[Other Sport] IOC want vaccine priority for athletes so the Olympics can go ahead.

[Blue Valkyrie]

Absolutely monstrous suggestion.

Vaccinate all the priority categories first.

No Olympics is worth the price of people dying.

 

[A1X]

The problem is even if you work on the basis the rich countries can vaccinate a few athletes to let this happen, there's no way every nation can vaccinate the people it needs to to stop them dying AND their full Olympic squads. All it would do is create a two-tier Olympics where only the rich countries compete.

 

[elwheelio]

Yes, once the over 65s and those with certain health conditions have been vaccinated then scrap all the restrictions. Get everything back to normal again.

That could be around March/April.

Not going to happen.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yes, once the over 65s and those with certain health conditions have been vaccinated then scrap all the restrictions. Get everything back to normal again.

That could be around March/April.

That's hugely optimistic IMHO, and would maybe even be reckless. 30k back at the Amex this season, for example. Not going to happen

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Yes, once the over 65s and those with certain health conditions have been vaccinated then scrap all the restrictions. Get everything back to normal again.

That could be around March/April.

Why over 65s ?

The priority categories go down to over 50s for a reason.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

That's hugely optimistic IMHO, and would maybe even be reckless. 30k back at the Amex this season, for example. Not going to happen

I think it’s wildly optimistic for next.

 

[RossyG]

Why over 65s ?

The priority categories go down to over 50s for a reason.

I was basing it on the likelihood of death figures. Over 50s would take us to around May or June, but ok. How about we scrap all the restrictions after that?

 

[Guinness Boy]

Absolutely this, key workers and the vulnerable at the front of the queue. The vulnerable are the ones who are being hospitalised, I'm 29 years old - non-smoker, regular gym go-er with no underlying health condition other than following the Albion.

Statistically, I am unlikely to have severe symptoms. That said, that doesn't mean I am not going to social distance, wear a mask and sanitise regularly - far from it, that's my duty to my fellow people. However, I can contribute towards keeping the economy going by shopping local and dining local. We have done what we can in terms of ordering a takeaway (and a takeaway pint!) from our local pub when we could, but it is not the same as having bums on seats.

The UK hospitality and SMEs are going to feel this for a very long time; and the economy is not going to rebound as quickly as others believe. Tax rises are likely, and those who only just survived this pandemic may well fail during the recovery period.

Vaccinate and shield the vulnerable, allow us to continue and do what we can.

Great post

 

[dazzer6666]

That's hugely optimistic IMHO, and would maybe even be reckless. 30k back at the Amex this season, for example. Not going to happen

Agreed.....even if the (initial) vacc target is hit, and infection rates etc have dropped significantly, the restrictions will be very cautiously lifted, tier by tier over several weeks. Might possibly get a few games of 2k and perhaps 4k in towards then end of the season if we drop to T2 hen T1 sometime after Easter but can’t see any faster progress than that. Start of next season may be doable for a full house.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I was basing it on the likelihood of death figures. Over 50s would take us to around May or June, but ok. How about we scrap all the restrictions after that?

Yes, once the priority groups are done there is a big case for getting back to normal - with perhaps only local restrictions in places of concern.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Absolutely this, key workers and the vulnerable at the front of the queue. The vulnerable are the ones who are being hospitalised, I'm 29 years old - non-smoker, regular gym go-er with no underlying health condition other than following the Albion.

Statistically, I am unlikely to have severe symptoms. That said, that doesn't mean I am not going to social distance, wear a mask and sanitise regularly - far from it, that's my duty to my fellow people. However, I can contribute towards keeping the economy going by shopping local and dining local. We have done what we can in terms of ordering a takeaway (and a takeaway pint!) from our local pub when we could, but it is not the same as having bums on seats.

The UK hospitality and SMEs are going to feel this for a very long time; and the economy is not going to rebound as quickly as others believe. Tax rises are likely, and those who only just survived this pandemic may well fail during the recovery period.

Vaccinate and shield the vulnerable, allow us to continue and do what we can.

Agreed. Restrictions are going to have to be lifted in line with the vaccination schedule. I am in the 50-55 age group and was in hospital last year so whilst waiting for mine I will be more cautious than you about risk in a lighter restriction world. That is my responsibility and I certainly wouldn’t want to stop you doing things that are safe for you. With more and more of the vulnerable having been vaccinated certainly the weighting of policy can shift from health to economy.

 

[Poojah]

The best way to get everything back to normal, including sport, is to vaccinate the vulnerable and their carers.

