Over the years, there's been plenty of times I've caught a bug and thought it was flu, but nothing comes close to what I went through recently for ~4 weeks in terms of leg/knee pain; leg weakness; general fatigue. Ironically, I have my first ever flu jab booked for tomorrow, if I don't get a phonecall like last year telling me the day before that they've ran out of stock.
Hoping I'll hear from my GP surgery soon for my Covid booster, albeit I'm dreading the side effects after what I went through in April and June, with a bit of luck the switch to Pfizer/Moderna from the OxAZ might help... I'll get a hint this weekend, as my mum had similar OxAZ side effects and she has her booster this Friday.
Congrats @batfink that will be exciting for the kids
(Grandma Reeksy is staying on Skype for a while yet).
We stood up a big booster clinic in the foyer of our largest hospital this week. It's super impressive. Open access to any staff needing a top up jab (that have 6 months off the back).
@Nobeerinthefridge - So a fully vaccinated person should be called a Prescott, presumably?
Great news batfink.
Had no real side effects from my first 2 AZ jabs, apart from feeling (a bit more) tired and lethargic than usual.
Had the Moderna booster last week, no lethargy this time, managed a 60 mile ride the day after, hit gave had a lovely rash on my arm this week around the injection site. According to the leaflet it's a 1 in 10 side effect, so no worries here.
Quick question re boosters, for my first and 2nd jab I received a text from the local GP office offering bookings locally. Will I get the same for the booster? Or should I go through the online NHS system to book a slot? My preference would be the former as it wouldn't involving traveling to another town for the injection but I don't want to be waiting in vain...
For context, late 40's and my surgery is nigh on impossibe to contact for questions like this.
Finally, is there something wrong with the world when STW is the best source of reliable info available in a pandemic?
Batfink - great news!
Harry - the GP booking system , and online are totally separate. There is nothing to stop you booking your booster online, and if the GP one pops up, taking that instead.
everyone thinks their version of flu was worse than everyone elses, and it you didnt have it as bad as them then you didn't really have flu at all.
if we didn't have widespread and easy access to testing, then i'm sure we'd be seeing exactly the same attitude to covid-19.
'if you could get up off your ventilator and pick up that £20 note then you didn't really have covid...'
Quick question re boosters, for my first and 2nd jab I received a text from the local GP office offering bookings locally. Will I get the same for the booster? Or should I go through the online NHS system to book a slot? My preference would be the former as it wouldn’t involving traveling to another town for the injection but I don’t want to be waiting in vain…
For context, late 40’s and my surgery is nigh on impossibe to contact for questions like this.
Finally, is there something wrong with the world when STW is the best source of reliable info available in a pandemic?
i had my first two at the local GP, booked booster via NHS site. got offered sites all over the place and none of the big centres. Having it at a small pharmacy in plymouth. if the GP offer it to me before the 22nd dec then i'll get it there instead.
I've never had flu, thankfully!.
‘if you couldn’t get up off your ventilator and pick up that £20 note then you didn’t really have covid…’
It was a fiver when I was a kid.
I reckon proper full-on covid in 2021 requires the £50 note test.
dammit, someone quoted my typo before I changed it...
most of the people I know who've had full-blown covid went dark on social media for a week or two.
maybe the test should be if you can you pick your phone up and update your status you don't really have covid.
cough, sniffle, cough, snotting, blow nose is not flu; see mrlebowski’s post ^^^
dr google is not an approved source for medical diagnoses.Influenza (flu) can cause mild to severe illness
@frankconway not diagnosis, but a quick consult with 'dr google' will find you articles such as the below on respected sites (which seems to suggest 1 in 3 asymptomatic for flu)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646474/
Anyway, it matters not. Plus I see you agree that influenza cam cause mild illness in any case
Anyway, it matters not. Plus I see you agree that influenza cam cause mild illness in any case
maybe we should be testing and isolating for flu. it kills quite a lot of people....
maybe we should be testing and isolating for flu. it kills quite a lot of people….
