Austria hits panic button.

If Germany goes this route then others will follow. It will be a massive test for our government to resist.

Scientifically, there is no such thing as 'seasonality' as an element of virus biology. And if you live in some parts of the world, seasons don't even exist.

However, you raised 'flu being seasonal for some reason (and I do agree it spreads more in the winter here due to human behaviour). I'm trying to understand what that reason was. Can you help?

Why do you assume it's due to disinformation or scaremongering? It could just be that people are doing basic math in assessing the risk to them, and deciding that they are less at risk from Covid than many other things they do daily, so they just don't care enough to take it. If the only piece of information that they have is the mortality rate for their age and health status, then it's a rational decision. Some people don't like injections, some don't like to take any drugs at all. Can it not be as simple as the virus is no risk to them and they don't want to take this drug?

Some people are hysterical about this virus, and to them the ability to asses risk has been so skewed by constant fear mongering that they will obviously disagree that it's rational, but the fact is, the virus won't kill young healthy people unless they are very unlucky.

So you can't explain why you raised 'seasonality' as an issue. I thought not.

Anything intelligent to contribute at all?

Yes indeed - flu these days is far less dangerous than COVID. This has not always been the case (as I'm sure you know). Vaccine take up for a less dangerous disease is a data point but maybe not that useful in talking about take up for other diseases.

It is likely to indicate where we might go to on boosters for this. Under 40s, even under 50s may not take up offers of boosters in huge numbers.

There are rules in place to control the spread of COVID. If these rules are not widely respected, COVID spreads, requiring MORE restrictive rules. Which nobody wants. I'm happy to show my COVID cert to get into an open pub. If the pubs are closed because people don't respect that rule, I don't have the option of going to the pub at all.

Yeah, you're not wrong there.

"The virus is more likely to kill you than the vaccine, that's correct." Exactly.

"The risks to young healthy people from Covid are tiny." Yes but the risks from the vaccine are much lower than that.

Correction on the ICU numbers, it's 26 children with in Oct with a "number" admitted to ICU

Being "afraid of needles or drugs" is not a valid reason against the vaccines in terms of pure risk. If someone chooses to avoid the vaccination due to their "fear of needles", they are making an illogical choice in terms of that risk.

"Places with 100% vaccination rates are seeing surges, so that's not the answer" Bizarre statement. Vaccines reduce the risk of a) contracting Covid b) transmitting Covid to others and c) the severity of Covid (which is why we see an overwhelming proportion of those in ICU and wards are unvaccinated Covid patients). Countries are naturally striving to have as many vaccinated as possible, because vaccinated people are less likely to contract, spread and die from Covid than unvaccinated people. Keyword: Less likely. It's not an absolute. Having 100% vaccination in a rate in a country does not automatically mean Covid disappears. It's just a far better situation than a country with a 50% rate.

Unless someone has a medical reason not to do so or unless they live completely isolated from everyone in a country with no Covid, then getting the vaccination is a no-brainer in terms of risk.

Yes indeed, I think it's more to get people to vaccinate, and if they have levels of 85%+ come Feb (and if the hospital situation is alright) I reckon they'll suspend the mandate

On the day they rule out mandatory jabs and all over 40's can now book a slot, it looks like Boris the clown and his band of crazy scientists are going full speed ahead with the booster program.

Another 450 K done and dusted today to smash though the 15 million barrier

7 day averages for deaths, ICU and hospitals all down for the first time in months suggest they are kicking in very quickly now.

We do, there's been no data to suggest that anyone "unvaccinated" in ICU is there because they can't take the vaccine, it's just not a thing they were tracking (unless you think there's some conspiracy to hide that information to put pressure on the rest of the vaccinated for some reason?). The only people that fit in that category are people who are a subset of who can't be vaccinated and who are also vulnerable, it's a very very small number of people.