Remaining Effects of Covid

[davews]

Still a lot of reminders about covid in various places. Last week I had a couple of hospital appointments at Royal Berks. The leaflet with information about the hospital had a request to wear a mask. But it also suggested I used the Winnersh Triangle park and ride, which closed two years ago... Fortunately it was nearly 100% normal and mask free when I arrived.
Yesterday I ordered full fibre from BT. One of the emails told me that the Open Reach engineer would be wearing a mask and would be following the government guidance about covid (with a link!).
Then today I noticed when walking into town, Bracknell, when I entered the pedestrianised area, there was still a large sign on a post telling me 'Covid, keep your distance'...
We will never get rid of these.

 

[Richard Scott]

Still a lot of reminders about covid in various places. Last week I had a couple of hospital appointments at Royal Berks. The leaflet with information about the hospital had a request to wear a mask. But it also suggested I used the Winnersh Triangle park and ride, which closed two years ago... Fortunately it was nearly 100% normal and mask free when I arrived.
Yesterday I ordered full fibre from BT. One of the emails told me that the Open Reach engineer would be wearing a mask and would be following the government guidance about covid (with a link!).
Then today I noticed when walking into town, Bracknell, when I entered the pedestrianised area, there was still a large sign on a post telling me 'Covid, keep your distance'...
We will never get rid of these.

Went into doctor's today and there were signs on the doors saying about keeping 2m apart. Nurse was wearing a mask to do blood tests. Don't remember that in the past. Can I ask why? What difference would a nask make I doing a blood test?

 

[gswindale]

There is still a covid notice on one of the entrances to the building our office is in.

Does it bother me? Not in the slightest - it's like all those shops in parts of London that still have the 071/081 or even 01 phone numbers on them.

But, I really don't see why people get upset about requesting to keep your distance from others? It's just respectful to do so. I really hate it when I'm in a queue and the person behind is right up my a**s. It isn't going to get you through any quicker, so you might as well wait a few paces behind so that you're less likely to feel the after effects of my baked beans.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2023 ==

Still a lot of reminders about covid in various places. Last week I had a couple of hospital appointments at Royal Berks. The leaflet with information about the hospital had a request to wear a mask. But it also suggested I used the Winnersh Triangle park and ride, which closed two years ago... Fortunately it was nearly 100% normal and mask free when I arrived.
Yesterday I ordered full fibre from BT. One of the emails told me that the Open Reach engineer would be wearing a mask and would be following the government guidance about covid (with a link!).
Then today I noticed when walking into town, Bracknell, when I entered the pedestrianised area, there was still a large sign on a post telling me 'Covid, keep your distance'...
We will never get rid of these.

Think there is a park and ride from TVP to the hospital these days, so not quite Winnersh Triangle. Just a shame it goes there and not to the town centre though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Went into doctor's today and there were signs on the doors saying about keeping 2m apart. Nurse was wearing a mask to do blood tests. Don't remember that in the past. Can I ask why? What difference would a nask make I doing a blood test?

Because doctor surgeries tend to contain lots of sick people. If I worked in one I'd give serious consideration to wearing an effective FFP3 mask. It's not even similar to flimsy pieces of fabric, it stops them catching whatever viruses people bring in.

 

[Richard Scott]

Because doctor surgeries tend to contain lots of sick people. If I worked in one I'd give serious consideration to wearing an effective FFP3 mask. It's not even similar to flimsy pieces of fabric, it stops them catching whatever viruses people bring in.

She was taking blood samples in a room totally separate from rest of surgery and only wearing a flimsy blue one. Not sure that would help.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Depends which vaccine and on the individual. The AZ vaccine did bring quite unpleasant side effects in most people (sadly the AZ vaccine was the villain of the piece and rather discredited the idea of the vaccines at all), but Pfizer and Moderna usually didn't. I didn't get anything noticeable that I recall - if anything at all perhaps a slightly elevated temperature for a day or two. Whereas when I got COVID it was extremely unpleasant - like a very bad flu and with a severe effect on my breathing (I'm asthmatic) - I was close to going to A&E or calling 999 at points, probably would have done had it not only lasted a day or so. And that was *with* the vaccine - I hate to think what it'd have been like* without.

I do take the flu vaccine, and would definitely take an annual COVID vaccine too. I would probably pay about £20-30 for this.

* Any anti-vaxx posts claiming that the vaccine had no effect and was some sort of conspiracy will be ignored; there is peer-reviewed evidence that the vaccines did work to reduce severity so this is demonstrably false. I recognise that people have the choice not to take it like with any other vaccine or medical treatment, but suggesting it doesn't work is factually and provably incorrect. Not of course saying you're saying that because you're not, but just for anyone else.