Or, like many Asian countries, wear face coverings out of courtesy in public places during flu season.
Or, like many Asian countries, wear face coverings out of courtesy in public places during flu season.
This +++++++++++++++
Or, like many Asian countries, wear face coverings out of courtesy in public places during flu season.
This plus one - it's not ****ing rocket science, nor an infringement of my hooman rites
Well, this doesn't sound good.
New heavily mutated variant appears in South Africa. Fingers well and truly crossed this is just a scare.
New latest form is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far - and it has such a long list of mutations that it was described by one scientist as "horrific".
https://mobile.twitter.com/PeacockFlu/status/1463176829016186893?s=20
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59418127
Or, like many Asian countries, wear face coverings out of courtesy in public places during flu season.
No, stop trying to create a sterile environment
Nobody is trying to create a sterile environment and would fail if they tried. Limiting the spread of dangerous pathogens however, that's a pretty good idea.
Nobody is trying to create a sterile environment and would fail if they tried. Limiting the spread of dangerous pathogens however, that’s a pretty good idea.
Last year, nobody got colds or flu on the scale that they normally do
This year, the colds and flu are off the scale. You could argue that forever mask wearing and sanitising, we'll never have big cold and flu outbreaks again.
I'm not in that camp, I'd rather catch bugs and build up some resistance.
I'm not a medical professional though, so could be talking bollocks as usual
No, stop trying to create a sterile environment
You are mistaken in attribution of mask wearing to a sterile environment,
Got my Pfizer booster on my AstroZen first two today. Didn't even feel it thanks to a competent nurse and no effects on the last 13hrs. I'm well happy.
, I’d rather catch bugs and build up some resistance.
I’m not a medical professional though, so could be talking bollocks as usual
If you've never had a virus before then you haven't built up any specific antibody resistance, you're just relying on your general imune system. Not catching it, or more importantly not giving it to vulnerable people is better than catching it and spreading it.
People seem to have forgotten that the mask wearing is to protect others, the alternative is an I'm-alrigh-Jack attitude which will lead to more deaths.
Stunning to see the anti mask debate is still raging.
I received my first ever negative comment about wearing a mask in a shop today oddly. Guy says to his make words to the effect of "why the **** is he still wearing masks?" I just sighed to myself and went about finishing the shopping.
Best hope that new variant isn't too. We just can't seem to keep ourselves.
That escalated fast, several south African states hit with travel restrictions due to new variant.
Realistically it's probably already here? It'll slow its progress whilst it's studied though I suppose.
I swear, nobody reads my posts.😉😁
I wish scientists wouldn't use words like "horrific" in the context of Covid. Not reassuring to hear. Ah well, buckle up chaps.
To be fair, they seem to have been much quicker with the travel ban this time.
I can think of several cynical anti government comments to add, but I'm not feeling it tonight.
^^ I agree mate, I'm relieved to see the restrictions come on so fast.
Someone, somewhere is learning from past mistakes.👍
Reacting fast, when it’s those pesky Africans we can throw under the bus.
I bet we wouldn’t have been so hasty to slap a red list on certain other countries.
Either way, is it a fairly simple and quick process to add this variant to the vaccine once it’s been identified?
On mask wearing - its still very much the norm in scotland - does anyone know if this has shown any variation in infection rates? It would seem to be a good case study - two areas with otherwise similar issues but one with high mask wearing and one with low. should be some recognisable difference?
Ta - I'm just being too lazy to dig thru the data and hoping someone on here has
It's also a reminder of what the WHO have been saying all the way along.
None of us are out of this until we all are, through global vaccination.
Either way, is it a fairly simple and quick process to add this variant to the vaccine once it’s been identified?
Regardless of whether it is or not, it won’t be a quick process to roll out to the masses. If we have to start from scratch we’ll be shafted
Slightly more optimistically however, there is no evidence this is actually particularly infectious. And even if it is I suppose it may end up being less deadly. Fingers crossed eh!
^^ Fingers crossed.
