Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

Not my source of choice but regularly get links from the not so young. They've been around since 2010 and are an alternative to the more established media.

Alternative? They lead with the same stories as RTE and the Irish Times but try to cater for a younger audience.

Younger in my eyes is 20s, 30s, 40s.

It's funny to see people scrambling to believe there's something askew with the journal's poll because it doesn't suit them. It can be ignored because its badly vulnerable to selection bias or brigading, not because it doesn't match your personal sentiment.

There are whole pile of little echo chambers everywhere;

On here you've a load of people claiming that the problem is the Government's failure to open up sooner.

On Twitter you've a load of people claiming the problem is the Government opening too soon.

Goes to show that everyone thinks they know the answer, but nobody really does.

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More recent data on admissions from the HSE today. 57% of those in ICU are not fully vaccinated. (52% unvaxxed, 5% 1 dose).

98% of those fully vaccinated and in ICU, are immunocompromised.

That last stat in particular tells us that the vaccines are working as effectively as they did in the trials.

It also gives a really clear and obvious way to reduce the pressure on hospitals:

1. Booster programme for the medically vulnerable, today. This could reduce ICU admissions by up to 40%
2. Aggressive targetting of the unvaccinated to get vaccinated. It seems like Austria might be onto something here. Perhaps we should enforce covid certs for all indoor activities. Put the unvaccinated on a winter lockdown; restricted to click & collect or deliveries only. Perhaps their kids should be shifted back to online learning until the New Year. This could reduce ICU admissions by up to 60%.

Sounds a bit mad, but the numbers don't lie. Restricting older people alone wouldn't be enough. All of the pressure on hospitals is coming from unvaccinated adults.

Those are fairly astounding ICU stats. Boosters need to be rolled out for those with underlying conditions immediately. In a way it sort of makes the new COVID pass rules make a little sense in order to push up vaccination levels.

Regarding antivaxers... I was in a conference call a week or two ago and one of the team, not my team, was asking what was the way forward for people who were not vaxed. After he was given the answer he then added, what about people who will NEVER (emphasis was made on the word never, almost as if it was something to be proud of) get vaccinated.

I know this person well and it doesn't surprise me one iota that he has taken this stance, he's an intelligent guy but dear me this has made me think that underneath his intelligence, he's an idiot.

Medical authorities don't just "use medicine to see", there is a proper authorisation process to go through first, which would involve trials happening and that data being submitted for review. It's typically a 1-2 dose treatment for worms, not an every day treatment (as those espousing it are using it as).

I am vaccinated because I'm around vulnerable parents but if he doesn't want to ever be vaccinated why would you or anyone else care ?

Its' his choice its his body ,

The vaccinated are spreading the virus to if they are not why close pubs early if only vaccinated are in there ?

Statistically small IIRC. If we take anaphylaxis, the upper estimate for its prevalence is about 2%. Higher in children, but let's ignore that and double it.

So if we suggest that 4% of people are unable to take the vaccine, then you still have another 6% who could get it and reduce pressure on ICUs by up to 36%. I've yet to hear of a single person say, "I can't get it" though, virtually everyone I have heard who haven't got it, are straight out refusing it. So that 6% is likely too small, but still more than enough.

I'd be curious to know what proportion of the "unvaccinated" 10% includes people who've had Covid. Because if, for example, half of the unvaccinated have had Covid previously, then that makes the hospital numbers even more stark; since we know acquired immunity is about as good as vaccine immunity.

My parents in their 70’s ( who both have heart conditions) getting their boosters today. Great to see 👍

Do the government really expect people to pay for antigen tests?

For them to have any impact they need to be free in my opinion

Even then whether they'd actually have an impact is debatable