Covid restrictions

Despite the feel when you're out and about that most people are now ignoring Covid (in South Yorkshire anyway) it's clearly going to continue to impact rugby in the upcoming season. Bit from the Telegraph on potential uplifting of restrictions if players go ahead with vaccinations. A few quote from the coaches included and you get the feeling the majority feeling is to get as many people as possible as protected as possible; particularly strong words from Sanderson. Would love to hear what Baxter thinks of this as from the outside Exeter sound like a club who think photographs steal your soul. His press conference is apparently today. I could see any cancellations with a club with low vaccination rates frowned upon but I haven't seen any definitive penalties for cancellations:

'Sale Sharks rugby director Alex Sanderson has warned his players that if they refuse to fully vaccinate against Covid-19, their choices and even “future employment” could be jeopardized.

On Monday, ahead of the opening round of the Premiership games this weekend, it was confirmed that clubs will be rewarded with easing some Covid restrictions once 85 percent of their players and staff are fully vaccinated.

Above this threshold, in most scenarios there will no longer be a mask requirement and social distancing – another measure that has been part of the minimum standard criteria of the competition for over a year ̵

1; will no longer apply.
Sanderson said Sale, who hosts Bath on Saturday, is close to the 85 percent mark and “all we have to do is chase a number of people for their second strike”.

But he also made sure that the team was informed of all possible consequences should they decide not to vaccinate, some of which are serious.

“At first we tried to educate them as best we could,” he said. “Our doctor has sent numerous emails rumors of negative effects and the positive effects of the vaccine. They are doctors. You have an ethical obligation to provide the correct information.

“Still, it’s a choice. But the consequences of not being able to travel, not being able to play in every arena when vaccination cards are received, are the consequences. Even if they got rid of that [idea], it could come back in. You never know.

“The consequence of this is that it could have a detrimental effect on selection and thus on future employment. That’s the reality. We didn’t put sugar on it. We were brutally honest.

“If your stance on this is so strong we will respect it, but that is a discussion we will have across the board, depending on the implications of [players] don’t take it. We left it to them, gave them all the information and said, ‘The choice is yours’. “

Meanwhile, Gloucester head coach George Skivington said his club is aiming for a full house of vaccinations and he expects the restrictions to be lifted within days.

“Every single employee and player has at least their first vaccination,” he said. “Next week we’ll be 85 percent, and then in a few weeks we’ll be 100 percent. The boys, to be fair, it’s all their choice. They all bought into it and decided as a group that they wanted to be as safe as possible. “

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said his squad’s vaccination rate was “very high” while Bath rugby director Stuart Hooper said his club was “eager to get there”.

“We’re close [85 per cent], “he added.” Of course there are a number of factors that will affect how quickly you get there, such as the age of the squad – the younger the squad the later they can get their first vaccinations. And of course, Covid -Infections are a different matter, because if you have become infected, you can no longer be vaccinated for 28 days. “

Irish rugby director in London, Declan Kidney, said vaccination was a “personal matter” but described the possible lifting of restrictions as encouraging news. “Anything that shows a path behind the curtain is a positive step,” he said. “As with everything else, there will be a bit of pain and time before we actually get there, but now at least we have a way.”'

What is the general attitude like towards vaccinations in the UK? Are there many opposed to it?

Despite the feel when you're out and about that most people are now ignoring Covid

Or maybe people are trying to get back to normality as best as possible. Here in Newcastle etc...most people are not wearing masks anymore or social distancing.

When mask wearing etc becomes the norm then we're in a bad place!

Uptake of the vaccs has been really good in the older age ranges. Tends to fall off for the 25-45 age ranges. I think most people see the benefit to it and the ying and yang in having it to prevent the need for harsher distancing and masks etc. There are high profile nut jobs of course who make plenty of noise.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

Despite the feel when you're out and about that most people are now ignoring Covid

Or maybe people are trying to get back to normality as best as possible. Here in Newcastle etc...most people are not wearing masks anymore or social distancing.

When mask wearing etc becomes the norm then we're in a bad place!

Yup here, too. Hence the point about ignoring, or people thinking its over. Normality is great but the risks are being ignored on the whole now.

Well uptake in SA has been slow only 12 % of the population has been fully vaccinated around 7 million and just over 10 million has had one dose.

I still have to get my second dose, but still have to wait four weeks

It is still mandatory to wear masks in SA

We know the risks...theres been a lot of deaths recorded (though i do debate the actual total all attributed to Covid)

All people i know are double vaxed like myself.

Now People can still catch it if they are double vaxed....but i think it works something like this: (Please correct me if im wrong)

Doubled Jabbed are about 80% less likely to catch it, and of those who do...about 50% less likely to pass it on.

I think if we are majority vaxed now...it needs to push towards normality. And i do say with even my 82 year old mother saying exactly the same...so i dont take it lightly.

Old Man wrote:Well uptake in SA has been slow only 12 % of the population has been fully vaccinated around 7 million and just over 10 million has had one dose.

I still have to get my second dose, but still have to wait four weeks

It is still mandatory to wear masks in SA

Do they even work...? Im not so sure.

Not to get in the tits for tats of it all I don't know the latest stats on the whole, latest thoughts is that people who received first vaccs in Dec/Jan are needing boosters this coming October. Clearly the risks on acuity of the disease in particular are vastly reduced with 2 jabs but can still cause a lot of issues. Long covid remains quite a scary thing as well, some horror stories out there at the top end (a colleagues boyfriend in his 20s has been left in a wheelchair and they've had to move to an adapted bungalow). Face coverings do work in preventing you passing covid on but not in catching it, thats in part what is so frustrating, me wearing one protects the guy without but not vice versa!

