Covid - news and views

It's interesting when you look up the history, the smallpox vaccination was made compulsory in 1853 in England and Wales for children in their first three months of life and was discontinued in 1971.

Smallpox killed all ages of the population so a slightly different scenario. But I agree, anyone working with vulnerable people should be vaccinated it should be part of their contract. I think at present there are contractual problems which will need to be overcome, hopefully sooner rather than later.

There are also very responsible and well informed social media channels

The reasons for none take up are hugely varied. Varies from community to community as well. Some are still the very reasons that hold certain communities back in a lot of aspects of their lives, so the breaking down of these barriers are complex and very difficult. It’s not just the BAME communities, but many other cultures, lifestyles, entrenched beliefs.

Difficult, but persuasion needs to happen.  

There's been a very high uptake of the vaccination programme so in most respects it's going well. At some point the level reached will probably protect everyone, when there's a low uptake problems occur but so far so good.

I agree there are campaigns👍🏻, but they’re not working, a concerted effort is needed to get to the nub of the issue, if some refuse then so be it, I will never ever agree to a forced vaccination programme. Vax by agreement or don’t get vax’d, we do not live in a Police state.

As a Country we need 85% to get herd immunity-to ensure a normal life, that’ll be good👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻

On the BBC news this morning Matt Hancock stated the current uptake of the vaccine is 90%, well above the original government expectation of 75%.

Lets hope that level of uptake carries on through all the population, and not just in the UK but globally (eventually).

I'm all for everyone who can be given the jab taking up the offer.  On an individual basis if somebody decides against it they should not be forced and not having it really only puts them at additional risk of serious illness and death, which in turn places added strain on the NHS and other services.

According to the WHO

The percentage of people who need to be immune in order to achieve herd immunity varies with each disease. For example, herd immunity against measles requires about 95% of a population to be vaccinated. The remaining 5% will be protected by the fact that measles will not spread among those who are vaccinated. For polio, the threshold is about 80%. The proportion of the population that must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to begin inducing herd immunity is not known. This is an important area of research and will likely vary according to the community, the vaccine, the populations prioritized for vaccination, and other factors.

But this isn't correct.

It puts those people who cannot have the vaccine due to underlying health reasons at risk, plus, at the moment, those awaiting the vaccine, plus those who are like minded and also refuse the vaccine.

As you alluded to it does put more strain on Public Health Services.  It also affects the States finances in having to look after them.