Would probably still be logged as a no-show for the original date even if they rebooked and got the vax a week later. Same as any other NHS appointment - it's a missed appointment unless you cancel in advance, even if you get another appointment the next day. I doubt many would bother cancelling a vaccination appointment in advance. I don't know if there's even a way to do it?

A pill to treat Covid has been approved for use across the UK, the medicines regulator says.

Paxlovid, developed by the US company Pfizer, has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

According to the MHRA: "Paxlovid is an antiviral medicine used for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19. COVID-19 is caused by a virus.

"Paxlovid stops the virus multiplying in cells and this stops the virus multiplying in the body. This can help your body to overcome the virus infection, and may help you get better faster."

The UK Department of Health said: "More than 2.75 million courses of Paxlovid have been secured for NHS patients and plans for deployment will be set out soon."

My issue with hospital numbers is aside from ICU numbers they don’t separate those that went in to be treated for something else and tested positive from those who are actually admitted with covid

i saw a figure last week that stated that 30% were admitted for something else

Yeah there has been some more info posted on that recently showing that a greater and greater share of the covid hospital numbers are now being made up by 'incidental admissions' - those that were admitted for other reasons than covid. This is from the BBC live feed today:

Also worth noting that I don't believe there has yet been any increase in the number of patients on ventilators

Re the bickering on last few pages idk if I'm being referred to as someone who said 'covid is over' but when I said something like that I followed it with the red dancing man i.e. I wasn't being serious

Omicron wave in South Africa peaks with no significant uptick in deaths
During the omicron spike, only a marginal increase in Covid-19 deaths was noted

South Africa, where the omicron variant was detected in November, announced
that the country's latest coronavirus wave had likely passed its peak without a
significant increase in deaths and that restrictions would be eased.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-ne...uptick-deaths/

Coronavirus Outbreak
 

Completely different kinda population to the UK

Far younger and due to vastly poorer vaccine program they’ve had far more exposure to Covid virus


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For some strange reason I’m happier having the vaccine jabs than taking some experimental drug


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South Africa has been the hardest hit by coronavirus on the continent, recording more than 3.4 million cases and 91,000 deaths.

i think taking one of these anti viral pills will soon be like taking a panadol. It is the future, pop a pill and get on with your day

I think it's more likely to work like oseltamivir (better known as "Tamiflu") which is an influenza antiviral that's been around since the late 90's.

Basically it's helpful in at-risk people, reducing the likelihood of serious illness/death but really does **** all for healthy adults with normal flu symptoms (can actually make things worse as it can cause vomitting which can in turn increase dehydration).

So it would most likely be prescribed when people are admitted to hospital, and would further cut the risk of those people ending up in ICU or dying. But not likely to be over the counter meds for people recovering fine at home.

I do think there may EVENTUALLY be highly effective antiviral meds that just knock any virus on the head though. I think that's further in the future though. In fact I suspect there will eventually be loads of "high tech" meds that solve a whole range of human problems.

we just need some new treatments for mental illness and we will all be whistling a happy tune :whistle:

That was my point .. they’ve had far more exposure to the virus so will have a greater inbuilt immunity


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and we have a much better percentage of the population fully vaccinated

Friday 31/12/21

203 have Died
189,846 have caught Covid-19

Patients in hospital
Latest available
11,918

Patients in
ventilation beds
Latest available
868



148,624 Total UK Deaths


https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

A booster vaccine is 88% effective at preventing people ending up in hospital with Covid-19, new data from the UK Health Security Agency suggests.

The new data confirms that two doses of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines offers little protection against being infected with Omicron.

But protection against severe disease appears to be holding up much better against the new variant.

Health officials said this reinforces the importance of getting a third dose.

The health secretary Sajid Javid said: "This is more promising data which reinforces just how important vaccines are. They save lives and prevent serious illness.

"This analysis shows you are up to eight times more likely to end up in hospital as a result of Covid-19 if you are unvaccinated."

The UKHSA analysed more than 600,000 confirmed and suspected cases of the Omicron variant up to 29 December in England.

It found that a single vaccine dose reduced the risk of needing hospital treatment by 52%. Adding the second dose increased the protection to 72%, although after 25 weeks that protection had faded to 52%.

And two weeks after getting a third dose, that protection against hospitalisation was boosted to 88%.

The UKHSA report said there was not enough data yet to work out how long this protection would last but it is expected to last longer than protection against developing symptoms.

In people who already had symptoms, protection after each dose was slightly lower and reduced to 68% after a booster compared to unvaccinated people.

A second study, carried out with Cambridge University, confirmed that the risk of going to A&E or being admitted to a hospital ward after catching Omicron was roughly half that of the older Delta variant.

It also found that the risk of hospital admission alone with Omicron was approximately one-third of that for Delta.

Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said the data was "in keeping with the encouraging signs we have already seen".

However she said it was too early to draw any conclusions on how severely ill in hospital people could be with Omicron compared to Delta.

She added: "The increased transmissibility of omicron and the rising cases in the over 60s population in England means it remains highly likely that there will be significant pressure on the NHS in coming weeks.

"The data once again shows that coming forward for your jab, particularly your third dose, is the best way of protecting yourself and others against infection and severe disease."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59840524

She said WHAT?? Miserable bastard, party pooper, doom prophet! Away with her. Away!

Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said the data was "in keeping with the encouraging signs we have already seen".

However she said it was too early to draw any conclusions on how severely ill in hospital people could be with Omicron compared to Delta.


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https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.5639...600,f8f8f8.jpg

Not sure this argument holds up really, we were one of the worst hit countries in the world and now have one of the highest numbers of people vaccinated so surely our populations antibodies against covid are incredibly strong

And they might have a younger population but also have no doubt inferior healthcare which probably balances out that factor

Pfft, that old chestnut, you can draw a conclusion from any amount of data haven’t you heard?

It’s SA not Somalia, they almost certainly have comparable if not currently better healthcare than the critically and tragically understaffed and underfunded NHS.

France has Another Very High Covid-19 Cases
232,200 new cases today.

Ref: Fance24HDnews Live

In English

YOu can bet your ass if the news from SA had been bad all our politicians would
have been talking non-stop about what is happening in SA.

Nicola would have been draped in the SA flag doing a special bulletin with Prof
Leitch by her side holding a huge Scythe and on her other side John Swinney
blacked up wearing a SA rugby top holding a sign saying " the End is Nigh"

This index ranks the UK's healthcare system as 15th in the world vs 49th for South Africa: https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/r...by_country.jsp

This one ranks the UK 10th vs 53rd for South Africa: https://ceoworld.biz/2021/04/27/reve...-systems-2021/

So yeah I feel pretty comfortable stating that healthcare is better here for all its problems