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

They don't have to wait and see. They know it wanes, just look at Israel it's happening there already just months after widespread boosters. Now they are talking about a fourth dose. Its madness at this stage to keep thinking each subsequent vaccine will somehow do the job.

Hospital numbers are more stable than coming down. We say what happened last Christmas, a lot of people behaved irresponsibly and the government does not want that, at least until this new variant gas been calibrated.

I should preface my post by saying that I was in favour of removing restrictions months ago and haven't changed that view.

That said, I'm surprised at the level of vehemence that this announcement had caused. This is how it was reported in The Guardian, which I coincidentally happened to read before anything here

I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. Has the government actually "restricted interactions in private settings to four households" or is it just advice?

Regardless, as I see it these relatively light restrictions won't make any difference. People will do exactly what they did last Christmas, and work around the restrictions with multiple table bookings, private parties etc. The extension in scope of COVID passes won't make a difference either.

What makes a difference to behaviour is people limiting contacts when case rates are very high, at the point when they start hearing about people they know being infected. And then Christmas comes and they forget all that.

Rather selfishly, what I care about is that the schools are open after Christmas. Last year took a heavy toll, and I don't want a repeat.

The thing I really don't get is why people are claiming to be shunning boosters as a reaction to this. If I take one it'll be to reduce the risk I pose to my last living parent and to reduce the amount of time I have to take off work (and useless to my family) if I get COVID. The exact same reasons I took the first two doses. Do other people not have these responsibilities?

People are shunning boosters because the actions of the Govt suggest that it won’t make a blind bit of difference to the removal of restrictions and the return to normality in this country.

We were sold the vision 12 months ago, that yes, 2020 was rough on everyone but we have these vaccines now and by rolling them out we can reclaim our lives back from the virus and start to live with it rather than have it consume every facet of our lives.

And, for the vast majority of people, we all agreed. We turned up at vaccine clinics/gps/pharmacies when asked and took our two shots to help get the country back on its feet and thriving again.

Only now it’s been shown that’s not the case at all. With 93% of eligible people fully vaccinated and 800,000 third doses already administered, not to mention falling ICU numbers and hospital admissions, we are back with more restrictions being levelled on us. We upheld our end of the social contract and got nothing in return.

So when the Govt are asking fit and healthy people to come forward for a third dose (and it won’t stop at three judging by Israel), people are asking why? Why are we to be continually jabbed while there isn’t a scrap of long-term planning within Govt? People are rightly sceptical about the future and the “for real guys, this jab will be the one that unlocks everything again” isn’t flying anymore when we heard the same thing a year ago and nothing changed.

“So when the Govt are asking fit and healthy people to come forward for a third dose (and it won’t stop at three judging by Israel), people are asking why? Why are we to be continually jabbed while there isn’t a scrap of long-term planning within Govt?”

To protect ourselves from a potentially nasty dose.? I don’t know about you but I have a full time job to be doing and significant caring responsibilities. I can’t be sick and if there’s a way of avoiding it I’ll take it.

i took the vaccine to protect elderly relatives - but it turns out not to do that. They have had their boosters, it would probably make more sense medically for them to have my booster in 3 months time. I don’t want or need it, and I’m damn well not being forced into it.

Reading through some of the posts and I see posts stating that people are shunning boosters.....I dont think that's true in general. The booster programme is going very well in terms of take up.

I think it will be amonger the younger groups where the uptake will slow down. As I said myself yesterday, given that the amount of places that now require the vaccine cert, I'll ultimately probably have to take a booster but doesn't mean I'm not questioning its benefits to me as someone who is in their early 40s and healthy. But at the end of the day that's a wrong reason to be taking vaccines/medicines but what choice do we have.

@JRant wrote

I work from home so don't need to stop at a positive result, only when I'm too sick to use a keyboard.

The best way for my parent's risk to get reduced is for us both to get the booster. It's amazing to me that anyone with the slightest interest in the subject could have such a poor understanding of transmission dynamics.

A quick look around the Dail will tell you everything you need to know about the calibre of gombeen elected to office in this country.

That's your opinion and not backed by reality. The best way for my own parent to reduce their risk is take a booster. You taking one won't matter a single jot to her or me for that matter.

It's probably a fair representation of the general population though. We are going backwards at a rate of noughts in this country.

They should be just told they aren't going to appear in front of the media or better again they should be disbanded.