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More miserable media :(

A few years ago, I think during Obamamania, they decided that the time on the Domesday Clock was less close to midnight than it had been. Which sort of breaks the whole concept. Not so scary if it allows for time to run backwards.

Not that it was ever anything more than smug academic chintz anyway.
 
Its also inevitable that vaccination issues would bring out the best and the worst in terms of the politics, the actions and rhetoric of states, international cooperation and international fallings-out.

Some countries showing much higher vaccination rates so far inevitably creates political pressure in countries that are doing less well. It would have been just the same with the UK if the boot had been on the other foot and we had been lagging behind various European countries. It doesnt help that since Johnson has made vaccination targets the latest propaganda gimmick in their approach (this is not a judgement about the benefits of vaccination or a dismissal of real successes, only of the crude nature of their target-based propaganda) they couldnt resist included crowing about how many doses we are administering to people compared to some other European countries.
 
Spiney Norman said:
The idea that anyone is envious of any aspect of the UK pandemic response is fucking nuts full stop

killer b said:
Its just swallowing Tory propaganda

I'm about to head to a vaccine thread for this, but it is true that despite criminally incompetent and rubbish Tories :mad: , the vaccine programme here really isn't doing all that badly at all.

All else about the pandemic though : I have to agree :(
 
Annoyingly, I can't seem to find recent big chat about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and its distribution on the other vaccine threads on this forum :confused:
**(or is there such a chat over on P & P?)

Just for now, I'll link to these (IMO) interesting Guardian articles :

Daniel Boffey (Guardian EU bureau chief) reckons that the EU's own organisational failings about securing supplies of this vaccine are highly relevant.

Nils Pratley (City/finance editor) reckons that it's best not to 'blame Astra/Zeneca for the row with the EU' [sub-headline -- second part of the link].

He also heavily hints in favour of someone leaking the contracts soon :D
 
(I'm still :confused: about whether this here thread is the best one for this chat)

But!

This latest story by Boffey is potentially worrying :

Guardian headline said:
EU could block millions of Covid vaccine doses from entering UK
European commission says new mechanism will give national regulators power to refuse exports

Following reports of a lack of doses across the bloc, the European commission announced plans to give national regulators the power to reject export requests. The development raises concerns over the continued flow of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, for which the UK has a 40m-dose order, from its plant in Belgium.
“There is a possibility in certain circumstances not to allow the export to come forward,” an official said. “Indeed, that would be the final option.”

Maybe this story is over-sensationalised -- see the words 'final option' there.

Nevertheless :

Should the UK become reliant on home-produced vaccines, securing herd immunity through the vaccination of 75% of the population could be delayed by nearly two months from 14 July to 1 September putting thousands of lives in danger, according to analysis by the data analytics firm AirFinity shared with the Guardian.
The European federation of pharmaceutical industries and associations warned that the commission plan could lead to a breakdown of global supply of vaccines. “Global supply chains are key to delivering vaccines to protect citizens … Risking retaliatory measures from other regions at this crucial moment in the fight against Covid-19 is not in anyone’s best interest,” the industry group said.

Food for thought!! :eek:
 
Haven't kept a tally but pretty sure the UK massively over ordered vaccine

I can't recall how much of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was ordered.

But I'm near-certain that UK Government ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine..

Which did seem a very high figure to me from the start :eek: ..... am I right?

ETA : I'm guessing that you have to remember that the Oxford/AZ vaccine is meant to be double-dosed.
 
And if we did? The fact that the UK government ordered millions of vacines before it was even proven is the only thing they have got right so far. It enabled AZ to get on with establishing production facilities etc, It is why we are ahead of the rest of Europe.
not having a go at the shit-show-masters (for once) just agreeing that it looks like hoarding by wealthy countries is going on (and i include the EU block as a country in that)
 
not having a go at the shit-show-masters (for once) just agreeing that it looks like hoarding by wealthy countries is going on (and i include the EU block as a country in that)

I do agree with this :(

I can only guess how bad the implications for vaccines in developing countries must be, if there are production and supply problems in the UK and EU :(

Saying that, should the biggest emphasis of all be upon fixing these supply issues?

Rather than kicking off a UK/EU 'trade war' about it.
 
Saying that, should the biggest emphasis of all be upon fixing these supply issues

Leaving AZ alone to get on with their jobs would be the biggest help. Remember mfg is working away under all the countries covid restrictions. These are adding stress to the system hugely - including higher than normal absence rates due to employees catching covid. Planting fake bombs at factories also doesn't help :eek:
 
Leaving AZ alone to get on with their jobs would be the biggest help.

I agree with the above 100% or even 110%! :oldthumbsup:

Remember mfg is working away under all the countries covid restrictions. These are adding stress to the system hugely - including higher than normal absence rates due to employees catching covid. Planting fake bombs at factories also doesn't help :eek:

:( about that bomb story, but even more than that, :mad:
 
not having a go at the shit-show-masters (for once) just agreeing that it looks like hoarding by wealthy countries is going on (and i include the EU block as a country in that)

It's not so much about hoarding, but more to do with wealthy countries throwing money at various vaccine developers & manufactures in order to ensure they had plenty of money to speed everything up, and hedging bets because not all vaccines are likely to be successful, some have already failed to produce the results required.

For example, the UK pre-ordered IIRC six different vaccines, only two are approved so far (pfizer & AZ), with a third (novavax) heading towards approval, that's a bit of a miracle TBH, and there's every possibility the other three may fail.

We certainly have more than enough doses on order, which means any we don't need can be diverted elsewhere, the UK & others are already committed to funding over a billion doses for poorer countries.
 
It's not so much about hoarding, but more to do with wealthy countries throwing money at various vaccine developers & manufactures in order to ensure they had plenty of money to speed everything up, and hedging bets because not all vaccines are likely to be successful, some have already failed to produce the results required.

For example, the UK pre-ordered IIRC six different vaccines, only two are approved so far (pfizer & AZ), with a third (novavax) heading towards approval, that's a bit of a miracle TBH, and there's every possibility the other three may fail.

We certainly have more than enough doses on order, which means any we don't need can be diverted elsewhere, the UK & others are already committed to funding over a billion doses for poorer countries.
The UK actively kept prices of the vaccines higher than they should have been for developing countries. And they may have committed to supplying some but those vaccines aren't getting to those countries yet because we are monopolising them. Do not very yay us.
 
India did the protectionist thing recently. They are able to produce enough vaccines for the UK to reach heard immunity in two weeks. You can’t really blame them though.

The Novax approval will ease this tension. It’s a bit irritating the EU wants to divert vaccines away from a country with the worst death rate in Europe.
 
The UK actively kept prices of the vaccines higher than they should have been for developing countries. And they may have committed to supplying some but those vaccines aren't getting to those countries yet because we are monopolising them. Do not very yay us.

The UK has produced a vaccine that costs €2 a dose as they have agreed to not make a profit from the vaccine till the pandemic is over. The Pfizer vaccine is €20 a dose.
The Oxford vaccine will be manufactured all over the world. Brazil and Mexico have capacity to manufacture enough to sort central and southern America out.
 
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