Disappointing test figures for the last two days. Only just over 900,000 tests each day. Over 200,000 less than we were seeing only a month or so ago. The number of daily positive tests seems to be settled at around 43,000 per day. Today’s figure was 43,676. It does seem that people are no longer bothering to do a test, because they do not want to know the result and therefore would not report a positive test. I am sure this attitude is keeping our levels stable but high. The number of positive results is 30,000 more in this week compared to the previous 7 days. This means the positive rate is continuing to rise to 430.5 per 100,000 of the population.
Hospital data is tending to undulate every couple of weeks but is on its way down again. The number admitted on a single day has dropped below 800 for the first time for a while. 722 people were admitted with covid on the one-day 20th November. Similarly, the total number in hospital has dropped below 8,000 with 7,874 in a hospital bed yesterday and only 919 were on a ventilator. A week or so ago over 1,000 were being ventilated.
Now we have over 80% of our population with 2 vaccine doses and almost 28% have a third dose, we should be seeing a high level of protection which should keep people out of hospital. The greater the numbers of people fully immunised the lower the hospital admissions will be. We know that those immunised fully are not 100% protected but a large majority are. The highest percentage of patients in hospital are not immunised. I was asked, after my last report, to explain the reason why in a family of antivaccers they all managed to avoid catching Covid whilst a female member of the family who was fully vaccinated was very ill in hospital. The explanation in one word is comorbidities. The antivaccers were all in good normal health whereas the lady who was so ill had a number of other health issues which made her very vulnerable. Firstly, she had gross obesity, which is a high-risk factor. Secondly, she had thyroid gland issues and thirdly she had heart rhythm problems. If she had not had the vaccine she could well no longer be with us. The antivaccers claimed the vaccine had caused the covid. This of course is impossible because the vaccines do not contain any Covid virus. Having full vaccination does not guarantee you will not catch Covid but it does mean you will be substantially less effected than those unvaccinated if they catch it. 0nly about 7% of us are still at serious risk. 93% are safe. I was somewhat amused to note that a conference in Florida attended by vaccine sceptics seven of the delegates have been confirmed to have Covid.
Also, tonight there is a report that a man from Chatham in Kent has been jailed for 2 years for sending a hoax bomb to a Covid vaccine manufacturing unit in Wrexham. Investigations showed he had also sent others to 10 Downing St, Astro Zenica Headquarters, a US Airforce base in Gloucestershire, a laboratory in Wuhan, and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jon-Un. All the hoax bombs were intercepted before delivery. He clearly had mental health issues.
I have been reading an important document released by the WHO today, you will find the full text on- line. “The document is an interim statement on covid -19 vaccination for children and adolescents.” The document has been prepared with the help of the UK Strategic Advisory Group of Experts,SAGE and their committee STAGE, The Strategic and Technical Advisory group of Experts on maternal, newborn babies, child and adolescent health and nutrition.
They conclude;
“As a matter of global equity, as long as many parts of the world are facing extreme vaccine shortages, countries that have achieved high vaccine coverage in their high risk populations should prioritise global sharing of Covid 19 vaccines through the Covax facility before proceeding to the vaccination of children and adolescents who are at low risk for severe disease.
It is of the utmost importance for children to continue to receive the recommended childhood vaccines for other infectious diseases”.
I believe there is more than enough vaccine in the world for everyone. The biggest problems are in equitable distribution and immunisation Many areas suffer from illegal re sale of vaccine and other fraudulent behaviour. Many countries just cannot safely provide access to those needing immunisations. There is evidence of a lot of waste.
Before finishing may I recommend another document from the Office of National Statistics released yesterday and called “Coronavirus (Covid 19) Infection survey ,antibody and vaccination data , UK: 23rd November 2021”
The more observant of you will notice a different definition of death due to Covid. The normal definition I have been using as well as Public Health England is “a Covid death is any death occurring within 28 days of a positive test.” The ONS definition is “any death that has Covid written on a death certificate” Be careful as you study this paper. To clarify what is meant.
So please stay alert, continue to use plan B. We need many more to do the same. Stay safe, at all times.
Global equity and childhood jabs remain controversial, do share your views please.