[acsinuk (OP)]

Thanks Sean,   
Not sure TB vaccinations are given to the children in Africa or whether like here only the 6 in 1 is given to babies.
The FDA authorized the emergency substance use of Paxlovid but Pfizer did advise that the original vaccination absolutely  necessary and the pill was only suitable as a backup.   But surely this backup is all most of us will need this year?

[SeanB]

Vaccines are given, just that many do not get any sort of booster shot, or even get the free 6 in one vaccine, or the immunity wears off with time. Big issue is the rise of MDR TB, which is starting to be the dominant strain, immune to the cheap drugs the state program gives, and needing higher doses, plus many patients do not complete the full 6 month treatment, stopping after a month or two, because"I feel well now" and thus also selecting for the drug resistance, and then also the double whammy of high HIV rates that make it the killer it is. Many thousands of silent carriers of it as well, and it is very much a common ailment, no respector of age, sex, living standard simply because it is so easy to spread. CV has also contributed to the spread, with the TB clinics and the testing programs having been curtailed or shut down because of lack of money or staff, so it is a growing problem, also being spread by being a tough disease, and able to survive on masks for a while, so enhancing the chance of being breathed in or getting onto mucosa.

[acsinuk (OP)]

Thanks Sean, but by NHS continuing to try and be ahead of the risk of pandemic we get in a scary position where GP get overloaded with vaccination requests and delays cause some people to panic and rush to A&E for treatment.

First it was monkey-pox, then polio now flu with no end in sight of what will predicted to come up next.,

This constant pressure is encouraged by the pharmaceuticals who are in the business of making a profit at everyone's expense.

The drug developers [ mostly funded by the government ] should be advised to produce pills or scratch board powders that can be self administered saving the NHS time and the recycling of millions of needles, syringes, masks, wet wipes, etc. etc.

[alancalverd]

It's far easier for a GP clinic to vaccinate everyone than to deal with a pandemic.

The advantage of taxpayer-funded vaccination programs is that they protect everyone ()except idiots) from everyone else (except idiots). If it was all left to market forces the poor would become dangerous.

It is the goal of every pharmaceutical manufacturer to produce pills with a long shelf life,simple quality control, wider acceptability  and negligible administration costs compared with vaccines, but Pfizer's anti-COVID pill hasn't been thoroughly proved to date, and it is generally easier to modify a vaccine  as the virus mutates.   

[Bored chemist]

should be advised to produce pills or scratch board powders that can be self administered saving the NHS time

Why should they be advised to use magic?

[paul cotter]

Alancalverd, I hadn't read this thread before today. How is your son doing now? Nearly two months after contracting covid I feel as rough as a bear's arse(hope you'll excuse this course language). Then again i'll be 70 at the start of September and such a lingering illness will have much more dramatic implications for a young person. Hope he is doing well.

[alancalverd]

Thanks for your concern, and I'm really sorry to hear about your persistent bearsarseitis.

Said son recovered fully enough to go back to work and is now laid off with injuries to his hands and forearms from shucking 10,000  oysters and 1000 lobsters at a seafood fair (he's a chef)!

My COVID bug evaded four vaccinations and made me infectious but with only the mildest of symptoms for a couple of weeks, whilst The Boss, with the same vaccination history, mostly the same exposure to others and occasional close contact with me, had no symptoms or positive tests at all!  It's a weird and wily beast.

[paul cotter]

And thank you for your concern. No need to worry about me, i'm financially secure with few responsibilities. I'm more worried about young people at their productive peak being laid low for extended periods. I miss not being able to exercise(I too have been a massive walker) but I am in a good place mentally. I am glad your son has recovered, the concept of a 40 year old with long covid is a chilling one.

[Colin2B]

the concept of a 40 year old with long covid is a chilling one.

Even more so is a friend of ours, in 40s, now has a defibrillator fitted due to covid. Previously fit, he now finds even medium exertion brings on breathlessness. He was unlucky to catch it before vaccinations.

[paul cotter]

Colin2b, that's a very sad story. I found it so severe that I think I would have died without vaccination. I  have been misleading in saying I was fully vaccinated: I had the two original shots and one booster. From the first shot my heart rhythm became erratic and after the booster I had essentially random beats and bursts of tachycardia that went on for 6 months. At that point I decided to risk not getting the second booster. May have been the right or wrong decision-who knows? The "boss"(to use alancalverd's terminology) didn't get the second booster, she was sick but not too bad. 

[Colin2B]

From the first shot my heart rhythm became erratic and after the booster I had essentially random beats and bursts of tachycardia that went on for 6 months.

Wise decision if you have a bad reaction. Possibly one of the carrier ingredients disagrees with you.

[SeanB]

I was lucky, zero side effects, from both the 2 initial shots and the booster. Guess that I already had it before then, even if the test did have a negative result. Worst case of flu I ever did have in March....

[evan_au]

the concept of a 40 year old with long covid is a chilling one.

Some recent figures released by the Australian government suggests that around 12% of the workforce is off-work due to long COVID.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/long-covid-absolutely-smashed-the-labour-market-20220826-p5bd13

[paul cotter]

Interesting stats, evan_au. These are more or less in line with reports from other countries. The economic consequences will be huge between loss of productivity and care of the individuals involved. Post viral syndromes of various types have long been known to medicine but any effective treatment or understanding of the underlying pathology are lacking. Generally these conditions effect a small number of patients after a viral outbreak but clusters occur as well(eg royal free disease). In previous coronavirus outbreaks, sars&mers, I think the rate was closer to 30%. Although in general no consistent theory exists for post viral syndromes, in the case of long covid one theory suggests that covid infection leads to reactivation of latent EBV. 

[acsinuk (OP)]

What we need is a micro finger ***** lancelet vaccine that can be inject by the patient themselves. All the time wasted by NHS can be saves as the instructions on use, H&S warnibgs, and legal getout clauses in all different languages can be put into the QR code likes a church funding code. See attached that can be posted to millions with no waste paper, injection paraphernalia, syringes etc. etc. 
WIN_20220830_15_07_42_Pro (2).jpg (41.32 kB . 297x302 - viewed 1932 times)


 

[alancalverd]

Now that's half a good idea. 0.5 ml of a really stable vaccine in an Epipen-type autoinjector.

Some problem of disposing of the vast quantity of waste, ensuring that the idiot public actually use the damn thing correctly and appropriately, and documenting the result, but it might work in a country that has a reliable postal system,a literate populace, and no nurses, pharmacists or paramedics.

Power to your elbow, my friend, and do make contact when you have sorted out the practicalities a bit. 

[evan_au]

a micro finger ***** lancelet

Maybe we need the good knight Sir Lancelot to ride around the neighborhood on his noble steed, lancing everyone within sight...

[acsinuk (OP)]

We really cannot afford another pandemic as the disruption is so inflationary. 
The NHS overreaction whipped up by media hype caused major problems and with Covid and flu injections about to hit the NHS again this winter they need some relief to stop any further panic.

[Bored chemist]

We really cannot afford another pandemic

We don't get to choose.

The NHS overreaction whipped up by media hype caused major problems

You spelled "saved many lives" incorrectly.