I tend to like it when this thread has fallen way off the front page of the site.😁
On mask wearing – its still very much the norm in scotland – does anyone know if this has shown any variation in infection rates? It would seem to be a good case study – two areas with otherwise similar issues but one with high mask wearing and one with low. should be some recognisable difference?
Throughout summer, infection rates in Scotland were well above those in England despite the difference in mask-wearing policy. On first reading, one could suggest that mask wearing has actually made things worse. However, that "masks" all sorts of other reasons for the differential.
My theory is that rates in Scotland were higher in the summer because they had been lower throughout last year so there were simply more "targets" for the virus. This same behaviour can be seen on a more local scale by comparing the infection rates in Highland Region with those in Edinburgh, Glasgow etc. where, again, Highland rates have been in excess of the cities.
If you split England up into blocks as big as Scotland (by land or population) you’ll find that some areas had levels just as high as Scotland all summer and autumn. M62 corridor for example.
I’m reading poopscoop. Trying not to comment much on this thread at the moment. Christina Pagel explained the B.1.1.529 situation very well earlier today, and was calling for precautionary red listing of the countries hit. I was going to post her Twitter thread here, but anything other than going along with the “stopping people from catching it is making things worse, thousands of hospitalisation and deaths was the smart move… let’s keep ‘em coming” gaslighting line seem unwelcome in this thread at the moment. Fingers crossed for Christmas… really want to see all the family this year.
I’m reading poopscoop
Not aimed at your @kelvin, was a gentle nudge at tp for being "guilty" of what I do all the time. Skim reading.lol
Yeah, the thread is going through "one of its patches" but unfortunately I'll be reading it again for sometime.
Totally get where you are coming from regarding Christmas and the associated positivity many of is need this winter.
Heck, I'm normally a bit meh with Christmas but I'm a little more forgiving of it this year.
Everything well and truly crossed here too.
Aus news is reporting a new delta variant in South Africa? And we're looking at opening borders when we hit 90% vax.... But surely the (current) vax will be ineffective against a new more "deadly" variant?? So we're back to square one?
Anyone had a "booster" yet?
Do try to keep up Aphex 🙂
Yeah, I've had booster as has my mother. Pretty good uptake in the UK I believe.
Consensus seems to be that it will be a few weeks to collect data from vaccinated people being exposed to the new variant to see if there is risk of evasion/higher deaths.
An anxious few weeks for the world really.
If it totally evades the vaccines (huge if) then we are back to square one which is terrifying. Yes, the vaccines can be modified but they then need manufacturing and another huge rollout. Globally. Not sure our poor old NHS can cope with that this winter/spring in the UK. It's spent.
All this is just my opinion of course.
I don't know how to the quote thing but up there someone says its a bad year for flu's and cold. I know lots of people have had bad colds but do we actually know about flu yet or are we just presuming it will be bad?
My theory is that rates in Scotland were higher in the summer because they had been lower throughout last year so there were simply more “targets” for the virus. This same behaviour can be seen on a more local scale by comparing the infection rates in Highland Region with those in Edinburgh, Glasgow etc. where, again, Highland rates have been in excess of the cities.
I agree Colin, Moray is much the same. Having had far lower rates than most of the mainland we're now second in the league 😉 It is dropping again now though thankfully.
All boostered and flu jabbed in this house, other than waiting for my teenage son to get his one jab.
Crossing fingers and toes with this new variant in general but also as we really want to see family this Christmas and a house move is on the cards around then too 😣
New super deadly variant right on cue for Christmas
Cynic, me?
But surely the (current) vax will be ineffective against a new more “deadly” variant??
Has anyone seen a reliable report that it is more deadly yet?
While it's a concern, really not helpful throwing emotive term like that about without any evidence.
Prompt action needed and seems to be being taken. Whether that's the government learning from past mistakes in terms of last winters poor response to new variants and the resulting peak in deaths, or they just don't want to gave to cancel the Christmas sp many are desperate for, I'm not sure
