What's YOUR pandemic situation?

Originally Posted by bobjob

Oh for 'the good old days', eh?

Hi Bob... And I fear we really will crave the "good old days" , and I'm only talking about a year ago !!!!!.... ....... Because they said yesterday we will probably need to have the vaccination every 6 months. Up until yesterday England had only given 1.3 vaccines . Those people have now to wait 3 months for part 2 of vaccine.... Therefore, everyone in the whole world will have to be vaccinated every 3 months!.... Is that actually even remotely possible ?....

[bobjob]

Originally Posted by Elfin

Hi Bob... And I fear we really will crave the "good old days" , and I'm only talking about a year ago !!!!!.... ....... Because they said yesterday we will probably need to have the vaccination every 6 months. Up until yesterday England had only given 1.3 vaccines . Those people have now to wait 3 months for part 2 of vaccine.... Therefore, everyone in the whole world will have to be vaccinated every 3 months!.... Is that actually even remotely possible ?....

hi, A

The so-called good-old-days were always going to be different times for different people. 12 months ago those days would indeed have been better for many/most of us all but 12 months into the future who knows how we'll feel about now?

Much importance is naturally being attached to the vaccines but we're only just beginning to get-to-know them. Trials indicate their potential efficacy but we'll just have to wait to experience their long-term, real-life impact. Covid-19 is a coronavirus just as influenza is the effect of a number of similar coronaviruses.

Every winter us oldies are herded in for our jabs, experts having done their best to work out which viruses will be most significant for the coming winter. Every winter we scrape through, the autumn jab much more - or much less - effective than the one given the year before.

What I've heard from experts - not the self-styled gobby ones on forums - is that protection against Covid19, 19.1, 19.2 , and all that follow from the original, will need to be provided in a similar way to influenza. Those who talk about defeating the virus are either barmy or politicking, or both.

[bobjob]

Hospitals in the whole of the United Kingdom are under intense pressure with major concern they will be overwhelmed during the next days and weeks, well before the effect of the vaccinations can be felt.

In winter in the UK hospitals are ordinarily under extreme pressure and barely able to cope and this dreadful pandemic has piled on huge additional pressure.
The reasons are various but this is not the forum for their discussion.

Routine healthcare is being squeezed, waiting times for surgery and other treatments increasing by the day. Vaccination will add enormously to the load but are essential for any chance of ever coping with a literally unprecedented situation. Our economy is in dire straits and ordinary gals and guys and their kids are the ones who will feel the strain most and likely for years to come.

The Covid-19 genie is out of the bottle and we can only hope all the effort already put in, and all the effort ongoing, will at some point result in our lives looking more like the ones we used to enjoy. And we must hope those charged with keeping our world safe will be up to seeing the approach of, and then dealing with, the NEXT pandemic. It's not 'if' it's when....

Originally Posted by bobjob

hi, A

The so-called good-old-days were always going to be different times for different people. 12 months ago those days would indeed have been better for many/most of us all but 12 months into the future who knows how we'll feel about now?

Much importance is naturally being attached to the vaccines but we're only just beginning to get-to-know them. Trials indicate their potential efficacy but we'll just have to wait to experience their long-term, real-life impact. Covid-19 is a coronavirus just as influenza is the effect of a number of similar coronaviruses.

Every winter us oldies are herded in for our jabs, experts having done their best to work out which viruses will be most significant for the coming winter. Every winter we scrape through, the autumn jab much more - or much less - effective than the one given the year before.

What I've heard from experts - not the self-styled gobby ones on forums - is that protection against Covid19, 19.1, 19.2 , and all that follow from the original, will need to be provided in a similar way to influenza. Those who talk about defeating the virus are either barmy or politicking, or both.

....Oh yes, and of course if we want to talk about the real "good old days" we will need to open a new thread... In fact i might do that !...In fact I will,but not today. ...... Aye, we will have to see how it all settles down.... It's just that I get these feelings in my gut ... My intuition and then I worry !!.... Yes, it will be very interesting to see what conversations we will be having about all in a year from now ....

[bobjob]

Originally Posted by Elfin

Aye, we will have to see how it all settles down.... It's just that I get these feelings in my gut ... My intuition and then I worry !!.... Yes, it will be very interesting to see what conversations we will be having about all in a year from now ....

