Young Break For The Border To Ring In The New Year
The title of this post, is the same as that on this article on The Times.
This a subtitle to the report, above a picture of five Scots girls enjoying themselves in Newcastle.
Revellers from Scotland and Wales dodging Covid restrictions at home flocked to clubs and bars in England
It will be interesting to see how the Scottish and Welsh Covid statistics pan out in the next few days.
As a trained Control Engineer, I am totally against lockdowns, except as a very last resort.
It’s like trying to ride a bike only turning the handlebars full left and full right.
Try it and you will soon fall off.
I Don’t Generally Take Pain Killers
I have taken pain killers rarely in my life, but only when I get serious pain.
But since the cataract operation, I have felt a bit of light pain in my left eye.
So I’ve resorted to taking three of these large pain-killers.
Usually, I dunk them in a cup of tea.
I’ve always liked ginger and they have been my favourite biscuits since I was about six.
I also used to see a Jamaican nurse in a former GP practice for my B12 injections and she was fulsome in her praise for the spice and what it can do.
Dr. Google also finds evidence that they help.
However, who cares, so long as I think they work.
AstraZeneca May Explain Britain’s Lower Death Rate
The title for this post, is the same as that of this article on the The Times.
These are the second and third paragraph of the article.
Dr Clive Dix said he believed that the jab could help to stave off serious Covid-19 illness for longer than RNA-based alternatives made by Pfizer and Moderna. “If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there’s also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I personally believe that’s because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Dix suggested that the T cell response to the AstraZeneca jab may explain the lower level of hospital admissions and deaths.
Dr, Clive Dix is a former Deputy Chair of the Vaccines Taskforce.
I think that Dr. Dix may have a point.
I am coeliac and I know I have a strong immune system.
When I had my dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, I was fairly sure that my immune system gave the viral vector vaccine a good kicking, as it thought the chimpanzee adenovirus on which it is based could be a dangerous intruder.
But with the second dose, I got no reaction. Had my immune system decided that the vaccine was a friend?
I have mentioned this reaction to people and I have found some coeliacs, who had a similar reaction to the one that I had with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But more significantly, this summer, I suffered badly from hay fever. My GP told me that the high level could have been because the AstraZeneca vaccine had boosted my immune system.
I’ve only had it as bad once before and I suspect that was a couple of years after I went gluten-free, after being diagnosed as a coeliac. I suspect that that would have boosted my immune system.
I can do a small calculation.
I suspect, that there are about 40,000,000 in the UK who have been vaccinated with two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
If we assume coeliacs are 1-in-100 of the population, as stated on this page on the NHS web site, and most have been vaccinated, as they tend to be cautious about their food and health, that equates to 400,000 people who could be fully vaccinated and have an immune system with all the defensive strength of a whole regiment of special forces soldiers on steroids.
For some time now, various sources have been saying the models of the pandemic aren’t right.
I do wonder, if coeliacs with the AstraZeneca vaccine are super-immune and they are skewing the models. After all 400,000 with a super-immunity is a large number in comparison to the total number of deaths from the Covids in the UK, which stood at 171,801 with the Covids on their death certificate tonight.
Conclusion
I am drawn to one big conclusion and that is more research needs to be done.
It would be a great help, if we knew how many coeliacs on long-term gluten-free diets had ended up in hospital.
I wouldn’t ask the doctors, but the catering departments, who would be providing the gluten-free food, that the coeliacs will be demanding.
Infection, Mortality And Severity Of Covid-19 In Coeliac Disease – Prof Jonas Ludvigsson
The title of this post is the same as that of this presentation on the Coeliac UK web site.
If you are coeliac and worried about catching the Covids, I suggest you watch the presentation.
The presentation is about eighteen minutes long and this is the last-but-one screen.
Coeliac Disease and Covid-19
- No increased risk of death from Covid-19
- No increased risk of ICU for Covid-19
- No increased risk of any (!) Covid-19
THEN: Coeliac patients with Covid-19, have no increased risk of death compared to other patients with Covid-19.
Conclusion
The professor concludes it is good news and there is no need for coeliac patients to get the jab earlier than other people.
I would also like to add my fourpennyworth!
The professor was only analysing diagnosed coeliacs, who were probably on a long-term gluten-free diet.