I guess the study ignores the fact that the vaccine game my mother pulmonary embolisms in her chest and could have killed her and that even now she is taking drugs to stop it doing so to the detriment of other serious conditions. I spent last Saturday in The hospital with her giving me the goodbye speech before we thought she was going in for risky surgery.



Ho hum, “not one more death”

 

[Mikw]

She was taking blood samples in a room totally separate from rest of surgery and only wearing a flimsy blue one. Not sure that would help.

It might be that some of the patients find it be reassuring.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I guess the study ignores the fact that the vaccine game my mother pulmonary embolisms in her chest and could have killed her and that even now she is taking drugs to stop it doing so to the detriment of other serious conditions. I spent last Saturday in The hospital with her giving me the goodbye speech before we thought she was going in for risky surgery.

Ho hum, “not one more death”

AstraZeneca, presumably?

 

[DustyBin]

Ah yes the same tier system which mysteriously kept the Westminster bubble in tier 2 when other areas of the country with lower infection rates were tier 3

That’ll be the one!

I wouldn't!

Me neither, but we were among the “dissenters” last time so that’s no surprise really.

It might be that some of the patients find it be reassuring.

But should we be pandering to such neurotic tendencies?

Apologies (genuinely) if that sounds disparaging; I don’t blame the individuals, and if the government hadn’t acted so irresponsibly those people probably wouldn’t need reassurance at this stage.

 

[nw1]

AstraZeneca, presumably?

As I said above I did take the AZ vaccine (April and June 2021), and suffered no ill-effects.

However if (as you seem to be saying) it did have significant side-effects, why were people in good health and low risk of severe illness from Covid (such as myself, for instance) encouraged to take it - given that the aim of the vaccines is to reduce severe illness, not transmission?

 

[Bletchleyite]

As I said above I did take the AZ vaccine (April and June 2021), and suffered no ill-effects.

However if (as you seem to be saying) it did have significant side-effects, why were people in good health and low risk of severe illness from Covid (such as myself, for instance) encouraged to take it - given that the aim of the vaccines is to reduce severe illness, not transmission?

When the issues were found and proven, the policy on the AZ vaccine changed. The clotting issues were very, very rare on the others.

 

[VauxhallandI]

AstraZeneca, presumably?

I don’t know which one she had, odds on it was as it was early doors

 

[Richard Scott]

It might be that some of the patients find it be reassuring.

Really? We're over that now. A clutching at straws statement there.

 

[island]

Really? We're over that now. A clutching at straws statement there.

I realise that this forum leans strongly against masks and in favour of “the old normal” – as indeed I personally do – but there is a much wider range of views amongst the general public.

 

[DustyBin]

I realise that this firm leans strongly against masks and in favour of “the old normal” – as indeed I personally do – but there is a much wider range of views amongst the general public.

True, but the number of people who want the “reassurance” of masks is demonstrably very small. Within this small minority, I suspect a significant number are completely misinformed re the efficacy of surgical masks (or pieces of cloth). There’s therefore no real case for wearing them in this context.

 

[Richard Scott]

I realise that this forum leans strongly against masks and in favour of “the old normal” – as indeed I personally do – but there is a much wider range of views amongst the general public.

To be honest I think there is very little appetite for masks now. Very few people now wear them in any setting. Occasionally I may see the odd one worn in a supermarket.

 

[yorksrob]

To be honest I don't think there is. Very few people now wear masks in any setting. Occasionally I may see the odd one worn in a supermarket.

This is my observation as well. I see very few people wearing masks, which suggests to me that most people don't want them.

 

[adc82140]

Because doctor surgeries tend to contain lots of sick people. If I worked in one I'd give serious consideration to wearing an effective FFP3 mask. It's not even similar to flimsy pieces of fabric, it stops them catching whatever viruses people bring in.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, as a healthcare professional I will do nothing of the sort, and I aim not to create barriers, physical or psychological, between me and my patients. The NHS is like a conveyor belt, and the interaction between the clinician and the patient makes all the difference. A smile and "I hope everything is OK" is far better than a blank space, what sounds like "mmfffl phlfffl" through a FFP3 mask to the patient and generally being treated as a vector of disease rather than a human being.

 

[VauxhallandI]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, as a healthcare professional I will do nothing of the sort, and I aim not to create barriers, physical or psychological, between me and my patients. The NHS is like a conveyor belt, and the interaction between the clinician and the patient makes all the difference. A smile and "I hope everything is OK" is far better than a blank space, what sounds like "mmfffl phlfffl" through a FFP3 mask to the patient and generally being treated as a vector of disease rather than a human being.

Wonderful to hear, thank you

 

[317 forever]

Ah yes the same tier system which mysteriously kept the Westminster bubble in tier 2 when other areas of the country with lower infection rates were tier 3

And of course, a handful in Westminster behaved as though as they were in tier 0, including the recent Honourable Member for Uxbridge & South Ruislip.

