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newsProof of Covid-19 immunity required in France
We have been expecting this. France has now mandated that proof
of vaccination, a negative test, or having recovered from Covid-19, is
now required to enter certain venues:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/france-covid-passport-vaccine-health-pass/100314072
This is also apparently going to happen in the UK, and looking likely also for Australia.
The Prime Minister of France has stated that 96% of those now getting
infected are not vaccinated. I think that this is a very important
statistic, because it is the crux of the problem ongoing.
Let's say that Australia reaches 80% vaccinated early next year. Problem
remains, we cannot just "open up", remove all restrictions, because we
have to "protect" those who are not vaccinated. We will still require
restrictions, such as social distancing.
So, the un-vaccinated will be imposing a burden on the vast majority of the population who are vaccinated. Maybe...
It seems, from what I gather from news reports, that Boris Johnson in
the UK has decided "enough is enough", and those who have chosen not to
be vaccinated will have to face the consequences.
Perhaps, if 80% are vaccinated, the virus will not spread and the risk
will decline. One possibility, but indications so far, unlikely.
Another possibility, you choose to not be vaccinated, and you catch the
virus. You may die, or you may recover. For most people, it is the
latter, however, there is something very worrying -- two things: the
other "opportunistic diseases" that wait for your immune system to
become weak, and something known as "long Covid".
These are the side-effects of having caught Covid-19. In India, one of
the "opportunistic diseases" is "Black Fungus", with a 50% death rate:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/black-fungus-india-endemic-covid/100313274
There are a plethora of long-Covid side-effects, that can stretch months after, and even cause permanent damage.
While researching for this post, there were some links to Sky News Australia,
however, I will not put those links here. My experience with Sky News Australia is
that they are rabidly extreme right-wing, specializing in sensationalism and distortion of the truth.
This is my personal opinion of course.
One news source that sticks to the facts and mostly avoids
sensationalism is the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) -- I
think that there is an ABC in the US, but that is different. My limited
experience with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has been
pretty much the same, a sane news reporter.
The news so far about "long Covid" are preliminary, but very worrying, such as this:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/researcher-warns-of-long-term-impacts-of-covid-19/100318372
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-22/long-covid-uk-warnings-of-effects/100311514
Another worry, to add to the heap of worries that we already have, is
that getting vaccinated won't necessarily protect us from dying after
catching Covid-19. But, that depends on which vaccine...
All of the reports I have read about Astra Zeneca and
Pfizer vaccines, the two being currently administered in Australia, are
still effective at preventing adverse symptoms, even if you do catch
the virus.
However, not so, apparently, for the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. It was
designed to protect against the original strain of Covid-19, and it
looks like it is losing its efficacy, especially against the Delta
strain, based on reports from Indonesia and Brazil. ABC report on
Indonesia:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-05/indonesia-reassesses-vaccine-strategy-over-sinovac/13431964
To complicate everything, the vaccines themselves have side-effects.
Here in Australia, we have manufactured the Astra Zeneca vaccine, on
license from the UK, however, it is filling up warehouses, an increasing
number of people are choosing not to take it, instead waiting for
availability of Pfizer. The reason is, deaths from blood clots.
The Australian government, in an attempt to force people to take Astra
Zeneca, has ruled that anyone 60 and over must take Astra Zeneca, they
are not allowed to take Pfizer. Result, those 60 and over are choosing
to not getting vaccinated. I know people in this category, who are
waiting until the end of the year, or early 2022, when it is anticipated
there will be enough Pfizer available for everyone.
So, with a stockpile of Astra Zeneca, what does the AU government do?
They donate it to poorer countries. This is Papua New Guinea and our
Pacific neighbours.
Of course, it can be argued that the risk of blood clots and dying, is
miniscule compared to the dire consequences of catching Covid-19. We are
fortunate here in Western Australia, being entirely Covid-free, so not feeling any pressure to get vaccinated, but
that is a very unusual situation compared with the rest of the world.
My daughter, for example, is not in WA, she is elsewhere, where Covid-19
is circulating in the community, and she got the Astra Zeneca jab. She
only felt crook for a couple of days after the first jab, then was OK.
For most people around the world, it would seem the best advice is, get
vaccinated!
EDIT 2021-07-30:
Thanks for the feedback, guys! Feedback expressed a range of opinions, I
won't name names, you know who you are. Some further points...
One email warned me that the 96% figure given
by Jean Castex, the Prime Minister of France, is incorrect, that he has
"cherry picked" from the statistics. Here is one link where that 96% is
given:
I don't know about the validity or otherwise of
that statistic, but I am quite familiar with politicians putting "spin"
on statistics or facts, to suit their agenda. It may be deliberate, or it may be ignorance, or the
politician may just be thick.
https://grattan.edu.au/report/race-to-80/
They reckon we can "open up" when reach 80% vaccinated and 95% of over-70s and most-vulnerable.
...they refer to "entrenched anti-vaxxers"
being 10% of the population, and those people are going to hate the
recommendation for "vaccination passports". Ah, but the Grattan report
also states that vaccine passports to be removed when 85% vaccination is
achieved.
Regarding whether the Grattan Institute is left-wing or right-wing biased, it is informative to see who has funded it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grattan_Institute
I think that it's premises are located within
the University of Melbourne campus. Government backing looks to be from
the Liberal party, also funded by BHP, a big mining company, and the
University of Melbourne. So, if anything, it would be leaning right-wing
-- unless it is truly independent as they claim.
EDIT 2021-07-31:
I also received feedback that the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines will cause a permanent change in the body.
https://www.aap.com.au/vaccine-being-developed-for-covid-19-wont-alter-a-persons-dna/
https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-mrna-megamix-idUSL1N2M61HW
Unfortunately, there is an incredible amount of misinformation on the Internet, and con-artists are having a field day.
EDIT 2021-08-30:
Recently there was a pamphlet in my letterbox, titled "They're Coming
For Our Children", regarding Australia's Therapeutic Goods Adminstration
(TGA) approving Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.. It had two
URLs, that I looked up. One was to a video by Sky News, the other to a
far-right-wing pro-trump website. I read some of the articles on the
latter site ...oh dear, sad that people are buying into websites like
this.
I also watched a video that included Dr Robert
Maloney, who claims to be the inventor of mRNA. The second Reuters URL
below, has a link to that video.
Reuters has posted two fact-check pages:
https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-vaccine-cytotoxic-idUSL2N2O01XP
I am becoming very reluctant to continue commentary on this, or any other similar issues. Political, religious, whatever.
Tags: ethos