For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840349
The management of the vaccine programme by the NHS has been exemplary, it's interesting to note that other countries' healthcare services seem to have had more "help" and so fared quite a lot less well......

I also noted that the PM is now on message with the need for precautions alongside vaccination, so I wonder if he and the Cabinet are finally listening to someone who knows what they're doing.

I also wonder about the issues of trust, anecdotal evidence from watching TV interviews on the news seems to suggest that many folk here in the UK do actually trust the NHS, I don't know how that plays out across the channel.
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#1840356
The difference is that the UK hasn’t treated vaccines as politics. The result is that this 52yo had his 2nd OxAz dose last week, his 48yo little brother had his 1st a month ago and we had a fabulous ribeye under the stars last night wondering how badly wrong it’s going in other places. So badly wrong that Putin is about to walk his military into Ukraine again because Merkel and Macron utterly screwed up.
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#1840367
14 April BBC Europe summary:

"The delay in rolling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is proving a headache for European governments that are relying on it to meet national vaccination targets.

Spain’s vaccine programme has started slowly and it was expecting 5.5 million doses of the Janssen dose (as it is known in Europe) by the end of June. Belgium received its first delivery of the single-dose vaccine on Monday – it says it’ll wait for a “clear signal” from the EU’s medicines agency before deciding which age group will receive it. German immunology expert Carsten Watzl wants the government in Berlin to focus on securing other vaccine deliveries to ensure under-60s are inoculated.

Lockdown in France has led to “significant and immediate health benefits” from a fall in pollution levels, according to the SPF public health agency. There has been an estimated fall of 2,300 deaths from exposure to particulate matter and another 1,200 from nitrogen dioxide linked to traffic.

France has suspended fights to and from Brazil because of concerns surrounding the P-1 Covid-19 variant prevalent in the country. Two flights will arrive in France this morning which took off before the midnight ban came into force.

Germany has reported more than 21,000 new infections in the past 24 hours and a rising seven-day incidence rate of 153.2.

A Dutch programme to hold test events with audiences is to continue later this week with 1,500 people attending a music award festival in Utrecht. Further big events will take place on 24 April with audiences of 8,000 and 10,000. Everyone needs a negative test before the event and then five days afterwards too.

In Croatia, Zagreb’s tourist board is offering half-price coronavirus tests to tourists who spend at least one night in the city. It wants them to extend their stay without worrying about their return home."

.. and Austrian Health Minister quits because of 'exhaustion':

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56735927
#1840378
kanga wrote:
eltonioni wrote:.. Putin is about to walk his military into Ukraine again because Merkel and Macron utterly screwed up.


I don't see the connexion .. :scratch:

There are loads.
Gas and agriculture.
Nord Stream 2 and sanctions.
Sanctions and farmers.
Renewables and coal power stations.
American troops in Germany and NATO.

Loads, but mainly Nord Stream 2 and French farmers.
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840390
kanga wrote:A Dutch programme to hold test events with audiences is to continue later this week with 1,500 people attending a music award festival in Utrecht. Further big events will take place on 24 April with audiences of 8,000 and 10,000. Everyone needs a negative test before the event


Yep...

and then five days afterwards too.


Turns out the test after the event was not mandatory or enforced and hardly anyone bothered after the first one which to me makes a complete mockery of the idea. Dunno if this has changed.
#1840400
skydriller wrote:I see all the connections other than Agriculture & French Farmers... :scratch:
(And Im happy to be educated as always...)

French attitude to EU sanctions on Russia (ignoring/ lobbying for removal) after the last time Putin wandered into Ukraine to annexe the Crimea.

The German and French geopolitical nativity is a godsend for Putin's regime and we all know what happened the last time Russia made a pact with Germany. French politicians just need to get over themselves instead of trying to recreate the 18th century. As usual, the more that politicians do, the worse they make things for regular people. I'm utterly baffled at how they are continuing with Nord Stream 2, even with the US related party sanctions in place.

Dragging me back on topic :lol: , apparently, the Sputnik that's being distributed isn't the same Sputnik that was reviewed in the Lancet etc. And if that wasn't mad enough, while Russia builds up troops on the Ukrainian border they look to the Sputnik vaccine to save face and paper over the utter shambles of a vaccine programme. You couldn't make this stuff up.
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840424
@eltonioni , as I said, I get the Nordstream2 connection, but still cant see how French Farmers relate to this - you have only generally mentioned the general left lean of Franco-German politics... which I dont disagree with, but...???

Regards, SD..
#1840585
15 April BBC Europe summary:

"Germany’s rising infection number – 29,426 in the past 24 hours – has prompted intensive care doctors to appeal for urgent action. Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a nationwide emergency brake including a night-time curfew and school closures where incidence rates are high – but legal experts have raised concerns, particularly about the curfew. Leading emergency medicine specialist Christian Karagiannidis says there’s no time to wait.

The Swiss will be able to return to cafes and restaurants outdoors from Monday, and cinemas and theatres will start allowing audiences of 50 people. Football stadiums, concerts and other outdoor events will be allowed to admit 100 people if they wear masks.

France will become the third country in Western Europe, probably this evening, to surpass 100,000 Covid deaths after the UK and Italy. There is no let-up in the country's third wave with almost 6,000 people in intensive care - the highest number since mid-April last year. President Emmanuel Macron will chair a cabinet meeting this evening on a plan to reopen outdoor catering and eventually culture venues.

Italy reported another 469 deaths yesterday evening, bringing the death toll to 115,557. But hospital numbers are falling – with 3,490 in intensive care. Italian health officials have secured another seven million Pfizer-BioNTech doses by the end of June – it’s becoming the most important vaccine for much of Europe.

The Italian consignment is among 50 million extra doses that the European Union has secured from Pfizer for the second quarter of 2021. The agreement fills a gap created by delays because of the suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the limits imposed on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Meanwhile, Serbia has started production of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Russia's sovereign wealth fund says it may be exported to other countries in the region. "
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840626
kanga wrote:There is no let-up in the country's third wave with almost 6,000 people in intensive care - the highest number since mid-April last year. President Emmanuel Macron will chair a cabinet meeting this evening on a plan to reopen outdoor catering and eventually culture venues.


Putting aside my own views on the reactions of governments over the last year in dealing with COVID, does anyone else not see the totaly ironic conflict in the two statements above...

I really feel that Macaroon has not got a clue about what to do...

Regards, SD..
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