Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

I'm pretty sure , They Don't 😏

Moron here. They're not going to be checking Covid certs for 6 year olds in play centres.

Did you attend any protests yerself?

Ah yes, Mr Collins, proof positive of the old saying "never argue with a fool, they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience".

So we have all 3 here, vaccines don't work after X time, expense and "natural immunity".

The effects against severe disease for the non-immuno compromised has remained strong across many months. What wanes is the antibodies that can fight SARS-COV2 immediately (and seems to be a reason why transmission and infection rates can increase as the time from vaccination gets longer). However, even with that waning, we're still keeping R down to 1.1-1.3 for a very transmissible virus because of the vaccines (the adult boosters should see this drop further).

Vaccines are still the cheapest option when fighting the virus, every transmission that doesn't happen, everyone that doesn't get hospitalised saves hundreds or thousands of euro vs. a cheap vaccine, the health authorities spend far more on far less effective measures.

There is absolutely no advantage to anyone in meeting a pathogen without a vaccine vs. with a vaccine, the same immune response occurs but when vaccinated the chances of severe disease are virtually eliminated and onward transmission of the virus is reduced. Yes kids should be out playing with friends, getting colds, playing in mud (which is why we have tetanus shots) but we have an early childhood vaccine program for a reason and infant mortality reduction has been the absolutely massive benefit of that.

In saying that, the risk to children is very very small, the vaccines make the risk very very very small hence why it'll be completely optional, but fearmongering about waning, expense and bigging up "natural immunity" are not arguments against vaccination, it should purely come down to risk/benefit and what the parents perceive that risk as.

And in the future, it will likely be part of the annual flu program (which is free for children) as new vaccines come online.

People posting here about moving out of Ireland like it's a big deal. Lads, we've been doing it for centuries. The grass isn't always greener though.

People on here trying to convince us that vaccines for kids or an annual booster is a bad thing. Beggars belief really

You do realise Covid is not the only thing that overcrowds hospitals.

Hospitals have been overrun for decades with people on trolleys.

Spending hundreds of millions to vaccinate kids each year who are not filling up hospitals each year is pointless.

The money being spent on these vaccines would be better spent on increasing capacity.

What else weren't they going to do?

Just take the booster so we can reopen for real this time! No, I promise for real, actually this time. This time when you all take the boosters we can get back to normal, I SWEAR!

Of course, I’m fully vaccinated for Covid also. Doesn’t mean I’ve to agree with children being vaccinated for Covid which doesn’t affect them seriously, the vaccine passport or even boosters for healthy people. None of those are necessary, maybe by booster 6 some posters might start asking questions…

Another lazy attempt at trying to label a poster as ‘anti vaxx’.

Might be better for younger healthier people to get Covid every year at this point.

The economy can open without restrictions tomorrow, the virus does not cause restrictions, they are a political response which has been deemed necessary right now because of our extremely low hospital capacity. The remaining restrictions - masks, 12 oclock closures, vax passes etc etc - may or may not be doing much to mitigate the spread, and their effectiveness is entirely contestable. The issue I see in your comment (and this applies the entire media ecosystem in this country) is that there is a basic assumption that each of these measure does actually work. The virus has come in waves regardless of any of these measures, so i think it is very questionable whether they are really accomplishing anything at this point. The only point of reference we really have (since we have not actually removed all restrictions even once since they were introduced) is what has occurred in other countries that have, e.g. the UK. Our media should be demanding the evidence that these measures have actually accomplished what is claimed by public health officials. As Carl Sagan put it once, extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence (and forcing people to wear masks everywhere and recieve a vaccine is extraordinary in terms of human history), but the narrative that is offered is basically unfalsifiable - when the case numbers go low, the claim is that the measures worked as intended; when cases spike, the claim is that people are not adhering to measures enough or that we need new measures. This is not good enough imo, and the media seem content to accept at face value what we are told. They should be interrogating, analysing, but instead they are simply repeating public health official propaganda.

As someone said above, we've heard that tale before....

I've a better question - when does our economy/society reopen with NO restrictions? Where is the endpoint here?

I for one want to go back to a REAL normal (pre-2020), not this more limited and constantly under threat of renewed restrictions society we are currently living in.

You're right about that, but I reckon both sides of the debate on this thread would probably feel its true of their counterparts too !