DJDave87
Established Member
I'm in group 6 for other reasons. I don't think you appreciate just how complex Asthma is and how quickly you can go from having well controlled asthma to it not being controlled or suffering a fatal Asthma attack seemingly out of the blue. Hence part of the anger from asthmatics booted out of group 6, the other part of the anger is to do with basically not setting foot outside (other than for medical appointments etc) for the past year to minimise infection risk due to the warnings issued by Government to asthmatics about being vulnerable to COVID-19. Everyone knows Governments let you down, but this is particularly galling as they've led Asthmatics up a garden path without directly addressing why Asthmatics have been removed from group 6 other than vague references to evidence that looks to be flawed as it can't quantify the impact of the measures taken by asthmatics to mitigate COVID-19 infection risk.
Again you are not appreciating the nature of Asthma. It looks to be a decision based on a calculation that not many asthmatics will die from COVID-19 so they can be removed to speed up the vaccination of group 6 and thus hit targets on time. Pragmatism has nothing to do with this, if the Government were being pragmatic they'd have kept all asthmatics in groups 1-9 to lower the risk of the NHS having to deal with long COVID in Asthmatics. Asthmatics might not die from COVID-19 but the long term effects of a COVID-19 infection look to be significant and likely expensive for the NHS to treat.
The current Government made critical mistakes over and over again. It's part of why the death toll is around 120,000+. If they are ever held to account for those mistakes and deaths is anyone's guess at the moment. Who you vote for doesn't really come into this until the next General Election.
The R rate is already predicted to be pushed over 1 by Government scientists with a best case scenario of maybe an extra 30,000 deaths as a result of restrictions being eased. As for Children, you seem to have not taken in that children haven't been vaccinated as yet due to pending clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of vaccines in children under 16. If those trials go well, then you can expect later in the year or maybe early next year for the government to start a vaccination programme of children in schools if that's where the evidence points.
If Government wants to keep schools open, then they have no choice but to vaccinate teachers and support staff so they don't have to isolate classes or entire year groups. They haven't done it, so I expect we'll see schools opening and closing due to infections and self isolation requirements.
This isn't about winners and losers, this is about hard science and a Government that barely pays attention to science unless it suits them or the NHS is at risk of collapse.
With the greatest respect, information surrounding asthmatics is largely irrelevant to me, admittedly i dont appreciate it, i was talking about schools and you brought asthmatics in to it. Theres variability in every group, diabetics, overweight people, old people, men and women. Aint we all been told that men are more likely to die? Why is no one asking about that priority group? Got an exercise for you, youre welcome to google to find out answers and stats if you want. Put the 65 million people of the UK in to 9 priority groups in order to ascertain the best roll out. I bet you miss a lot of people. I also bet you include a lot of unnecessary people.
And youre doing it again. Youre setting yourself up for a fall. You say the government have no choice but to vaccinate teachers, yet literally everything youre looking at is telling you they do have a choice, and they are not going to vaccinate teachers as a priority group. But here you are still assuming teachers will and or have to be vaccinated?
Have you considered the long term impacts on the NHS will be moot if there is no NHS? I appreciate you standing up for asthmatics. I do think im doing that too but more long term. It is about winners and losers. The winners proportionately will be the people with asthma now, at least being considered vs those who are seeking treatment from an even more underfunded over demanded NHS in the future. Tell me how asthmatics fit in with that?
Science is a good argument. Id argue that we havent followed science with dealing with this pandemic. The vast majority of our actions have been based on assumptions in the absence of knowledge, thats about as unsciencey as you can get, i mean are you at risk or not and how much risk? Yet youre taking actions without knowing those specifics youre not working with facts are you? Also were not just dealing with natural sciences here. Were dealing with social sciences too. Something that doesnt really do facts that well.