120 deaths a day is a fraction of the death toll this time last year with comparable case numbers. so, erm, it really seems like vaccines make a significant difference ... which is something you weirdly keep trying to call into question.
covid is never going away. we are never going to extirpate it. making a country of 60 million stay at home because of 100 deaths a day is not good public health policy. it WAS good policy when there was no hypothetical limit to daily death numbers, and when the prospect of hospitals being overwhelmed was a very real one. that was the right circumstance for EMERGENCY lockdown measures. now we have widespread vaccination that provides increased immunity to people across all age brackets.
amazing how you fail to grasp this.
if the UK can nail our winter 2021 booster shots as well as we nailed the initial vaccine rollout (after doing much very badly, it must be said), then we will be well on our way to properly taming this pandemic. once again: 100 deaths a day with 40,000-50,000 cases is a significant difference to this time last year. with mask-wearing mandates this winter and prudent controls on large indoor gatherings (a lack of which has driven an avoidable spike in case numbers -- but not deaths, importantly), we could have our case/death numbers much more in line with the rest of western europe.
the picture is actually rather promising for any country that has its head together and good organization. but you seem to think we are still hopelessly lost and don't have any means at our disposal other than lockdowns and isolation. 'vaccines might become marginally effective given enough time'. no. that's not what the data says. vaccines work and they work in a big way. lockdowns do not work as effectively against the delta variant and are an increasingly costly way of buying time ... for more vaccination.
covid is never going away. we are never going to extirpate it. making a country of 60 million stay at home because of 100 deaths a day is not good public health policy. it WAS good policy when there was no hypothetical limit to daily death numbers, and when the prospect of hospitals being overwhelmed was a very real one. that was the right circumstance for EMERGENCY lockdown measures. now we have widespread vaccination that provides increased immunity to people across all age brackets.
amazing how you fail to grasp this.
if the UK can nail our winter 2021 booster shots as well as we nailed the initial vaccine rollout (after doing much very badly, it must be said), then we will be well on our way to properly taming this pandemic. once again: 100 deaths a day with 40,000-50,000 cases is a significant difference to this time last year. with mask-wearing mandates this winter and prudent controls on large indoor gatherings (a lack of which has driven an avoidable spike in case numbers -- but not deaths, importantly), we could have our case/death numbers much more in line with the rest of western europe.
the picture is actually rather promising for any country that has its head together and good organization. but you seem to think we are still hopelessly lost and don't have any means at our disposal other than lockdowns and isolation. 'vaccines might become marginally effective given enough time'. no. that's not what the data says. vaccines work and they work in a big way. lockdowns do not work as effectively against the delta variant and are an increasingly costly way of buying time ... for more vaccination.
Last edited by uziq (2021-10-18 02:38:32)
