveness rate drops to just 42%...

42% is about the average success rate of a routine 'flu jab and suggests its effectiveness was wildly exaggerated to begin with.

[dutchman]

Coventry's vaccine uptake still one of the lowest and is slowing down



Coventry’s Covid-19 vaccine uptake is slowing down and still remains one of the lowest in England.

NHS data shows that the amount of people in the city choosing to get their jab is on a downward trajectory, despite many people still being unvaccinated.

Of Coventry’s estimated 432,000 residents, only 69.8% have had their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with 57.6% fully-vaccinated.

This amounts to 185,017 double-vaccinated residents and 223,359 who have had at least one dose.

The amount of second doses being given daily can often experience declines, due to the eight-week required waiting period between jabs.

But the number of first doses being administered in Coventry has been dropping off for weeks, suggesting that everyone who plans to get vaccinated has already.

This month has seen the smallest increase so far, with only 1.8% more of the population coming forward between July 18 and August 18 — taking the total from 68% to 69.8%.

The West Midlands has the second-lowest vaccination rate in England after London, with 78.9% of the population presenting for the jab.

But Coventry’s numbers remain below both the national average and the average for the region.

The number of people in the city who are now fully-vaccinated is slightly more than half, with younger people still showing the lowest uptake.

The government recently announced that booster jabs will be offered later this year to those over-50.

The announcement has been met with some controversy, with the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group criticising the decision.

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard said: “The time we would need to boost is if we see evidence that there was an increase in hospitalisation - or the next stage after that, which would be people dying - amongst those who are vaccinated.

"And that is not something we are seeing at the moment”s.

[rebbonk]

UK data destroys entire premise for vaccine push

The UK government just reported the following data, tucked away in their report on variants of concern:

Less than a third of delta variant deaths are in the unvaccinated.

Let me say that another way - two-thirds of Delta deaths in the UK are in the jabbed.

To be specific:

From the 1st of February to the 2nd of August, the UK recorded 742 Delta deaths (yes, the dreaded Delta has not taken that much life).

Out of the 742 deaths, 402 were fully vaccinated. 79 had received one shot. Only 253 were unvaccinated.

Source: https://chriswaldburger.substack.com/p/bombshell-uk-data-destroys-entire

The whole article makes an interesting two or three minute read.

[dutchman]

'Draconian' mandatory jabs for care home staff rule must be repealed, UNISON says amid fast-approaching deadline



The government must immediately remove the mandatory requirement for care home staff to be vaccinated amid a workforce crisis in the sector, the UK's largest social care union says.

UNISON is calling on ministers to stop "sleepwalking into a disaster" and end the 'no jab, no job' rule for those in the care industry.

Repealing jab compulsion for care home workers is the only way to avert a staffing crisis that threatens to overwhelm the sector, the union says.

From 11 November, it will become mandatory for all staff working in care homes to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they are exempt, in order to protect the residents and patients most at risk from the virus.

The government's own predictions are that up to 40,000 of the more than half a million care workers in the country won't be fully vaccinated by that date.

And UNISON says the government has no realistic plan to deal with staff shortages that the "draconian policy" could cause if workers do not take up the offer of the jab.

It adds that a number of workers who are hesitant about the jab or feel they are "being bullied" into being vaccinated are already leaving the care sector, and point to the Department of Health and Social Care's (DHSC) own risk assessment estimation that mandatory vaccination could result in up to 70,000 care workers leaving their roles in industry.

The sector already has huge vacancy levels of over 110,000, UNISON says, noting that many care staff have expressed how "heartbroken" they are to have to leave professions they love due to feeling "totally undervalued".

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said ministers should not be "coercing and bullying" people into taking up the offer of the jab.

"Vaccination remains the way out of the pandemic. But coercing and bullying people can never be the right approach," she said.

"Ministers have been told repeatedly that using force instead of persuasion will fail. But they've not listened and now their ill-considered policy is backfiring.

"The government is sleepwalking into this disaster by not acting. Care is already a broken and underfunded sector that cannot afford to lose any more staff.

"The government must scrap the 'no jab, no job' rule now. Widespread care home closures could be the consequence if they ignore the warnings.

"This would be disastrous for elderly people and those who cannot live without care support."

[rebbonk]

My 'friendly' nurse's predictions are coming true. She told me that she would never have the vaccine as long as she has 'a hole in her bottom'. (Or similar words!)

Looking back at what she told me I really fear for the NHS this coming winter.

[dutchman]

England vaccine passport plans ditched, Sajid Javid says



Plans to introduce vaccine passports for access into nightclubs and large events in England will not go ahead, the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid told the BBC: "We shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it."

He said the government had looked at the evidence, adding: "I'm pleased to say we will not be going ahead."

It was thought the plan, which came under criticism from venues and some MPs, would be introduced at the end of this month.

No 10 stressed it would be kept "in reserve" should it be needed over autumn or winter.

Under the scheme, people would have been required to show proof - whether of double vaccination, a negative Covid test or finishing self-isolating after a positive PCR test - in order to gain entry to clubs and other crowded events.

The Night Time Industries Association warned the plans could have crippled the industry and seen nightclubs facing discrimination cases.

The industry body has since welcomed the move, saying it hoped businesses could now plan with some certainty and start to rebuild the sector and regain customers' confidence.

The Music Venue Trust, which aims to protect grassroots venues, also welcomed the announcement, describing vaccine passports as "problematic".

There was opposition too from Tory MPs on the Covid Recovery Group and the Liberal Democrats, whose leader Ed Davey called them "divisive, unworkable and expensive".

The move to scrap vaccine passports appears to be a sharp U-turn by the government.

On the same TV programme last week, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the end of September was the right time to start the vaccine passport scheme for sites with large crowds because all over-18s would have been offered two jabs by then and it was the "best way" to keep the night industry open.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government's approach to Covid passports had been "shambolic from the start" and lacked any clarity from ministers about the purpose of the passports and how they would work.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael accused the Conservatives of needlessly sowing confusion among businesses for months and called for them to scrap the "unnecessary and draconian Coronavirus Act altogether".

[rebbonk]

It was coercion all the time.

In effect, the b*st*rds have lied to get people to take these vaccines. I hope for the sake of those in government that there are no unexpected long-term effects that can ever be traced back to these vaccines. We have potentially irreversibly messed with our immune systems and it might be several generations before the true effects are known.

Someone once told me that science will destroy the world. - This is how it could happen.

[dutchman]