Lockdown diaries - COVID-19 matters!

[Adephi]

What’s frightening is how they think they doing an ok job of this vaccine rollout and continue to f@ck around like it isn’t serious.

Here's my controversial point.. where are those groups and parties that took the government to court over ivermectin? Why are they not doing anything about the vaccine rollout?

We have 500k doses in storage but somehow 2 vaccines sites for the Free State and 1 for Northern Cape seems effiecient. Sure more will open, but more should have been open 2 months ago. We had such a good start at controlling the pandemic in the beginning but they are solidly dropping the ball with the vaccine.

And I don't believe there's some cynical motive behind it. I think our government are the ones with severe Covid fatigue.

 

[Grand Guru]

Here's my controversial point.. where are those groups and parties that took the government to court over ivermectin? Why are they not doing anything about the vaccine rollout?

We have 500k doses in storage but somehow 2 vaccines for the Free State and 1 for Northern Cape seems effiecient. Sure more will open, but more should have been open 2 months ago. We had such a good start at controlling the pandemic in the beginning but they are solidly dropping the ball with the vaccine.

And I don't believe there's some cynical motive behind it. I think our government are the ones with severe Covid fatigue.

Pilot phase... there'll be more next week

 

[Dela Rey Steyn]

Here's my controversial point.. where are those groups and parties that took the government to court over ivermectin? Why are they not doing anything about the vaccine rollout?

We have 500k doses in storage but somehow 2 vaccines for the Free State and 1 for Northern Cape seems effiecient. Sure more will open, but more should have been open 2 months ago. We had such a good start at controlling the pandemic in the beginning but they are solidly dropping the ball with the vaccine.

And I don't believe there's some cynical motive behind it. I think our government are the ones with severe Covid fatigue.

No malice on our Government's part, just pure unadulterated incompetence....

 

[Paul33]

No malice on our Government's part, just pure unadulterated incompetence....

Agreed. I do not think they doing it on purpose. It’s just how things have been unfortunately. Just too slow.

you’re right @Adephi, in the beginning of the pandemic it was all out war on the virus with the army and the command council and Ramastaypozi on the tv all the time and it’s just fizzled out and they have dropped the ball.

I lost my uncle a few months back to Covid. It was horrendous. I don’t want anymore people to suffer and this vaccine is our way back to “normal”

 

[Hooked]

Agreed. I do not think they doing it on purpose. It’s just how things have been unfortunately. Just too slow.

you’re right @Adephi, in the beginning of the pandemic it was all out war on the virus with the army and the command council and Ramastaypozi on the tv all the time and it’s just fizzled out and they have dropped the ball.

I lost my uncle a few months back to Covid. It was horrendous. I don’t want anymore people to suffer and this vaccine is our way back to “normal”

Sorry about your loss @Paul33.

 

[Hooked]

 

[Paul33]

Sorry about your loss @Paul33.

Thanks @Hooked, much appreciated.

 

[Hooked]

 

[Hooked]

We finally know the cost difference between J&J and Pfizer: up to R4 billion for medical aids
https://www.businessinsider.co.za/t...-and-jj-for-south-african-medical-aids-2021-5
17 May 2021

• After much secrecy about contracts, and much debate around subsidies, we finally know exactly how much medical aids will pay for each member to be vaccinated.
• The theoretical maximum is R7.56 billion – which medical schemes can easily afford, several times over.
• But the theoretical minimum would be R4 billion less, if the J&J vaccine were used.
• Thanks to big differences in both base cost and administration, the often-preferred Pfizer-BioNTech is more than twice the price.

... The numbers also show the enormous difference between the Johnson & Johnson shot South Africa has used to date, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is, for the time being, the only one being used.

Including VAT, the medical facilities that administer shots will bill medical aids R354.75 per dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the department of health said, while the charge for the J&J vaccine will be R330.

ut Pfizer is a two-dose vaccine, while J&J is delivered as a single dose. The two doses for a complete inoculation also means that, for Pfizer, the administrative cost charged to medical aids is doubled, at R140, compared to the R70 fee for a single J&J vaccine dose.

That means the cost of fully vaccinating a member with J&J will cost medical schemes 47% of the price of achieving the same thing via Pfizer's vaccine.

