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Would you get one of the first vaccines if it meant you could travel internationally?

Would you get one of the early covid vaccines if required to travel internationally in 2021?

  • Yes, can't wait to travel again

    Votes: 17 53.1%
  • No, will wait at least 6 months after approvals to see if long-term effects emerge

    Votes: 8 25.0%
  • Maybe, by around middle of 2021, we will see what the state of travel and the pandemic is first.

    Votes: 7 21.9%

  • Total voters
    32
From what I read this morning it seems that it will be a while before we get vaccinated in Canada.
Care Home residents and staff are first, then frontline healthcare workers.
As far as age goes, it seems they are starting with people over 80, and working down the age list by five years at a time: ie: 75 year olds next, and on down.
It all depends on availability.
So, as 65 and 66 year olds, it could be a while till they get to us.
Each province is different.
 
Looking forward to my (‘booster’) 2nd Pfizer shot next week in hope of better protecting myself and loved ones and strangers I encounter within several weeks later.
Also rather optimistically made a (refundable) SWA reservation to FLL for end of Feb.
But no idea yet if being vaccinated will make Italy’s borders more accessible by this summer for non-essential travel.

Nobody knows yet if being vaccinated means you can't get infected or be infectious to others.
 
I was reading on Twitter today that there are problems with the vaccine rollout in England. Not as organised as it should be, short of staff. Sigh. They did approve the Oxford vaccine today so that will speed things up.

Meanwhile our cases and deaths are way up and they moved 2/3 of the country into lockdown. Our area, Dorset, moved up a tier (tier 3) but it is not as severe a lockdown as most of the country.
 
That’s right wco81 - only time will tell for sure whether this will be like other FDA approved initially effective vaccines or something completely different. Absolutely no guarantees. In the meantime, I’m getting vaccinated asap and making sure my loved ones do too.
I simply like my chances being vaccinated much better than my chances being unvaccinated of protecting myself and - just as importantly - others. But I respect the fact that there is rational reason for caution, so different horses for different courses, and sincere good luck to you and yours while going unvaccinated.
 
Definitely its a good idea to get vaccinated, though if I had a choice, I would get something other than the AZ/Oxford vaccine.

Just that those who are vaccinated should continue to use masks, distance and avoid gatherings.

Maybe by summer, they will have more data and they will be able to say that the vaccinated can't pass on the virus or can but they're not as infectious as the unvaccinated.
 
Will people actually be offered a second dose?
It seems from what I'm reading that a lot of countries are now not giving a second dose, as they want more people to have one dose, rather than less people having two, depending on supply.
My nurse friend in Scotland had the first dose; was given an appointment for the second one for three weeks hence, then told this week there would be no booster dose now, as all doses are going out now for first doses to more of the population.
 
Will people actually be offered a second dose?
It seems from what I'm reading that a lot of countries are now not giving a second dose, as they want more people to have one dose, rather than less people having two, depending on supply.
Gov'ts are starting to gamble, being faced with a shortage in vaccines, and a constant rise in infection. The Pfizer trials were held with all those receiving the vaccine getting a second dose within 21 days. There is no clinical data that supports any other type of administration of this vaccine, only scientific guesswork (and possibly political pressures, in light of the bad situation in some countries). There is also talk of a second dose being administered with a vaccine of a different company than the first - again, no data to support this type of action, only estimates.
The real test will come in a short range (1-6 months) re-evaluation of the situation with regards all those who might have received only one dose - how effective really was this?
The truth is that even the long term efficacy of the official two-dose regime is not known yet.
In the meantime, best for everyone (including the vaccinated) to continue as "usual" - wear a mask, distance, and wash your hands more often. If you travel, go to the more secluded places.
 
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They're doing it out of desperation because the rate of infections is so high.

So they're hoping delaying the second dose, allowing manufacturing to catch up, would help stem all these new infections.

That's in the UK.

In the US, they're talking about giving two half doses of the Moderna, rather than two full doses or one full dose and delaying the second as they are planning to do in the UK.

Also in the UK, the mixing of vaccines could be trying to rescue the reputation of Oxford, whose Astra Zeneca vaccine had dubious data in the trials, which is why it hasn't been approved in the US yet.
 
They're doing it out of desperation because the rate of infections is so high.

So they're hoping delaying the second dose, allowing manufacturing to catch up, would help stem all these new infections.

That's in the UK.
Yes, this started in the last few days. The virus is spreading rapidly here, even in our quiet corner of the country! It is upsetting. We only leave the house to go for walks and no longer walk where there will be other people. I think the whole country will go into lockdown again. Currently more than half the country is in Tier 4 which is almost full lockdown. The rest, including our area, are in Tier 3 except for the very small and remote Scilly Isles (off the tip of Cornwall) which are in Tier 1 and are the only place in the country with open pubs.

They are starting the big rollout of the Oxford vaccine today. We haven’t received letters yet scheduling our shots.
 
Well, I wrote a bit prematurely about the absence of talk about a "green passport" here in the country.

