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Showing posts with the label lockdown impact

V is for Vaccine

 I have had vaccines for polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, mumps, and rubella. I think they are highly important in medicine and health. The diseases vaccines have been able to eliminate are the ones that do not mutate easily, unlike coronaviruses. I do not take the flu vaccine, and those of you who do will know that it does not give immunity to the virus. Flu vaccines can only reduce your chances of becoming seriously ill with the virus, and only by between 40 and 60%, AND only when most circulating flu viruses are well matched to the vaccine viruses. For this reason I personally don't consider the risk of vaccination to be worth the benefit, for flu. I have caught flu many times (including swine flu, which in 2009 was called a pandemic and made headlines for overwhelming the NHS, just saying. No lockdown then.) but being a healthy person I recovered from the illness and moved on with my life.  Now, I am presented with another vaccine. To me as a healthy pe...

Ask 3 Questions

 I do not think spreading coronavirus is a good idea. All my life, I’ve done everything I should to avoid spreading any germs. Would I visit my grandparents if I felt under the weather? No. I probably wouldn’t visit anyone – especially if I knew something nasty was going round. Most people I know are always fans of keeping things clean, keeping hands washed and covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. These are things that any reasonable person does, and does with extra vigilance when something new comes out. Covering your mouth and nose at all times just in case you cough or sneeze or, god forbid, breathe – this does not seem so reasonable to me. Nor does lockdown. I feel that there are 3 main questions to ask about lockdown – is it sensible, is it sustainable, and is it proportionate? If you think asking these questions makes me a bad person (regardless of what the answers are) then I don’t want to be considered “good” by you. Is it sensible? Imagine you are ...