Alis girls Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Free sweets! I am going to the wrong vaccination hub🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Just been reading that Portugal is on the list of countries where people returning to the UK will need to go into hotel lockdown for 10days. Hope you’re not planning on coming back, Daphne? My friend in Provence was planning on coming back for the vaccine then returning to Provence, but hearing the latest about border requirements in the UK and France not sure she’ll be able to do it. At the moment, it feels worse than last year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Did anyone see that programme on BBC yesterday? 54 days: China and the pandemic. Found it enlightening and also rather disturbing. You sort of don’t expect much else from the Chinese government, but it’s still strange to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Yes. The dramatic music in the background was very annoying though! Did you see the rats on Winterwatch too? That was fascinating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Ah! I missed Winterwatch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girly Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Oh dear! I’m beginning to despair of this world! Everywhere seems to be chaos! Just hang on, everyone. Things WILL improve. I think all governments are trying their best, some not so good, but we must all keep faith and obey the rules for a little longer. I’m sure we’ll all get our vaccines sorted and get back to normal. When, I don’t know, but I’m going to look forward to hugs and coffees with my friends and family. And try to keep smiling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Cat tails said: Did anyone see that programme on BBC yesterday? 54 days: China and the pandemic. I couldn’t bring myself to watch it yesterday (I watched The Blues Brothers instead 🤣) but I might iPlayer it. 2 hours ago, Patricia W said: Did you see the rats on Winterwatch too? Yes - loved them. In the past we’ve managed to hand feed one on the river bank when we’ve been fishing (not near any houses so not encouraging to seek out people) - it’s incredible how quickly you can get them confident enough. I see that England is to stay in lockdown until at least the beginning of March. I know it’s easy for me to say working in the public sector and not having children to home school but I’m relieved - I was worried they’d relax it too early and put us backwards again. Edited January 27, 2021 by mullethunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Well, luckily I have no reason to come back to the UK in the near future, as you are right, I won't be allowed without paying for quarantine and only then if I can prove some kind of emergency. I understand locking down the border, better late than never, and Portugal is having a torrid time - but mostly because we have the UK variant here and its out of control, although today Portugal has announced it is also suspending flights to Brazil and UK. Portugal didn't lock down for Xmas and generally hasn't locked down quick enough/enough in my view although that changed about a fortnight ago and we aren't allowed out of our municipality now - you have to travel with proof of address - and most things are shut. The vaccination programme is much slower than the UK, like the rest of the EU, but at least we don't have massive protests about things. I feel it is worse than last year, and its a case of waiting it out. I am having to get used to the fact that I won't be seeing family or friends until mid/end summer, if then (as I won't be vaccinated and 2 sets of travellers are in NZ and Australia where flights aren't happening), whereas before Xmas I had hoped I might get to see somebody (anybody!) around April/May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 They have a 'true or false' slot on one of the morning programmes here. "Vaccinations: are the English better than the French?" The very short answer given was 'true', France has administered 1 million vaccines in a month, the English did the same in 3 days. My maths says that's 10 times better. Another item asked 'is France the worst in Europe?', but I didn't bother watching. Now they tell us the vaccine programme is stopped for February as there are no vaccines available. The remainder are allocated for second doses, which here must be administered between 21 and 28 days after the first. The decision on a third lockdown still has to be made, but fear of violent demonstrations appears to be an increasingly important factor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 On 1/27/2021 at 6:26 PM, Alis girls said: Free sweets! I am going to the wrong vaccination hub🤣 I was quite surprised myself! I wondered how much the government must have spent on it, but apparently they had clubbed together and bought all these sweets themselves. God only knows what it must have cost them! Like I said: I think every frontline NHS worker deserves a medal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 My MIL is getting her 2nd jab on Monday, in a French care home. In Portugal we have apparently vaccinated about 7.5% of the population, which I don't think is too bad considering we also have some German medics over here helping out as the hospitals are overwhelmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 All over 50's vaccinated by May! Wow.....hope that works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 2 hours ago, soapdragon said: All over 50's vaccinated by May! Wow.....hope that works! Yes I heard that on the news today too - that would be incredible. My sister who is only 37 but in the clinically vulnerable category had hers today. My parents who are 69 and 71 have theirs next week. Starting to see light on the horizon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I was ‘done’ on Wednesday. Local surgery had a delivery at 2, I had a call at 2.10 for a 3.20 appointment. I got there 5 mins early, went straight in and was on my way home by 3.20! Weird scenes in town as hordes of elderly people converged on the same point! So, Soapy, I can believe they’ll get all over 50s done by May. It’s one thing they seem to have got right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I marshalled at a clinic on Saturday second time I had done it. OH was on the door - but boy have things changed - stroppy people saying they dont want this vaccine , why wasnt I told it was Pfizer/ Astra zenca blah blah blah. For goodness sake be thankful you are getting it. Also the stroppy herberts who hung around eyeballing me all afternoon cos they wanted a vaccine if any left over. The stroppy woman who wouldnt show me the appointment on her phone - shame on you all. But I have a word of thanks to the lovely Asian man who having heard me telling OH we needed some arrows to point the way - handed me a roll of tape from the £ shop - thank you - you made me realise there are some nice people in this world. We marshall for a charity that OH works for - supports old people - and they asked us if our volunteers could help out. First time I