BRITS SHOULD LEARN TO LIVE WITH COVID BUT KIWIS? NAH

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Sticker on the toilet paper holder in the Paekakariki loos. Love it 

Today, as experts in Britain say vaccinations will never stop Covid, and call for an end to mass testings, experts in New Zealand say we should keep our virus elimination plan.

WOT? WHY? Because, says Sir David Skegg, chairman of  'the expert group driving NZ's covid response' - commissioned by Ardern, Little&Co, Death Dealers to the Nation - "the global situation has deteriorated significantly."

Well yes, that's precisely the British experts' point. The Delta variant has wrecked any chance of herd immunity, so Britain - and New Zealand - should just learn to live with Covid.

But commonsense is apparently foreign to Sir David Skegg and his group of experts, who strongly suggest New Zealand should not consider new bubbles until next year, and paint a grim picture for any Kiwis who believe normality could be around the corner. 

"The Delta variant of concern has now been reported in 124 countries." Exactly! The horse, Sir David, has well and truly bolted! Learn to live with it!

It may be a horrible thing to say, but honestly we have to ask, how much does Sir David Skegg and his group of experts earn for producing this codswallop - or, according to this Government's sycophantic media. this 'highly anticipated report' ? Highly anticipated because it was highly anticipated that it would state exactly what it does state?

New Zealand hopes to vaccinate every consenting adult Kiwi by the end of the year - but the advice suggests even that vaccination programme could be less effective should a more damaging variant emerge.

"It is not inconceivable that, by the end of the year, there could be an established variant that is significantly resistant to the vaccine," the advice states.

"No-one knows what the outcome of this pandemic will be in say 3-5 years time."

Isn't that stating the blindingly obvious?  

Authored by David Skegg, a University of Otago epidemiologist, and several other authoritative figures, the advice confirms "further significant re-opening of New Zealand's borders should not commence before early 2022.

We could not recommend rolling out this scheme until as many New Zealanders as possible have been vaccinated."

On the trans-Tasman bubble, Dr Skegg is plain: only vaccinated people should travel.

Again, we ask, WHY? Expert Sir David and his assorted 'authoritative figures' are being paid, rather well, one would think, by Ardern,Little&Co, Death Dealers to the Nation, to produce advice which must be music to their ears. Control. Subdue. Depopulate. It's all according to Hoyle - or at least, to the global elite and their plans for the Great RESET.

"The borders should remain shut for another six months at least, until as many New Zealanders as possible had been vaccinated, the group advised. 

And lo and behold, another public health expert says the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 could prompt a local lockdown with even one community case in New Zealand.

Otago University Professor Nick Wilson said of the 25 Covid-19 cases currently in managed isolation and quarantine, "most" are likely Delta.

"There would have be some very fast decision-making to consider a local lockdown, and that is the approach that we've seen working in Australia. If it's done fast and hard and quick, it may mean that a lockdown in a city or town can be restricted to just a matter of days."

Oh, you mean like in Melbourne, where it's fine-tuned on-again-off-again lockdown insanity rampant. Meanwhile, back in the Beehive: 

The risk of a Delta outbreak means a relook at New Zealand's alert level settings, Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins says.

Officials were "adjusting our response" because of Covid variants emerging around the world, Hipkins said.

Hipkins told media at today's Covid update that the adjustment meant - if there was a chance of an outbreak - New Zealand would likely see a quicker move to level 4.  

Last Friday, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that fully vaccinated people can become infected and transmit the Delta variant, unlike other variants. It described this as "concerning" and a "pivotal discovery".

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-one-delta-case-could-cause-lockdown-professor/VA3TCI6PCJSQED455NH75YKQLU/

So does this mean New Zealand can stop vaccinating people, fully or partially, for good? Not a bit of it. Not while Ardern, Little&Co, Death Dealers to the Nation, are in charge - with barely a whimper emerging from the so-called National Opposition.

 

By Sarah Knapton,  SCIENCE EDITOR10 August 2021 

The delta variant has wrecked any chance of herd immunity, a panel of experts including the head of the Oxford vaccine team said, as they called for an end to mass testing so Britain can start to live with Covid.

Scientists said it was time to accept that there was no way of stopping the virus spreading through the entire population, and monitoring people with mild symptoms was no longer helpful. 

