Encouraging, but we’re yet to see any data from the grand reopening.
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If anyone you know is refusing the vaccine, they might want to have a look at this…
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So, I had my test today. We have had reports of the handful of community run testing sites requiring 5-6 hour waits to be seen, so I focused on trying to find an appointment at a local commercial facility (still free at point of care). Despite an extensive search and a willingness to travel, I could not find anything prior to this morning when searching on Sunday. given the long waits at the community sites, I assumed that meant all the testing sites were jungles. It wasnt. I was in and out in 2 minutes.
I’ve spent all morning trying to reconcile the difficulty of getting an appointment with the ease of the appointment once I got there. There only thing I can think of is we still have limitations of supply rather than number of sites per se, and that blows my mind. Had you have taken an undergrad course in Epidemiology 2 years ago you’d have learned that the basis of combating an outbreak of a contagious disease is contact tracing, which requires widespread availability of robust and reliable tests with a quick turn around. 18 months into this thing and still having to wait 2 days for a test and a further 3-4 days for results is a complete failure.
If we cannot get to a point where you realise you need a test and can go and get your test and your results before the end of the day, we’re going to struggle to get this under control.
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Don you have auto-tests? They can be useful when visiting older or fragile relatives, if you experience symptoms and so on. I occasionally use them, we get them for free in any drugstore here.
From what I know the all the at home tests with rapid turn around are antigen tests, and those dont really have the accuracy required for the sort of decisions Im trying to make. I think if your reason to get tested is because you need frequent tests for work or travel then they’re probably good enough (although I dont think most countries accept them for international travel), but if you have a specific reason to get tested I think a PCR is required.
They aren’t accepted for international travel. It’s much more a sort of auto-check. You have a doubt? You take one of these. If the test is positive, then you’ll have to do a PCR in order to confirm it.
The concern with the sort of targeted testing I needed is the false negatives. If you are taking a test because you have a reason to be concerned about infection, as I was, then these miss about 20% of cases of those with symptoms and about 40% of positive cases in those without symptoms.
It’s just not responsible of me to go and get a test to determine how I should respond and take one with that high a failure rate when better ones are readily available.
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I imagine this is something that the UK is going to have to start doing in the next month or so, if only to ensure people are well protected heading towards winter. Particularly as there will be those (in the more vulnerable cohorts) approaching six months from when they had their second jab.
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It is also thought provoking, for example how will boosters affect the distribution of vaccines world wide?
I also thought some enlightenment might be forth coming on the effectiveness of strategies, thinking that UK extended the delay of the second dose, europe in general didn’t. Would be intersting to see if one strategy or another gave longer cover etc.
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The booster thing is such a minefield, mostly for the ethical reasons Flobs points out. While one of our concerns over this vaccine has always been its persistence, there isnt yet good evidence of its need. A lot of the breakthrough infection data point towards waning immunity, but it is only 1 theoretical cause and from what Ive seen not the most likely. However, it feels people are pulling in that direction.
It still feels to me that the most effective means of using the supply that exists is to get the remaining hold outs double jabbed to reduce the number of effective carriers in the community, thus making breakthroughs less of a concern in already vaccinated people. In the US we’re now finally moving towards restrictions that if they are not mandates in theory they are approaching it in practice. I always felt this would happen like a damn busting…only taking a few places to institute it and see the uptick in vaccination for it to become more widespread. Fingers crossed.
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I’m getting so tired of Covid. It seems like no matter what we do in the US it just isn’t going to get better as newer more dangerous variants are coming our way. Delta’s kicking butt right now and The Lambda variant has been identified in the US. My wife and I are fully vaccinated and we’re still following all prior mitigation guidelines. Not taking any damn chances! I firmly believe we will never see our old “Normal,” this is our new Normal as Covid will be with us from now on!
What exactly does the booster entail? Is there a difference between the RNA and vector vaccines? Is it only one jab? How long after the first vaccination is it required?
Can this bloody thing just go away?
not when there’s a large, ignorant percentage of the population who insist on not getting their vaccination. It may well be that the virus can continue to exist and just not infect those with the vaccine, an asymptomatic carrier? I’m not sure if that’s been determined yet.
Canada has passed the 70% first-dose threshold and 60% second-dose threshold.
Border to USA is still closed.
Border to US closed should be the default option
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doesn’t help folks like me who own property there and haven’t been able to check on it since Mar 2020…still paying for all the associated expenses every month.
Sorry, I was just being facetious 
My test came back negative. But I now have 3 friends who are in isolation waiting for test results after outbreaks among kids in their kids’ classes.
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