I suppress and try to ignore my own gut feelings. I just hope they're wrong......

Originally Posted by bobjob

I suppress and try to ignore my own gut feelings. I just hope they're wrong......

....Oh good gracious..... I am SO happy to hear you say that !!!! I thought it was just me, because my gut feeling is that this thing is only going to get worse, and it's clever !.. This virus has a brain and it's one step ahead

[bobjob]

This Covid-19 virus is just doing what many viruses do. It's extremely dangerous to us humans but that's just incidental - it doesn't have it in for us....

Originally Posted by bobjob

This ought to be uncontroversial so let's please all write without criticism of people and/or bodies. If it becomes a rantfest I'll not hesitate to ask an administrator to remove those rants.

Tell us where you are and what the situation is, what you're experiencing personally etc., in terms of this ongoing pandemic.....

I'll start the ball rolling. I'm in central England where we're about to enter a lockdown similar to the one we first had in March last year. Schools and colleges/universities will be closed, teaching delivered online for a very uncertain length of time.

Non-essential businesses, pubs, bars, leisure centers etc will be closed. Our hospitals are critically busy and it's feared they may be unable to cope if infection spread gets worse.

People are working from home when they can. There's no mixing of different households and nobody can meet more than one other person outdoors.

My country began vaccinating in December just past and there's a massive roll-out underway of a nationwide scheme. If all goes ideally then by March we should see some improvements in the infection rate / spread of the disease with fewer ICU admissions and deaths. A less abnormal way of life may be in prospect by mid year - all being well.

Hey Bob,

I am in the USA, everything is just fine here. Everybody is calm and rationally going on with their lives taking whatever precautions they can that are reasonable. They have started rolling out the vaccine and though we know there are risks to everything, I expect most everyone is rolling up their sleeves and anxiously awaiting their turn in line to take a shot at our common enemy. Until then, we are all social distancing as much as possible, and throwing on a mask when we can't. Us yanks don't tend to get too hysterical like those brits might be prone to. We understand we are all in this together for the long haul. You can occasionally even hear the chants outside my window! "USA!, USA!, USA!" It's a beautiful thing Bob, wish you could be here to hear it.

Personally, I am fine. I can work from home and get groceries delivered. I am at high risk due to medical history, so I am avoiding any large gatherings (which I usually do anyway), and always have a clean mask on hand if I need to be out and about where others may be present. Getting a bit bored though! In fact, things have been so calm and boring here across the pond, I hardly even bother to turn on the news.

Say hi to Winnie for me if you see him around.

.

Originally Posted by bobjob

This Covid-19 virus is just doing what many viruses do. It's extremely dangerous to us humans but that's just incidental - it doesn't have it in for us....

Whooooaaaa there Bob. Who's side are you on in this anyway? I can't believe your are defending the virus! You are either with us or a covid co-conspirator, you need to choose sides.

[bobjob]

Originally Posted by ketzer

Hey Bob,

I am in the USA, everything is just fine here. Everybody is calm and rationally going on with their lives taking whatever precautions they can that are reasonable. They have started rolling out the vaccine and though we know there are risks to everything, I expect most everyone is rolling up their sleeves and anxiously awaiting their turn in line to take a shot at our common enemy. Until then, we are all social distancing as much as possible, and throwing on a mask when we can't. Us yanks don't tend to get too hysterical like those brits might be prone to. We understand we are all in this together for the long haul. You can occasionally even hear the chants outside my window! "USA!, USA!, USA!" It's a beautiful thing Bob, wish you could be here to hear it.

Personally, I am fine. I can work from home and get groceries delivered. I am at high risk due to medical history, so I am avoiding any large gatherings (which I usually do anyway), and always have a clean mask on hand if I need to be out and about where others may be present. Getting a bit bored though! In fact, things have been so calm and boring here across the pond, I hardly even bother to turn on the news.

Say hi to Winnie for me if you see him around.

.

I'm pleased to hear you're personally OK but I have a second home in AZ so I'm especially following events there but also in the USA generally and what I'm hearing, including reports from friends in other states, is somewhat different from the one you're sending me.

Perhaps you're pulling my leg so things don't sound too bad?