My son was an undiagnosed coeliac, who lived the rock and roll lifestyle, generally living on ciggies, high-strength cannabis and Subways. His immune system, probably gave him all the protection of a plastic colander.
He died at just 37 from pancreatic cancer.
Covid in Wales: Groups Of Six Allowed To Meet In Pubs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first paragraph.
Groups of no more than six people will be allowed to meet in pubs, cinemas and restaurants in Wales from 26 December, the first minister has said.
I’m glad I don’t live in a nanny socialist state like Wales.
We should be treated like adults and allowed to develop our own rules.
- I am doubly-vaccinated with AstraZeneca
- I have recently had a booster Pfizer vaccine.
- I generally wear a mask, when I’m outside my house.
- I avoid crowded places when I’m outside my house.
- I only invite a selected group of people into my house.
- I obey social distancing rules.
But my biggest protection comes from being coeliac on a long-term gluten free diet, which gives me an immune system, which is immensely strong.
I’ve yet to meet or hear of any coeliac on a long-term gluten-free diet, who has had a serious dose of the Covids.
Are Vaccinators Scraping The Bottom Of The Barrel?
Yesterday, the vaccinations given were as follows.
- First – 3123
- Second – 4871
- Booster – 121439
Boosters still seem to be jabbing away, but first and second appear to have dropped off a cliff.
According to worldometer, the UK population is estimated at 68,411,061.
As 51,364,110 have had the first vaccination, that means that 17,046,951 or around 25 % of the UK population have not received any vaccination at all.
From this page on Statista, my rough estimate is that there are about twelve million in the UK under twelve.
I have used twelve as those over that age can be vaccinated according to this page on the NHS web site.
I suspect there are about five million in the UK or around seven percent of the over-12 UK population have not received any vaccination at all.
Are there that number of anti-vaxxers in the UK?
It now appears that I jumped the gun and the statistics were wrong.
This important data is not up to the quality I expect!
I suppose it is understandable as sums isn’t part of the PPE degree at Oxbridge.
The Operated On Left Eye Is Working Well
I have just completed The Times Deadly Killer Sudoku in forty minutes on the phone using only my left eye. It certainly works better than it did.
I’m actually doing most typing on my phone using the left eye as it is much better than the right.
The wonders of modern surgery. And all paid for by the NHS in a private hospital.
Germans Turn To Humour In ‘Spritzkrieg’ On Antivaxers
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
A German television show has proposed a plan to persuade far-right antivaxers to get jabbed by offering them free swastika-shaped Bratwursts, dressing staff up as Nazi nurses and calling the vaccination centre Spritzkrieg (Jab War).
Reading the article it sounds like the Germans have asked Mel Brooks for advice.
We should use humour much more against the covids. Or does it have protection under the Virus Rights Act?
The Times says there is a clip on YouTube, but I can’t find it.
Thanks to Robin, here is the video.
If there was an British mockumentary in the same vein perhaps Call The Midwife or Casualty should be given the Blackadder treatment?
Was The Name Omicron For This Variant Of The Covids Chosen Deliberately?
We are trained to respond to single-word commands as are our pets and other animals. But then some animals and especially birds have alarm calls, when one sees danger.
Before omicron, we’ve had alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants of Covid-19, so surely, if they were following the Greek alphabet, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu and xi all should have had precedence.
Consider.
- Perhaps zeta, eta and theta could get misheard when spoken.
- iota might be difficult for some to pronounce.
- mu and nu could be mistyped.
- xi risks confusion with the Chinese leader.
- omicron could stand out like a bird’s alarm call.
Omicron is also a word, you don’t hear often in normal conversation unlike some Greek letters.
Could it have been chosen as it is a word that will be picked out in conversation and those that hear it will be nudged towards covid-correct behaviour like wearing a mask or keeping, keeping apart or remembering to get a booster jab.
If people constantly say booster, covid and omicron in the same sentence would it nudge people to do the right thing?
It probably would work unless omicron meas something different in the local language.
Voters In Trump Counties Far More Likely To Die Of Covid
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Americans in areas that voted for President Trump are almost three times more likely to die of Covid-19 than those in counties that supported Joe Biden, an analysis has found.
In the most strongly pro-Trump areas there was an almost sixfold difference in pandemic mortality with the most pro-Biden areas, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
I suppose Trummkopf will say it is fake news.
The Anonymous Widower 