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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#1840059
@kanga I suppose we could park a couple of massive aircraft carriers off the coasts of France and Italy and let the military sort out Europe's problems... as in 1944 :D

Russia can do Poland and Germany. :shock:
#1840214
13 April BBC Europe summary:

"Romanian oxygen tragedy and Belgian threats inquiry: Latest across Europe

Three elderly Covid patients have died in Romania after a malfunction in a mobile intensive care unit’s oxygen supply. The ventilators stopped working because oxygen levels rose too high, officials in Bucharest said.

Belgian prosecutors have launched an investigation into threats made against virologist Marc van Ranst,who fronts Belgium’s anti-Covid campaign. Mr van Ranst says he’s fed up with constant death threats – the latest is allegedly from a dance manager. The virologist has had to have police protection for months.

Italian rugby will today pay its final respects to Massimo Cuttitta, a national rugby hero who played 70 times for his country and has died of Covid aged 54, days after his mother.
Massimo Cuttitta was for several years Scotland's specialist scrum coach.
Cuttitta also played in England for Harlequins. His twin brother said Massimo had recently come back to Italy to spend more time with his mother after his father died.

Ireland has become the latest European country to limit the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca drug to over 60s. Extremely rare blood clots have been linked to the drug but the EU’s medical regulator say the benefits outweigh any risk.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex is expected to tell parliament today that regional elections will take place on two weekends running in the second half of June. The government asked 35,000 local mayors what they thought and most of them agreed they should go ahead.

The German government is set to agree changes to the country’s infections control law that hand more powers to the central government. Berlin has struggled to implement Covid measures on the 16 states and this change would enable imposing curfews and school closures."

.. and, rather sinisterly:

"The anti-vax movement targeting German children"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-56675874
User avatar
By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840244
Vaccination risks and reality:

Problem 1

People don't understand statistics - if they did nobody would buy a lottery ticket

Problem 2

People can't extrapolate statistical data to their own situation

Problem 3

Risks like smoking, taking the pill and getting Covid are all risks which are either deemed inevitable or byproducts of something desirable.

However the vaccination is a pure choice requiring a positive action.

To bring it home to my patients I have explained to them that they are more likely to die from a car crash on the way home from the practice than a blood clot due to the vaccination. Most understand it and are happy to take AZ as I do have that in (nearly abundance) whereas Pfizer is in shorter supply.
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By MikeB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840263
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:Vaccination risks and reality:
I have explained to them that they are more likely to die from a car crash on the way home from the practice than a blood clot due to the vaccination.


Don't tell the antivaxxers that, or "Doctor says car crashes are more likely if you have the vaccine" will be all over Facebook :roll:
#1840265
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:
Flyingfemme wrote:And how many of those clots cause death? Even less....


Fewer..



Count 'em.

(I'm glad it's not just me :) )


The J&J thing is a bit of a blow, there seemed to be a lot of countries (blocs) which were looking to the one-shot jab to solve their problems. We're entering a new phase where there's an abundance of data that is exposing the crummy stuff and the good stuff. You have to feel for poor old Chile, storming ahead with vaccinations only to find that the Chinese Sinofarm(?) vaccine is a chocolate teapot compared to (say) the OxAz jab. So far, the UK is having a good war if this is the beginning of the end, but it's not over.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840285
Good graphic: Really needed saying: and wider distribution.
Perhaps they'll send Macron and Merkel copies...

Ref blood clots and J & J, who have suspended distribution early as they use the same principle of modifying an adenovirus that the Astra Zeneca uses, possibly tightening the link.

I'm no virologist but Pfizer approaches the vaccine formation from a different angle.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840287
PeteSpencer wrote:I'm no virologist but Pfizer approaches the vaccine formation from a different angle.


As does Moderna.

But I suspect it will be a side-effect due to the mechanics of the virus spike triggering the immun system, rather than the way the vaccine is made.

C19 is known for activating the same mechanism in patients.

No doubt further research will lead to a further tidying up of code and possibly identifying the coagulation interfering problem possibly producing something that gives good immunity without the clotting causing bits.

Read somewhere there are another 117 or so contenders in the pipeline.

With the knowledge garnered from developing these vaccines there will be more interesting developments in managing our immune systems and fight of unwanted stuff.
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User avatar
By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840337
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:To bring it home to my patients I have explained to them that they are more likely to die from a car crash on the way home from the practice than a blood clot due to the vaccination. Most understand it and are happy to take AZ as I do have that in (nearly abundance) whereas Pfizer is in shorter supply.


2 weeks since my GF/partner was offered AZ, no siide effects so far. :thumleft:
She was actually starting to get nervous due to the blood clotting media storm occurring here due to a condition she takes medication for. Initially our GP was a little "Gallic" about the whole thing, but on seeing him for the jab itself he had specifically looked up advice about her condition to allay her reservations. I now have 3 french acquaintances that have told me they refused the AZ jab - Im not yet 50, I wish they would offer it to me if the AZ is abundantly available here...

Regards, SD..
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