That's great news, Cryrst. Israel are player a blinder in all regards, and as you rightly highlight maybe some unexpected good can come from such a horrid time.

And good news regarding the Oxford vaccine too..

Single vaccine jab linked to 85% and 94% drop in risk of coronavirus hospital admissions in Scotland, study shows - [Link]

Interesting that the Pfizer data was less impressive than the Oxford in this particular study. Though of course broadly speaking these results are still very impressive. No doubt more data will come in over the coming weeks.

Edited by BlueJay (22 Feb 2021 3.05pm)

I was hoping he would share some anecdotes from his time on Rick & (Dr) Morty.

Thankfully as the days roll by the science on the impact of these vaccines on health, and indeed transmission, becomes irrefutable. He'll move onto some other facet of the issue, which is what people tend to do when they're wrong about something.

We should be tremendously relieved at how the roll out is going. Of course mutations are a big unknown. Whether existing vaccines are successful enough to mean they're behind the curve of the inevitable yearly booster. No-one has a crystal ball though, and most offered it are sensible enough to get vaccinated, which is heartening.

Edited by BlueJay (23 Feb 2021 12.12am)

If it's insignificant, then whatever decisions are made are an irrelevance.

Old people keeping a low profile, it would seem, was a rather good decision. We may want to ask those who now have a significant amount of protection, I'm sure they'll agree. And at least they are alive to be asked in the first place.

This 'when you've gotta go, you've gotta go' stuff is always on someone elses behalf.

If you can stop your Y fronts blasting off in panic for a couple more months, it appears likely that we'll gradually be opening back up. I wasn't exactly craving being locked down right now either, but it is what it is.

The vaccine is so far a resounding success. We should celebrate that. The yearly flu jab saves countless lives every year, as will the covid jab, even in a worst case scenario where mutations may spread in between. Having a couple of jabs a year really isn't something to get up in arms about, I've had more than that prior to a trip abroad. Thoughts that we may end up being injected like some kind of perpetual pin cushion don't really have any basis in reality.

It's not been a wonderful year - it hasn't for me workwise - but my thoughts are predominantly with those who have died, and celebrating the science behind those who now have more than a fighting chance. We're in decent shape and we go forward them here.

From the ultra negative tone some perpetually strike you'd be half forgiven for imagining that they're primed on the edge of their seat waiting for some kind of horrendous turn of events so that they can say "told you so". As I say, I prefer to place my hope in science, and the sacrifice already made by so many. We're on the path we're on; let's make the best of it.

Edited by BlueJay (23 Feb 2021 6.53am)

As I understand it, we suffer abut 14,000 deaths from the flu each year. What are the figures this year? Have the numbers been wrapped up in the Covid stats? I really have no idea/

Broadly

'The number of Covid-19 deaths in the eight months to 31 August is higher than the annual total of flu and pneumonia deaths in any year since 2000, the year during which a widespread flu vaccination was introduced in the UK.'

I read somewhere flu cases have dropped to historically low levels due to lockdowns, distancing increased hygiene awareness etc. Less transmissible than COVID so makes sense.

And yes, they're not all lumped in together

Did you know? 98.0000001% of people are morons.