The whole thing is very perplexing. We have an increasing infection rate - very close to the 'third wave' lockdown peak in July - and, although the hospitalisation and death rates are not as high, they are still persistently, and worryingly, high - around 7,000 in hospital, and
still 100 or so dying each day. To put it bluntly, we are
still very much in the throes of a pandemic, with the virus just as nasty (and deadly) as it's ever been. And we're approaching winter.
At any other time, such stats would warrant a national emergency being declared, and yet people are behaving as if nothing is happening. People even refer to us as being 'post-Covid' - if so, then what's causing all these death and hospitalisations??
The other aspect that doesn't seem to make sense is (as Sword points out) the apparent 'ineffectiveness' of the vaccine. If 'herd immunity' is around 80%, then we have pretty much reached it for ages 45 and above (at 60+, the rate is 90-95%). So how come so many people are still being infected, ending up in hospital and dying? Even the younger age groups are pretty effectively vaccinated - between 55% and 70+% for ages 18-45.
So is it just kids? I'm pretty sure that, if 7,000 kids were in hospital, and 100 a week were dying, we'd have heard about it! So, is it kids spreading the virus and adults then catching it and ending up in hospital or dead? Apart from the ethical/moral consequences of this as a government policy (basically, the same 'let it rip and hope for herd immunity' approach they were accused of in yesterday's review), the numbers just don't add up. How come, with so many people fully vaccinated, we are still getting infection rates almost as high as the last peak in July?
With the vaccination programme, plus the number of people who are naturally immune from having had Covid, by now we should be seeing very low infection, hospital and death rates. We should be 'living with Covid', rather than dying from it. So, what is it? Is the vaccine not that effective after all? Or is the concept of 'herd immunity' wrong? Or is it something else? Whichever - it would be nice to be kept informed.
Both my kids are at school (which appears to be the main vector), one is part vaccinated, the other isn't. Am I supposed to just sit here and wait for one of them to bring it home, so I can then find out just how effective the vaccine is - and hope it doesn't kill me? Call me naive, but I was hoping for something a little more sophisticated from the 'government' than that.