Anyway does seem to be being taken seriously in the rugby community in England.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Well uptake in SA has been slow only 12 % of the population has been fully vaccinated around 7 million and just over 10 million has had one dose.

I still have to get my second dose, but still have to wait four weeks

It is still mandatory to wear masks in SA

Do they even work...? Im not so sure.

I don't really know. But from a personal perspective my family (son and wife) have been taking the self isolation , wearing mask and sanitising very seriously, and ignoring covid, none of us had even a hint of the flu since lockdown started last year.

We are fortunate though that we work from home and I have limited visits to clients to the absolute necessary only.

Yes, in my opinion, wearing masks work.  Not perfectly, but they perform a function.  In hospitals medical staff have always worn masks in the OR to prevent the staff from passing any infection, virus, or bacteria to a patient.  Now that mind-set applies to Covid-19 in the wider world as well.  Remember, like the vaccines, their primary function is to prevent you from inadvertently passing the virus to someone else, and protecting the wearer is really a secondary benefit.  Critically, the vaccines break the link between catching the virus and serious side effects.    

I agree when wearing masks becomes the norm it will be very bad.  Which is why we are pushing so hard for people to receive the jabs.  And frankly, because this is at least as much about transmission as individual protection, maybe more, for me the individual choice argument falls rather flat.

Old Man wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Well uptake in SA has been slow only 12 % of the population has been fully vaccinated around 7 million and just over 10 million has had one dose.

I still have to get my second dose, but still have to wait four weeks

It is still mandatory to wear masks in SA

Do they even work...? Im not so sure.

I don't really know. But from a personal perspective my family (son and wife) have been taking the self isolation , wearing mask and sanitising very seriously, and ignoring covid, none of us had even a hint of the flu since lockdown started last year.

We are fortunate though that we work from home and I have limited visits to clients to the absolute necessary only.

Very much agree. I think you can really tell how effective the measures were by the lack of flu and cold outbreaks last year. No measure is going to be 100% safe, there's no magic wand to fix the problem that's the important thing to remember. I still occasionally wear my mask, in the shops mainly just because I think that's where the risk is and I'd rather not risk catching it. As I go in one shop a week for groceries it's not a lot of mask wearing but my job doesn't require much face to face contact.

It's good the Prem is encouraging rather than penalising in the way it has. The clubs will be pushing for all the players to be vaccinated otherwise come European cup games some might find they aren't allowed to travel due to isolation requirements.

My daughter was in a Irish language class on Monday.
You get paired up with another speaker at the same level - she was with a senior doctor at one of Belfast biggest hospitals.

He told her every single person in ICU, in his hospital, was either unvaccinated or had serious underlying health conditions.
I was surprised he divulged this but in truth I think he was just angry about people, particular young people, not taking up the vaccine.
To be clear we have a lower uptake of the vaccine here in Northern Ireland than any other region in the UK, with the exception of London.

geoff999rugby wrote:My daughter was in a Irish language class on Monday.
You get paired up with another speaker at the same level - she was with a senior doctor at one of Belfast biggest hospitals.

He told her every single person in ICU, in his hospital, was either unvaccinated or had serious underlying health conditions.
I was surprised he divulged this but in truth I think he was just angry about people, particular young people, not taking up the vaccine.
To be clear we have a lower uptake of the vaccine here in Northern Ireland than any other region in the UK, with the exception of London.

That is supposed to be public domain information. I am not sure why, but it is not reported consistently either back home in UK or here in new Jersey. My hospital is up to 28 Covid patients in ICU. None are vaccinated which says something in the largest hospital in a county with 80%+ vaccinated. Most of the docs are fed up dealing with them.

The sad fact is those who have refused the vaccine would dismiss reports over the numbers in ICU as scaremongering from the bias media. They'd rather believe memes on social media than an expert telling the truth with facts and figures.

formerly known as Sam wrote:The sad fact is those who have refused the vaccine would dismiss reports over the numbers in ICU as scaremongering from the bias media. They'd rather believe memes on social media than an expert telling the truth with facts and figures.

You are so right.  Just come to my hospital and take a tour. Absolutely bloody incredible, isn't it?  Just like this from today's Daily News (one of the three big NYC newspapers): https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-covid-bride-feared-vaccine-died-coronavirus-wedding-ventilator-funeral-church-20210917-5ckto4bw3jbp5kn6x5q6tcyexe-story.html

My wife does a little consultancy work at one of the hospitals in Leicester and she has been saying for more than a year that the doctors are unhappy at how the problem is being under reported.

What really angers me right now is that we are getting anti vax literature stuck though our letterbox. Twice in the last 2 weeks.

Somebody out there is paying for the production, printing and distribution of this stuff. People at each stager are either turning a blind eye and taking the money or are complicit in the process. There is a death cult living amongst us.

lostinwales wrote:What really angers me right now is that we are getting anti vax literature stuck though our letterbox. Twice  in the last 2 weeks.

Somebody out there is paying for the production, printing and distribution of this stuff. People at each stager are either turning a blind eye and taking the money or are complicit in the process. There is a death cult living amongst us.

That is something I don't see here. All over the internet for sure, but not in the mail. To me, the government needs to investigate and shut them down. The people, organisations, of whomever is behind this stuff needs to be dealt with severely. At the minimum publicised and exposed to the country at large. I think the sources of the money will be vary fascinating.