Across the 8.9 million South Africans who are beneficiaries of medical schemes, that would mean a R7.56 billion bill for Pfizer shots, as opposed to a R3.56 billion cost if all members received J&J's option.

Only Pfizer shots are currently being used, although the release of J&J doses, for near-immediate use, is expected this week. Those remain the only vaccines for which prices have been established, with only expressed intentions – but no tangible move yet towards – government adding vaccines from China and Russia to the mix.

Even if every member of every medical scheme were to receive the Pfizer vaccine, medical schemes in aggregate will easily be able to cover the cost – three times over – just from the money they saved when medical expenditure plummeted in 2020..."

 

[Grand Guru]

 

[Grand Guru]

Very sad days in this country’s history

https://www.news24.com/news24/south...rectify-its-dysfunctional-management-20210517

https://www.news24.com/news24/south...-during-violent-protests-in-mangaung-20210517

https://www.bloemfonteincourant.co....members-loot-metres-away-from-police-station/

This has nothing to do with service delivery, business opportunities or land…

Hospitals, clinics and essential services are completely paralysed.

 

[Feliks Karp]

Agreed. I do not think they doing it on purpose. It’s just how things have been unfortunately. Just too slow.

you’re right @Adephi, in the beginning of the pandemic it was all out war on the virus with the army and the command council and Ramastaypozi on the tv all the time and it’s just fizzled out and they have dropped the ball.

I lost my uncle a few months back to Covid. It was horrendous. I don’t want anymore people to suffer and this vaccine is our way back to “normal”

Because it's easy making mandates and barking them out. Telling people to shut down everything is a lot less complicated than opening things up and micro managing strategies. This pandemic has shone the light wholly on how many governments suffer the same follies as many companies, including but not limited to piss poor management.

 

[Hooked]

Push for more restrictions on alcohol access as Covid-19 third wave looms
https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics...ve-looms-eeb7c65b-940f-4774-829d-f6ff345ed0d6
18 May 2021

"The SA Alcohol Policy Alliance has urged the government to respond to the Covid-19 third wave threat by strengthening the current restrictions on alcohol access.

This as the number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country has increased, with the Free State, Gauteng and Eastern Cape now effectively experiencing a third wave.

The SA Alcohol Policy Alliance has called for the following measures to be introduced to stem a third wave of Covid-19 infections:

Road safety
Temporarily imposing zero breath and blood concentration levels for drivers during the State of Disaster – such a measure is already contained in the Road Traffic Amendment Bill which is currently before Parliament and has wide-spread support, but won’t be enacted before the end of 2021.

Advertising
Banning all special offers for reduced price alcoholic beverages at least until the end of the State of Disaster.
Banning all alcohol advertising except at the point of sale to reduce the pressure on people to drink.

Public Events and off-consumption sales

Prohibiting major alcohol-fuelled party events, including street bashes.
Reducing the gathering numbers to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors.
Extending the curfew from midnight to 10pm, seven days a week.
Announcing that all on-consumption liquor outlets should be closed from 6pm on public holidays and one day prior to public holidays to discourage the excessive use of alcohol in overcrowded venues and to limit the potential for ‘super-spreader’ events.
Disallowing alcohol consumption in public places, particularly in parks, on beaches, at swimming pools, etc.
Suspending for a minimum three months, or revoking, the licences of outlets that break alcohol and/or Covid-19 regulations.
Reducing off-consumption operating hours."

 

[ARYANTO]

Still busy chatting here and BOOOOM there goes the trustworthy ESKOM again -loadshedding
Light the homefires and order Portugese - even Rilley Too thinks it's heaven

 

[Hooked]

A group of thousands of Japanese doctors want to cancel the Olympics as Covid-19 cases surge
https://www.businessinsider.co.za/j...tokyo-olympics-canceled-covid-19-surge-2021-5
18 May 2021

• A group of thousands of Japanese doctors is calling for the Olympics to be canceled.
• Covid-19 cases are surging in the country.
• Hospitals and doctors "have almost no spare capacity," the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association said in an open letter.

 

[Hooked]

KZN Health rolls out phase 2 with 27 vaccination sites, aims to vaccinate almost 3m people
https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-af...m-people-f77040ee-40b6-4ff8-bc83-cc6fd2bab38e
18 May 2021

"... KwaZulu-Natal has a total of 689 prepared vaccination sites for the rollout of both the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines ... no fewer than 27 health facilities and five community vaccination sites commenced with the Pfizer vaccination on Monday.... the Department would be adding more sites as more doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine are received..."