Prof Andrew Pollard, who led the Oxford vaccine team, said it was clear that the delta variant could infect people who had been vaccinated, which made herd immunity impossible to reach even with high vaccine uptake. 

 

Angela Merkel displays previously unsuspected advantages

It comes as Angela Merkel became the first major world leader to announce the end of free testing, with the provision set to stop in Germany from Oct 11. 

 

On Tuesday, the Department of Health confirmed that more than three quarters of adults have now received both jabs, and calculated that 60,000 deaths and 66,900 hospitalisations had been prevented by vaccination.  But experts said it would never be enough to stop Covid from spreading. 

 

Speaking to the all-party parliamentary group on Covid, Sir Andrew said: "Anyone who is still unvaccinated will, at some point, meet the virus.   We don't have anything that will stop transmission, so I think we are in a situation where herd immunity is not a possibility, and I suspect the virus will throw up a new variant that is even better at infecting vaccinated individuals."

 

Until recently, it was hoped that increasing the number of Britons jabbed would create a ring of protection around the population.  As late as last week, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said one of the reasons it had advised that 16 and 17-year-olds should be vaccinated was because it might help prevent a winter Covid wave.

 

However, analysis by Public Health England has shown that when vaccinated people catch the virus they have a similar viral load to unvaccinated individuals and might be as infectious.

 

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia and an expert in infectious diseases, told the committee: "The concept of herd immunity is unachievable because we know the infection will spread in unvaccinated populations and the latest data is suggesting that two doses is probably only 50 percent protective against infection."

 

Prof Hunter, who advises the World Health Organisation on Covid, also said it was time to change the way the data was collected and recorded as the virus became endemic.

 

"We need to start moving away from just reporting infections, or just reporting positive cases admitted to hospital, to actually start reporting the number of people who are ill because of Covid," he added. "Otherwise we are going to be frightening ourselves with very high numbers that actually don't translate into disease burden."

 

On Tuesday, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, confirmed that third dose booster shots would be given from next month.  However, Sir Andrew argued that, if mass testing was not stopped, Britain could be in a situation of continually vaccinating the population.

"I think as we look at the adult population going forward, if we continue to chase community testing and are worried about those results, we're going to end up in a situation where we're constantly boosting to try and deal with something which is not manageable," he said.

 

"It needs to be moving to clinically driven testing in which people are willing to get tested and treated and managed, rather than lots of community testing.  If someone is unwell they should be tested, but, for their contacts, if they're not unwell then it makes sense for them to be in school and being educated."

 

Dr Ruchi Sinha, consultant paediatrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, told MPs and peers that choosing not to vaccinate children would be unlikely to cause problems in the health service.

 

"What matters is the burden of patient hospitalisation and critical care, and actually there hasn't been as much with this delta variant," she said.  "They tend to be the children who have got their co-morbidities, obesity, or severe neurological problems, and those children are already considered for vaccination.  Covid on its own in paediatrics is not the problem."

 

Sir David: doesn't look too sure of himself (makes a change from Prof Michael Baker) 

Epidemiologist David Skegg's group said today it believes it's possible to maintain an elimination strategy even after more people start arriving.

The group said that many countries such as Britain and the US were already resigned to living with the virus and perhaps enduring seasonal surges."By contrast, New Zealand has the opportunity to continue to enjoy a lifestyle that is relatively unaffected by the ravages of Covid-19," the group said.

As you'd expect, in an island nation more isolated than any other.  

For that strategy to work, the borders should remain shut for another six months at least, until as many New Zealanders as possible had been vaccinated, the group advised. A phased reopening after that could begin with initially allowing in only fully vaccinated people ...

Er, haven't you heard that 'fully vaccinated people can become infected and transmit the Delta variant'?

... from countries where the pandemic is well controlled.New Zealanders wouldn't need to engage in physical distancing, wearing masks, or separating the elderly and others at high risk during winter months, the group concluded.

Tell that to the Marines. 

"This will be advantageous for our community life and economy, and it will make New Zealand a highly attractive place to visit or to settle in," the group said.

Then it follows that it would be even more advantageous for our community life and economy, and make New Zealand a highly attractive place to visit, to open our borders NOW. As for making NZ a highly attractive place to settle in, that will have to wait until we rid NZ of Ardern, Little&Co, Death Dealers to the Nation. 

St Clare of Assisi, August 11

St Clare of Assisi, pray for us.