Not that I disagree with this point, but just to play devil's advocate, countries like Indonesia are doing things the other way round. They are vaccinating their young, working population first as they are the most mobile, in the hope that things brings about herd immunity more quickly, thus indirectly protecting the vulnerable.

They are at fractional levels of cases per capita versus the UK however, so perhaps that's only an option for those nations that haven't got themselves into such a pickle already.

 

[dazzer6666]

Not that I disagree with this point, but just to play devil's advocate, countries like Indonesia are doing things the other way round. They are vaccinating their young, working population first as they are the most mobile, in the hope that things brings about herd immunity more quickly, thus indirectly protecting the vulnerable.

They are at fractional levels of cases per capita versus the UK however, so perhaps that's only an option for those nations that haven't got themselves into such a pickle already.

Nail on head I think - not overwhelming the NHS is the priority for us, which means vaccinating those most likely to get seriously ill.

 

[studio150]

11,238 athletes competed at the 2016 Olympics and no doubt coaches, medical, reporters, etc would need to be added to the list of people looking to queue jump.
If the IOC are serious about this, it would be far better if the UK did not send any competitors and boycotted the event.

 

[GT49er]

I was basing it on the likelihood of death figures. Over 50s would take us to around May or June, but ok. How about we scrap all the restrictions after that?

ll well and good - but there are signs the virus is changing. Was watching the regional news yesterday (West Midlands, I think - or it might have been SW - I get both) and their was a doctor from one of the major hospitals on, and he was saying that this time round they had many more 20,30 and 40 year olds fighting for their lives in ICU.
Still carry on with the current roll-put plans though, and bollocks to the IOC.

 

[RossyG]

...it would be far better if the UK did not send any competitors and boycotted the event.

We only take about 350 Olympians to each game. They could just mooch about on standby outside major city hospitals so they can take the place of any of the inevitable no-shows. They could all be done in less than a week.

Ditto their coaches etc the week after.

 

[zefarelly]

The IOC can f**k off.

thanks, saved me typing the same


IF they're depserate for it, they should pay through the nose for it, most of them are pretty used to using them already

The argument they have easy access veins due to regular use doesn't wash either.

 

[Live by the sea]

No Way

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

ll well and good - but there are signs the virus is changing. Was watching the regional news yesterday (West Midlands, I think - or it might have been SW - I get both) and their was a doctor from one of the major hospitals on, and he was saying that this time round they had many more 20,30 and 40 year olds fighting for their lives in ICU.
Still carry on with the current roll-put plans though, and bollocks to the IOC.

This.

With flu we need a new vaccine every year. Covid will be the same. Now we know how to make a covid vaccine it will be easier to make a vaccine for Covid-20. My concern is that the vaccine being deployed now was made for Covid-19 and although the virologists I have heard interviewed are optimistic that our current vaccines will work on the new variants, they don't actually know, yet.

All that said, I remain, as I was last summer in the 'vaccinate the old and vulnerable and let everyone else get back to normal life' camp. The remaining concern is that I suspect it will take much longer to vaccinate the old (and by that I mean over 50s) and immunocompromised than people originally suggested. The caveat, of course, is that we an't return to normal until the vulnerable are all protected (by vaccination).

Oh, and I remain implacably opposed to the dangerous twits who have been arguing that we should just go back to normal before vaccination is in place. Most of those on NSC I have on ignore, because telling people repeatedly that they are advocating genocide of the old and immunocompromised gets a bit boring after a while.

Finally, if the rate limiting step in vaccination is the physical act of a nurse taking a syringe and jabbing a patient, and every available nurse in the country is working flat out jabbing people, it is of course wrong for footballers, pole vaulters and olympic skateboarders to jump the queue. However, if there are warehouses full of vaccine and the rate limiting step is filling vans and disbursing vaccine around the country, then why are we not asking for volunteers from among the white van man community to help step up disbursement? My concern is that the logistics of the vaccination programme haven't been properly managed. It would not surprise me therefore to find this is allowing all sorts of queue jumping if you know how to go about it. Think the cabinet haven't already been vaccinated? The royals? Hmmmm....if there is slack in the system people will find a way to nip into the queue just like the fleet of foot in the queue for the escalator in the underground....wouldn't surprise me the find footballers and olympians have 'located' a 'surplus' crate of vaccine that 'would have gone off', at some point. Perhaps I'm wrong. Old cynic...

 

[schmunk]

Why over 65s ?

The priority categories go down to over 50s for a reason.

Tory voter demographics...?