 

[Grand Guru]

 

[Hooked]

WHO reclassifies India variant as being of global concern
https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/who-reclassifies-india-variant-as-being-of-global-concern/
12 May 2021

"The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the triple-mutant B.1.617, known as the India variant, is now classified as a variant of global concern, reported MedicalBrief. It was previously labeled a “variant of interest” as more studies were needed to understand its significance...

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19 , said the agency will provide more details in its weekly situation report on the pandemic but added that the variant, known as B.1.617, has been found in preliminary studies to spread more easily than the original virus and there is some evidence it may able to evade some of the protections provided by vaccines. The shots, however, are still considered effective..."

 

[Hooked]

SA plans to delay second dose of Pfizer vaccine by up to 3 months
https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics...3-months-88433240-4627-4c6b-a1fa-373fe35ea14d
19 May 2021

"Faced with limited vaccine supplies, Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize says they might delay the second dose of Pfizer vaccine by up to three months, compared to the approved schedule of two doses three weeks apart.

Mkhize explained that this was done in a bid to reach more people who would be at least partially protected from hospitalization and death...

According to a new UK study, delaying the second dose of Pfizer's two-shot Covid-19 vaccine could help people produce more antibodies against the virus.

Several countries including Britain, Denmark, Norway, France, the U.S and Canada have extend the interval between the first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from six weeks up to maximum of four months - if vaccines are in short supply."

 

[Hooked]

Contact sports at schools suspended with immediate effect
https://www.enca.com/sport/education-ministers-council-suspends-contact-sports-school
19 May 2021

"The Council of Education Ministers has suspended all contact sports in schools with immediate effect.

According to the council, Non-contact sports training in schools can continue, provided that all safety protocols are adhered to."

 

[Grand Guru]

 

[Hooked]

Covid-19 vaccines now available at selected pharmacies
https://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/hea...armacies-6908b97d-c135-4aaa-9197-6c9772f930f3
19 May 2021

"... The Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA), in collaboration with the Department of Health, is gearing up to offer Covid-19 vaccinations to the public, starting with the over 60s. Two of these pharmacies in Gauteng have been approved to start providing vaccines to health-care workers and 500 more are in the application process...

The two pharmacies vaccinating in Gauteng are Ackermans Pharmacy and Eastpark Pharmacy..."

 

[Grand Guru]

 

[Hooked]

You might need a Covid-19 booster shot
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/20/world/coronavirus-newsletter-intl-05-20-21/index.html
20 May 2021

"A booster dose for people who have already been vaccinated may be needed as soon as eight to 12 months after their second shot, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said yesterday.

As inoculations around the world continue to increase, medical experts believe coronavirus may end up being like influenza, which requires a new vaccine every year. This is because the circulating strains mutate quickly, and immunity from the vaccine soon wears off.

Over in the United Kingdom, the government announced the launch of a new clinical trial looking specifically into booster shots yesterday. The trial, led by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, will study the impact of seven different Covid-19 vaccines when given as a third dose.

And researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are already looking into whether a booster specific to variants that are already in the US will be needed as well, if protection against the virus fades over time.

However, Fauci said such variant-specific boosters may not be needed. "Instead of having to play whack-a-mole with each individual variant and develop a booster that's variant-specific, it is likely that you could just keep boosting against the wild type, and wind up getting a good enough response that you wouldn't have to worry about the variants," he said..."

 

[Hooked]

Get a Covid-19 vaccine in this town and you could win a live cow
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/20/asia/thailand-covid-vaccines-cows-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
21 May 2021

"Bangkok, ThailandA district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for its vaccinated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local Covid-19 vaccination drive.

From next month, one lucky vaccinated villager in the Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province will be randomly chosen every week to win a young cow worth about 10,000 baht ($318.78).

The campaign, set to run for 24 weeks, has been met with enthusiasm in the town of 43,000 since it was announced earlier this week.
"Our vaccine registration numbers have gone from hundreds to thousands in a couple of days," district chief Boonlue Thamtharanurak told Reuters.

"The villagers love cows. Cows can be sold for cash." ..."