Who do you reckon will be the first member to get the Covid jab...

[chriscanning]

Having had a relative die of Covid and just as importantly how they die..... i’ll Be happy with either vaccination.

[Matt]

I'm pretty much at the bottom of that list, just after all the pet hamsters.
By then I'll know how many people have been transformed into cronenbergs

[armstrongracer]

F**k the anti-vax bs.  I'll snaffle whatever comes first, even Trumps Drain-ex. It can't come quick enough for me, 61 with high inflammatory markers (arthritis) and living in a house full of super-spreaders in the form of a school teacher and four teenagers. No wonder I travel by bike when I can, the ultimate form of self-isolation.

[black-k1]

As I work with the NHS I've been told I can go into the office in London at any point and get mine. I'm more than happy to get the jab and will arrange an office visit in the next week or so.

While I agree mostly with Brian I do have a degree of sympathy with those protesting in Parliament Square. Firstly, as motorcyclist who, statistically, are a high risk group (for non-COVID reasons) I think we need to be careful of berating a "selfish" minority who have different views/priorities to the majority. Those in glass houses ...

Secondly, no one should under estimate the impact of the lock-down on the economy, on the mental state of the nation and on the fabric of life that we have. There are people who are literary losing everything they have worked for. The future (post COVID is going to be really hard for the next 15 to 20 years. We are in the worst economic situation ever outside of war times. We will have HUGE debts and a massively reduced economy with which to generate the income to pay for it. To quote a (rather extreme but making the point) American who was in a news report a couple of months ago, "there's no point in surviving the virus if we're all going to starve to death"!

Finally, while I don't have the statistics, I would expect that the deaths of under 25's due to road accidents since March, even with lock-down, are significantly greater than deaths of under 25's due to COVID. If we were under 25, it would very reasonable to think that life was definitely being restricted for the benefits of someone else.

[Philip]

Went for my jab yesterday  , was the Pfizer one.
Arm just feels a bit bruised this morning, but no other side effects.

This was the result of some inside info from a rellie who works in the local A&E.

She had been advised about another hospital that had a surfeit of the vac & not enough people arranged to administer it to.
I think the Pfizer vac has a short life span once removed from the freezer & mixed up for injection.

So had to go at short notice on a 40 mile drive & get jabbed.
But with this new virus strain running rampant, the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.

[Phmode]

If we were under 25, it would very reasonable to think that life was definitely being restricted for the benefits of someone else.

All your points are (probably, cos as you say, no statistics) correct and the loss of livelihoods and jobs is catastrophic and unbearable.

However, far as I know, US chapters of Hells Angels aside, motorcyclists only pose a threat to themselves, not to society at large. I imagine that very few in here have ridden for pleasure this last year when told to stay home. I don't recall the bike rags ranting on about the restrictions to our civil liberties and I imagine (no involvement and no evidence) that the Blood Bikes have been run ragged; I bet they did nothing but whinge and whine about that...

As someone who willingly gave up almost all of his civil liberties between the ages of 16 and 30 in the name of the greater good and for the benefit of all of the someone elses (as opposed to my good as I would knowingly have been at ground zero if it all went tits-up), I find a 'stay at home unless you have a valid reason to go out' order a very minor inconvenience when the country is at war.

With this latest strain of the virus, more and more critically ill patients in London's hospitals are now from lower age group and this seems to be the pattern spreading out across the country. Maybe they will re-think the importance of this minor restriction to their civil liberties if they or one of theirs gets ill or dies from this hideous virus.

I've never heard anyone on the news say 'Yeah, my mum died from Covid but it was worth it for me to be able to exercise my civil liberties!'

For anyone who has never suffered from a lung disorder, the only way to describe the feeling of terror at your impending end is to hold a pillow tightly to your face and then try breathing. Doing it for an hour should give you a fair idea. I sat beside my grandfather as he died from emphysema long before I was diagnosed with late onset asthma. I can remember the look of sheer terror, exhaustion and pleading on his face to this day; and this from a man who fought in the trenches in the Great War and was shot, gassed, bombed and shelled (by his own side) and never once complained about the restrictions to his civil liberties.

These selfish protestors should spare a thought for those key workers who have given up and continue to give up, their civil liberties for almost a year now with no let up, no complaints, no time off in many cases and virtually no rewards. They are the ones who should be marching on parliament but it isn't in the nature of 'givers' only in the nature of 'takers'.

