IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY....TAKE ME WITH YOU.
HAPPY NEW YEAR. ISH. 2021.
Hope many many people are still in one piece despite this nasty thing.
VACCINE NEWS
I can admit that I received the Pfizer vaccine dose 1 on Monday 18th January at St Thomas’ hospital Westminster, for which I am most grateful. The second jab, officially thanks to the UK government, 3 MONTHS later, is being challenged by UK GPs and other experts who have written letters to state that the gap between doses should be no more than 6 weeks for the vaccine to work effectively. Let’s see what happens. Meanwhile there are huge shortages in many countries due to vaccine production delays and purchase strategy issues. The EU (Italy in particular), South Africa and South America have massive shortages.
CRONEYISM IN THE UK
The London Economic revealed yesterday that Tory donor Lord Ashcroft’s firm Medacs was handed £350m coronavirus testing and tracing contract. The Billionaire last year gave £175,000 to the Tories and their London mayoral candidate.
Last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) found that suppliers with links to Tory politicians were ten times more likely to be awarded contracts than those who applied to the Department of Health and Social Care. The damning report also found that more than £5 million of taxpayer cash was paid in consultancy fees with close links to ministers – including a £1.5 million deal for two social media consultants from New Zealand who worked on Boris Johnson’s election campaign.
NO CHANGE THERE THEN
(https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/tory-donor-lord-ashcrofts-firm-handed-350m-coronavirus-testing-contract/21/01/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=sfeu&fbclid=IwAR07VvRUacfxaJQtxh5-HM-OXkXavcmJrd-EBXvLWCP2OGXMnh9_5Q6tIcg
MINIRANT
2021: The Government Has Everything In Hand, Right?
Four ministers state different strategies for leaving lockdown while briefing Right Wing press (18/1/2021)
Lorries arrive at Downing Street saying on the side “incompetent government destroying our shellfish industry” (17/1/2021)
UK reaches World’s HIGHEST Covid Deathrate (deaths/million pop.)
Initially rapid vaccine rollout has conditions changed between 2 doses by UK PHE (2/1/2021) from 3 weeks (from Pfizer instructions) to 3 months. Israel Health say after their ultra fast rollout that after 1 dose protection is 33% not 89% as claimed by PHE. I receive my Pfizer jab 1 Jan 16 2021 and am given a date 3 months later for jab 2. UK started well. Are we blowing this too?
After vast amounts of money gone into Private Business’ hands for nothing back (purchases of wrong out of date PPE, dodgy ventilators (inc Dyson), billions on failed Test Trace, millions on Test Trace consultancies, huge purchases of rapid test non functioning Covid Tests before buying and rolling out millions of Lateral Flow Tests with no higher than 50% Sensitivity, etc etc.... how much is there left for the vast stocks of vaccine required in 2021? After very good I initial purchases supplies are already constrained (19/1/2021)
The Priti that is Patel doesn’t know where to find the 440,000 Crime Data Records that have been “lost”.
The Border controls which have taken nearly a year to implement enforcing requirements for negative tests and quarantine at airports and ports, with extra testing on entry.... er, still haven’t been implemented. May never, despite the UK’s appalling death rates.
PHE has changed its mind again regarding students’ daily contact rapid testing before it’s even started. Yet Lockdown still allows Garden Centres to open. WHY?
£20/week rise in support implemented last year is being withdrawn, while many self employed and freelancers have received not a penny during Covid.
Conservative MPs have ripped out an amendment to the government's trade bill to prevent the NHS being sold off or undermined by the government's trade deals with other countries.
The House of Lords had last month inserted a clause banning any agreement that “undermines or restricts” the UK's ability to provide “a comprehensive publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery”. The amendment also restricted “the sale of patient data” and the government's ability to control drug prices.
But in a vote on Tuesday night MPs rejected the amendment by 357 votes to 266, with no Tory MPs backing the motion. The governing party's MPs were the only ones to vote against the protections.
Trade Minister Greg Hands said there was no need to protect the health service with legislation because “the NHS is not and never will be for sale". He characterised such claims as "offensive and absurd".
Data 23rd January 2021
In the table above, Russia’s actual figures are admitted to be probably 3 times the amounts shown. China’s unofficial figures are considerably higher too.