loved it but not so keen now. Seems some woman on social media posted there was vaccines left over at the end of the clinic. Where is Jeremy Clarkson when you need him? No one would cross him. He marshalled for his local clinic, can imagine anyone annoying him 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Ali’s Girls that makes me so cross to hear. I dropped my mum for hers today and the lady standing outside marshalling was jumping up and down trying to stay warm. She must’ve been freezing! If I’d have had time to go home and pick her up a cup of coffee or some foot warmers I would’ve. In fact I back tomorrow evening and take some for whoever is outside. I think the NHS and all the volunteers are doing an incredible job getting this vaccine out - it’s sickening that some people always just think they should be entitled to that little bit extra 🤬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Didn’t see any of that when I went for mine. We were all so grateful to be invited! First time I’d been in town for nearly a year I realised. Never seen so many people in one place for a year also. Can’t wait for my second one - so I can get out again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Made another risky trip to the supermarket today, which was full of older people with no idea of social distancing. People just stopping in the middle of the isles or squeezing past to grab something. If the more contagious UK or South African variants get here we will be in trouble. They are struggling with them in the far North and we are told that the reason they are spreading so fast is they affect the throat in far more cases than normal so the virus is then more often breathed out. The vaccination programme here remains pathetic. 2.6 million first doses and 0.7 million seconds. GP surgeries are doing about 20 a day, but only when they have them. Figures generally are stable in most of France, so have just levelled off and no third lockdown planned at the moment. But still no skiing, no bars, no restaurants and no idea when they may re-open. It doesn't seem to feature so much on the news now, or perhaps I'm just 'switching off' when it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 I had my first vaccine on Tuesday - no problems and the people on the door marshalling everyone were very pleasant and everyone was calm and no stroppy folks here - it was very well run - never felt a thing and only was tired on Wednesday and am fine now. Arm is ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Glad people seem to be getting their vaccines OK. Not sure what is happening with the lateral flow testing in secondary schools. I volunteered, did my Enhanced DBS and loads of online training (I got certificates !) did one session inschool with staff to get up to speed and now it looks like the children will be asked to test themselves at home twice a week (as if that will work 🤨!) On the upside, if any Forum peeps need a hand with LFT PM me and I'll walk you through it 🤣! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 We’re to be offered twice weekly tests by work soon Soapdragon (actually some already are but we’re too much out in the sticks!) - in your training did you find out how reliable LFTs are? Last I heard there were lots of false positives and more worrying quite a few false negatives - do you know if this is still the case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 I think it is inevitable you will get the UK variant at least in France, Beantree, as its much more contagious. Portugal had more deaths in January than in the whole of 2020 because of it, and we had to get international help to cope. At one time we were the worst country in Europe in terms of cases/deaths per 100,000. But the Govt acknowledged it had made a mistake about allowing Xmas mixing, and we have been in a tight lockdown including not travelling outside your municipality (but only at the weekend after 1pm!) since the start of 2021 which people are obeying by and large, and it will go on till Easter if not later. Our numbers are way down now, much lower proportionally per capita in international comparisons, so we can see the benefit of our efforts at least. However, it will be a long while until our household is vaccinated, as the elderly and health/key workers are rightly prioritised, but I read that Portugal (not sure about Europe as a whole) is considering following the UK model of giving one jab and waiting up to 12 weeks for the second, meaning more of us will get some protection more quickly. Brighter news is that my MIL's care home in France is allowing visitors, a max of 2 people at a time, as all the residents have been vaccinated twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 They said on the news today that the AstraZeneca vaccine is to be rolled out to GPs. As it's only approved for under 65's we should be getting it soon, but no idea how we book an appointment when it's in stock? There seems to be a 'forgotten generation' here as they are only vaccinating over 75s with the Pfizer at the moment so if you are 65-75 what's happening? They are also rushing out stocks of Moderna to the North East where the English variant is exploding, but we're talking of just 8000 doses, which is hopelessly inadequate. Do you need a negative PCR test as well Daphne, before people visit? France is sticking to the Pfizer guidelines and the second dose must be 21-28 days after the first. We have taken matters into our own hands as far as we can and started dosing up on vitamin D3; 100 ug per day is supposed to boost the immune system sufficiently to give 95% resistance, which is as good or better than the vaccines. We're actually taking 125 ug and have heard that the UK is giving out 10 ug daily to the care homes, a dose which is next to useless. It's also said that the reason ethnic minorities are so affected is because skin pigmentation restricts sunlight and they have very low levels of natural vitamin D, as has anyone who doesn't get outside. Whether that's true or not I haven't a clue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 On 2/19/2021 at 9:53 PM, mullethunter said: We’re to be offered twice weekly tests by work soon Soapdragon (actually some already are but we’re too much out in the sticks!) - in your training did you find out how reliable LFTs are? Last I heard there were lots of false positives and more worrying quite a few false negatives - do you know if this is still the case? The training didn't mention reliability but I do know of someone (friend's hubs) who, last week, had a pos LFT followed by a neg PCR! It helps if you are scrupulous about the actual swabbing but can also depend on the processing (you really have to squeeze the swab out in the test tube to extract as much 'material' as possible; obv if this isn't done properly then you could easily get a false neg!) These two 'reasons' could account for the less than reliable reputation of the LFT. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Beantree, no you don't need a PCR test, they just test your temp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