Brian (who is obviously getting really, really grumpy because he can't go out partying anymore  )

PS Congratulations Philip, it seems like you win the honour of our first jabee, albeit through stealth and the obvious logistical problems associated with a seriously life-compromised vaccine 

[farmer]

fair play phillip, i don't know the official stance but i still think you should use any inside info to get the booster...simply does not make sense not to. just my opinion mind but you'll be doing well to change my mind.
i think the motorcycle thing was to keep down accidents so hospitals would have one thing less to worry about.
that said i've been in a and e a couple of times this week and it was great!! no drunk ballixs wandering about slabbering, no drugged up gits hancuffed to police and no family gatherings in to keep the dla right. doctors and nurses although busy had time to check patients over and seemed to be in a good frame of mind.
there are no good stories about covid, has to be a horrible death, i know more that have died from not looking about themselves than actual covid, a death is a death and the nearer home it hits , the worse it is.
i have a number of medical workers in the family , different ranks different disciplines and they can't agree so i'm not going to try and sway anyone. i volunteer with some special needs lads and when asked my opinion by one of the parents i was able to reply that i did not have to live with the consequences of her actions, she did, as i do with mine.
so wash yer hands stay away from me and most of all don't lose sleep over what you can't control.
     

[Philip]

" fair play phillip, i don't know the official stance but i still think you should use any inside info to get the booster... "

They automatically gave me an appointment for the booster, 6 weeks time.

[black-k1]

As said Brian, I agree with much of what you have said but I still have sympathy for the protesters.

The under 25's are not a threat to society either. IF (and it's a very big if) they are carrying a virus then the virus is the threat. All are being treated as a threat when, in reality, it's actually a very small proportion that might be. Less than 5% if the "official estimated infection rate" is to be believed. So, like the moves to remove motorcycling from society (being achieved through complex and expensive testing choking of the supply of new bikers), the under 25 group in particular, is being locked-down to protect it from itself.

I'll point out that you willingly chose to give up your civil liberties, and received a good wage in the process.  That's very different to being told you have to give up your civil liberties and that you'll have to survive on Universal Credit if you're entitled to it. I personally know of 3 under 25's who have had their own business for less than two years, have worked really hard to get the business going, invested everything they had in the business, but are now f**ked because they're not entitled to a single penny. That really is a very bitter pill to swallow.

I've never heard anyone say my Mum died of anything but it was worth it to protect our civil liberties, but I have heard it said that many died so that we can have these civil liberties therefor, they are worth protecting, ultimately, with peoples lives if that is deemed necessary. (Which I don't think it is at the moment but I don't deny the right of others to think differently.)

I am very aware as someone rapidly approaching retirement, financially comfortable and looking forward to a reasonably comfortable pension, I can "take the hit", at least in the short term. Lot's of people are in a very different position, where financial uncertainty is likely to be perceived as as much of a risk to health and well being as COVID.

As someone who works with the NHS and is married to a practicing nurse, who is also a department manager in the local hospital, I am all to aware of the pressures on key workers. However, the pressures on other elements of society may be different, but they are no less intense.

And ...

Congratulations Philip.

[Matt]

Try to keep your blood as cold as possible between now and then, seeing as it's more than the 21 day thing

With all this protesting stuff, the American turn of events has somewhat reminded me that a small number of people (and their algorithms) are extremely adept at manipulating masses of people. Be it 85 years ago or for the last 4 years. None of us are immune to that, because we're human. I hope we can find a 21st century solution to this problem.

[farmer]

so this is what happens a group of motorcyclists in the freeze of winter......

[Matt]

Haha the most popular thread!

How about that Aprilia Tuono 660 hey?! I like the look of it!

[chriscanning]

XT660X Yamaha with power commander and gilera mag wheels  somewhere at the back of the garage....

[fjtwelve]

My wife and I  both got letters from London this week, telling us to get a flu jab. So SWMBO phones up the surgery. Whats your name? Where do you live? Hmm. We'll put you on the list. Put us on the list ? Been registered there for 14 years and both over 60 and we are not on the flu jab list? WTF?

Anyway, the receptionist/nurse/ whatever then said they'd stopped everything to get ready for Covid jabs. Oh right so when are we getting those then? Don't pester us with enquireies you'll be contacted when its your turn. Oh, and we haven't had any vaccine delivered anyway. Umm. So not even on the list for flu and you'll tell me when ts my turn? Not holding my breath

So SWMBO, not to be put off, rings around the pharmacies today for a flu jab. One doesn't answer, one has no vaccine, one in Truro has a bit and might be able to jab us. So next stage, what are the facilities eg one in one out, one way system with separate entrance and exit, well ventilated location? Er , none of the above. This time it was us that said don't call us we'll call you



Anyway, opened a new bottle of Tamnavulin and by 11pm probably will have ceased to bother

[drumwrecker]

Had my second one today.
I asked the nurse if everyone had kept their appointment, she said everyone did but one was late.
So all the confusion out there about not getting second jabs didn't apply in my area of Welwyn Garden City, thankfully.