 

[johnnychips]

I am currently sat outside a bar in Barcelona, same as one year ago. Then, bizarrely, the only place masks were required was on public transport. About 60% of people ignored it on trains and trams unless a security guard came round. Rather more complied on buses for obvious reasons.

Apparently this strange policy, which continued for a few months after. Of course nobody is wearing masks today.

I do think in a few years’ time, people will think ‘what on earth were we doing, and why did we put up with it?’

 

[317 forever]

The first time I noticed this I was shocked. I mean hand sanitiser disappearing from the entrances to supermarkets. Now they have become quite rare.

 

[Enthusiast]

I do think in a few years’ time, people will think ‘what on earth were we doing, and why did we put up with it?’

No need to wait a few years. I think that now and have done so for some time.

 

[MikeWM]

I guess the study ignores the fact that the vaccine game my mother pulmonary embolisms in her chest and could have killed her and that even now she is taking drugs to stop it doing so to the detriment of other serious conditions. I spent last Saturday in The hospital with her giving me the goodbye speech before we thought she was going in for risky surgery.

I'm terribly sorry to hear that I think the treatment of those injured by the vaccines has been one of the most distasteful things of all over the last few years (and there are awful lot of things to pick from) - they're terribly inconvenient to the narrative of 'safe and effective', as they did what they were told to do by everyone from the Queen downwards, and were damaged as a result, and so have effectively been sidelined and erased from memory by almost everyone.

They get banned from most social media for trying to discuss their issues and when trying to form support groups. The government scheme offers derisory compensation, is very hard to meet the criteria for, and the processing is so slow it will take many years to get through the backlog.

Whatever else one thinks of him and his opinions, it was only Mark Steyn, first on GB News and now on his own channels, that gave these people a voice and tried to keep them in some sort of focus. He deserves great credit for that.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I'm terribly sorry to hear that I think the treatment of those injured by the vaccines has been one of the most distasteful things of all over the last few years (and there are awful lot of things to pick from) - they're terribly inconvenient to the narrative of 'safe and effective', as they did what they were told to do by everyone from the Queen downwards, and were damaged as a result, and so have effectively been sidelined and erased from memory by almost everyone.

They get banned from most social media for trying to discuss their issues and when trying to form support groups. The government scheme offers derisory compensation, is very hard to meet the criteria for, and the processing is so slow it will take many years to get through the backlog.

Whatever else one thinks of him and his opinions, it was only Mark Steyn, first on GB News and now on his own channels, that gave these people a voice and tried to keep them in some sort of focus. He deserves great credit for that.

Yep the worst thing for is that she is medically trained and couldn’t get a proper conversation with any Dr about taking the vaccine and boosters.

All she get get would be one liners about it being the right thing, no tailored medical advice.

Shameful NHS

 

[J-2739]

The first time I noticed this I was shocked. I mean hand sanitiser disappearing from the entrances to supermarkets. Now they have become quite rare.

The local CEX still has hand sanitiser booths at the entrance. I sometimes apply some on my hands as it's got such a nice smell.

 

[Red Onion]

Yep the worst thing for is that she is medically trained and couldn’t get a proper conversation with any Dr about taking the vaccine and boosters.

All she get get would be one liners about it being the right thing, no tailored medical advice.

Shameful NHS

Having suffered (and still am) at the hands of AZ, I fully sympathise with this. Without going into it too much, I experienced a very dark and uncaring NHS whilst attempting to get help, I ended up having to spend thousands on tests etc. Shameful is the polite word that I’d use!

 

[Peter Sarf]

On the other side of the coin are people like my partner. We got Covid before the vaccinations were available. I was out cold (so to speak) with a fever for almost seven days. I don't think she was so bad but she is still lumbered with long Covid. If only the Vaccine had been available. We later heard two of her friends died just before we got Covid so she feels very lucky. So I think we need to know how many peoples lives were saved by the Vaccine and how many peoples lives were lost because of the vaccine.

 

[Bletchleyite]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, as a healthcare professional I will do nothing of the sort, and I aim not to create barriers, physical or psychological, between me and my patients. The NHS is like a conveyor belt, and the interaction between the clinician and the patient makes all the difference. A smile and "I hope everything is OK" is far better than a blank space, what sounds like "mmfffl phlfffl" through a FFP3 mask to the patient and generally being treated as a vector of disease rather than a human being.

That is your choice and must be respected. Others make other choices, which must also be respected.

 

[birchesgreen]

That is your choice and must be respected. Others make other choices, which must also be respected.

No no thats wrong, on this forum you must respect my choice and your choice is wrong and idiotic