From this report in the Times of Israel, it seems that the Israeli Ministry of Health is indeed proposing such a passport, that will " be used to enable access to cultural and sporting events, conferences, museums and other types of mass gatherings. It added they would likely be used at restaurants and cafes, malls, hotels, gyms and swimming pools, but would not be required for schools, workplaces, public transportation, houses of worship and street-front stores."

In addition, “There is already dialogue at the level of international organizations. The European Union instructed the European Commission to put together a position paper on the matter and its implications.”

This is all supposed to be implemented through apps and other technological ways. Rapid PCR testing good for 72 hours might also be allowed instead of the passport.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
I just heard that England is going back into lockdown. I feel for you all, and hope this and the rollout of vaccinations will start to slow the progress. Australia is due to start vaccinations in March but we are still waiting to hear something concrete. At 65 and 66, it will be a while before we are vaccinated.

We have a few clusters in Sydney and Melbourne and authorities have acted quickly to try to control it. While there are a few more cases each day, the figures are very low compared to other countries. I think we had around 21 in Australia yesterday and some of those are in hotel quarantine. But Australians find even those numbers alarming and quickly comply with what is asked of them. Of course there are always a few who think they are above the law, but for the most part people are following the rules. I cannot imagine living somewhere that has more cases in a day than we have had in the whole pandemic. State premiers have brought back border controls. People from Sydney cannot travel anywhere in Australia at the moment, and there are restrictions on other travel.

Meanwhile the state we live in ( Queensland ) has had no community transmission in a long time. We were lucky enough to see our son and family from Sydney before Christmas and before the new clusters emerged. Our son and family from Canberra were able to come up for Christmas and it is all normal here for us. Our Canberra daughter in law is English and does not know when she will see her elderly parents again.

Here's hoping this new year will start to improve soon. Stay safe wherever you are.
 
I just heard that England is going back into lockdown.
Yes, lockdown #3 starts tomorrow (Wednesday) and is almost as strict as lockdown #1 from last March - June. Schools closed, non-essential shops closed, no visitors in your house, leave house for local exercise only. This time dentists can remain open, and opticians. Lockdown #2, a few weeks last November was easier with schools still open.

I have not been in favour of lockdowns until now. Now I am terrified of this new variant which spreads faster. Our area, Dorset, has had very few cases until now.

Will I ever feel comfortable again in groups of people?
 
I do not blame you for being worried. It seems to spread very quickly. We have cases turning up here in Australia in hotel quarantine. This is causing concern for authorities as they try to plan how to deal with it. There have been calls to stop flights from the UK, but as one expert has said, it is in other countries already, so eventually that would mean banning all flights. So they are looking for strategies to minimise the risk.

Hotel quarantine has been effective in detecting cases before they get out in the community. But despite their best efforts, it has ' escaped ' a few times and resulted in outbreaks. With the exception of Victoria's outbreak last year which resulted in a long lockdown for them, these have been managed fairly well and the numbers have been kept low. Fingers crossed.

I can appreciate that lockdown is difficult but it does seem effective in slowing transmission. Victoria managed to get numbers down to zero following their lockdown. Unfortunately some people cannot be relied on to do the right thing, and the more tired people become and the more accustomed to rising numbers of cases and deaths, the less tolerant they are of being restricted. And I am sure we are all heartily sick of the whole Covid thing, even here where we have not been as severely affected.
Lots of Netflix and reading coming up for everyone.
 
UK is the one pushing the one shot or delaying the 2nd shot by 3 months approach, because the rate of spread there is really bad with the new strain there being more infectious.

It's a sign of desperation.

During the trials, all the vaccine companies tested different combinations of doses. By the time they did Phase 3 trials, they settled on the dosage that showed the best results.

They are saying they don't know how long protection would last after just one shot.

Some virologists also fear that putting a lot of people vaccinated with one shot would give them an immune response not strong enough to kill off the virus but give it selection pressure to resist or escape the antibodies raised by the vaccines.

IOW, the virus evolves to stronger strains like the ones in the UK and South Africa.

The FDC has said so far that they don't support altering the dosages that they approved.
 
I heard (on the radio) That one covid vaccine gives a person 70%-80% protection and the second vaccine shot gives 90% protection.
That's true, but that happens when the second dose is administered within 21 days after the first. That, at least, is how it was done in the clinical trials. If it is decided, for whatever reason (lack of doses, etc.), to withhold the administration of the second dose for longer than 21 days, then it's a question of guesswork - and not of data based on the clinical trial - if there will be an increase to 90% in protection.
The logic in the countries that have not got a good grip on the virus, is that it is better to have more people with 50-70 percent protection, than to have fewer with 90 percent. But that might just be wishful thinking.
 
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wco81 and Joe are correct. It is an act of desperation and is not based on any hard data.

As my father used to tell me, if you are going to do something, do it right or don't do it at all.

I'm in an upper age group, but I'm willing to wait until the people properly in line in front of me get their shots they way they are supposed to receive them.
 

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