It might be worth looking at the statistics from Scotland (https://public.tableau.com/app/profi...43010/Overview). Cases started rising here a couple of weeks ahead of England, apart from NW England. It certainly seems the England v Scotland game turbocharged them but there is now a consistent fall in cases and hospitalisations now look to have stabilised. If the fooballl has been a significant factor then it may be that the cases in England will peak in a couple of weeks before falling away.

I largely agree with the rest of your pint but feel this point can be reinforced enough. If you treat liberty like an accountant treats money (i.e. with some thought and process rather than being reactionary), the mask mandate is potentially spending a little liberty with the pay off of greater overall liberty in the longer term. So much for the arguments about “face nappies”.

Quite right. I remember lockdown in London: deserted streets, everyone staying at home, nothing open except essential shops, and no loo roll anywhere. A universe of difference today. Thank goodness we are no longer in lockdown.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/T7hYmj.jpg

This is clearly the most iconic chair on the planet for getting your vaccines. This was during the Sunday market along the Quayside. I did do some first vaccines to those over 50 years old.

Which, of course, is precisely why we decided to end our participation in that sham of a tournament at the earliest opportunity. More fool England! :D

there was no claim, and, no it doesnt. obviously there is a cost today. but for all the claims, they cannot say at which point is it overwhelmed. :rolleyes:

We know the impact on the NHS from the last 15 months - see below:
Source: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-su...nts-in-the-nhs

This looks overwhelmed to me?

Did they give a reason as to why they had not been vaccinated?

Well I am obviously very, very careful not to probe too much. In fact for obvious reasons I vaccinate them saying "it's great to see you, thank you so much for coming in today, and when you get the second jab it will be just as easy as that one". So making them feel good about themselves without overdoing it, and certainly not "what took you so long!". Yesterday I vaccinated 150 people by the Quayside, all Pfizer (25 vials x 6). Of these about 10 were first dose over 50s, one was over 70. At a guess 60 first doses in all, mostly youngsters, 90 second doses, so that isn't too far off the national figures for yesterday.

Reading between the lines I think we see:
- Not wanting AZ (particularly in women) so waiting until Pfizer is widely available - we didn't have AZ to offer yesterday. I think we now need to be realistic about that, we need people vaccinated more than to (further) prove AZ' s effectiveness.
- Some understandable logistical / travel related reasons. Traditionally people in the NE travel a lot, work overseas, so people may be returning from places where they didn't want, or couldn't get, a vaccine. One person was in a series of professional exams and didn't want to have side effects at the wrong time.
- One person was trying to weave around religious festivals (Eid al Adha is tomorrow) - they didn't have a jab but hopefully will next week.
- Hesitancy in one sense just means some people really do need more time than others, to weigh up the pros and cons, see what others are doing. I suspect this simply is the main factor.
- Frankly, some people needed some beer in them to be persuaded. Best Interests as I always say.

There was one feature about the Quayside which I need to mention to others in healthcare here. There were groups of lads - early 20s - "ganning aboot" - just meeting up, chatting, perhaps having a few drinks (and that's often just a small part of it), having some food, socialising basically. So I'd go up to the middle of this group and say loudly "have you all had your vaccines?" Then after the usual ribald comments, most of them confirm they have had their jab, but there may be one or two who haven't - "yeah I'll get booked next week", and I can say "you can have it now if you like, and get it out of the way", and the other lads will pitch in: "get your jab now mate, we'll wait for you". So peer pressure and ease of access coming together. Looking back on those incidents today, well it's quite emotional for me to hear people doing that.

Popped into Tesco on my early morning walk. Most people were wearing masks and the tannoy repeatedly played a request that Tesco was encouraging customers and staff to wear masks. After that, popped into M&S for a take out coffee. Again, most people on the retail park (and in M&S) were still putting masks on before going into various shops.

really? I’m on a TFL bus and 60% not wearing

I'd love to know how the sombrero hat came into it!

Does anyone know if the LFD tests from ie qured, and their day two tests, work for Scotland? The scotgov site specifically talks about an £88 test for day two, whereas on qured and other sites it's cheaper. Are they only for England?

That’s standard attire on the Quayside in summer… or in winter ;)

(Or maybe it’s corporate-wage-slave’s new calling card in lieu of the black mug)

Day 2 and 8 tests in Scotland must be bought from their specified supplier.

And to answer another question above, I just got my first jab last week as an over 50 due to this being my first time in the UK for over a year, and jabs not being widely available where I was.