Spreading lies about COVID-19

I am not a person who trusts things blindly.  I have spent the morning vaccinating and came across two people who had some reservations about being vaccinated. After a discussion with them about the benefits as well as the risks that they were concerned about, both had the vaccine.

In medicine, I have had my own views which have gone against the advice at the time, examples being how atenolol was recommended as the best drug for the treatment hypertension in the past, and how when my wife was pregnant with our first child, she was advised to avoid peanut butter in pregnancy.  I know that I cannot trust any government fully which is why I did my own research into MMR safety (for the record, I feel any potential risks of the MMR vaccination are small and are outweighed by the huge risks of not having the vaccination, including consequences of infections with rubella, mumps and measles that I have seen).

So I understand that there is doubt when it comes to trusting the government when it comes to COVID-19.  A matter made worse by how advice given early in the pandemic is different to the advice now.  But that change in policy has been driven by greater knowledge about this plague.

What I do not understand is the need to spread likes and half truths about this.

On example is about how Dr Elisa Granato, one of the first people in the Western World to be given a vaccine against COVID-19 in a trial died.  Since her 'death' she has continued to discuss the valuable work she has done to fight this disease.

Other examples exists as well, one being a woman who had foot problems, though the people who post the link between this and her vaccine, omit how she was in the control group.

There are also those who seek to make a profit from the 'cures' for this.  One example is Mike Lindell seemingly trying to profit from Oleandrin, which he has promoted as a cure against COVID.  Much like how Forsythia was promoted as a fake cure in the film contagion by the conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede in the film.  In a previous blog post, I cited the issues I had with a video spread to spread misinformation about COVID.  At the end of that video, people can find out more, by buying the book published by the Vlogger.  Strange that. 

One patient did mention that it is just like the flu. Living and working in the UK, I can point out that with over 120,000 deaths due to this illness, it is not just like influenza.  In addition to this, influenza does not have people requiring oxygen, CPAP or ventilation for so long, let alone the long term effects like Long COVID.

The facts are simple.  We know vaccination works against the original strain of COVID-19 and offers partial protection against several of the variants that now exist.

We know that variants need to spread once formed and facemasks reduce the risk of spread (look at the rates in nations where use is highest).  In a nation like Taiwan, if someone is infected and the virus mutates, because most people stick to the rules, the odds of that mutation spreading are low and therefore, the virus dies either when that person dies, or when they fight of the disease.  However, in nations like the UK and the USA where rates per person have been higher, variants have formed and spread, and the refusal/inability of some people to isolate themselves is going to be a factor.

We can believe those who seek to profit from COVID-19 lies, or we can look at the facts and see how nations abroad have reached zero, or almost zero COVID levels by following the rules of social distancing and mask wearing.

 

So long fair Pokémon

Woke up this morning to find that I had finally been knocked out of a Pokégym in Sri Lanka that I had managed to stay in for over a year.

I was hoping that I would get to stay longer as it was on a road where people drove fast past it, which meant that I just needed to ensure that it could survive one battle. But alas, the long stay abroad for that Pokémon has ended.

Down with Keir Starmer

It is interesting to see how many people within Labour wish to get rid of the current leader of the Labour Party.  

Yes, Labour should be more ahead in the polls, but they are doing better than they did in the last election under Jeremy Corbyn.  And the Conservatives would love someone like Jeremy Corbyn to be in charge of Labour, which is why so many joined Labour to vote for Corbyn, some voting three times!

There is an argument that Keir Starmer should be more vocal about his opposition to Conservative policies, but I think that he is right in being cautious about opposition for oppositions sake.  In PMQ's, the Prime Minister has repeatedly misrepresented his past positions in matters and these, in the build up to an election will gain the Conservatives votes.  When Keir Starmer has made mistakes about past positions, the media rightly hold him to scrutiny on this, but much of the media ignore the way Boris Johnson lies, or "inadvertently" misrepresents the truth on many occasions in PMQ's.  

For just £3 you can help destroy the Labour Party... vote Corbyn #ToriesForCorbyn

— Michael Green (@ToryForBritain) June 15, 2015

The bottom line is that Labour is better in the polls than they would be under Jeremy Corbyn.  As to if this will be enough in the next general election, only time will tell.  

Vaccination against COVID-19 saves lives

I was talking to someone about COVID-19 vaccination this week.  They had side effects of fatigue since they were vaccinated and were advising people not to be vaccinated. 

Needless today, I got quite emotional about this.  Vaccines save lives.  Vaccination against COVID has helped to reduce rates of COVID-19 after the two weeks it takes to start to offer protection.  Telling someone not to be vaccinated against, what is in effect, the plague is not only increasing the risk of death and disability to the person not vaccinated, but also carries a risk that they will go on to infect others.  

Yes, this vaccine has side effects.  My arm still aches on occasion from where I had my vaccine late last year.  My wife felt unwell for a day and took to bed but has no issues at all now.  But COVID-19, if it does not kill, has longer lasting side effects which are more frequent, hence the new disease of Long COVID.

We do not know how effective the current vaccines are to be against other variants, but we do know that the current vaccines offer protection to original strain of COVID-19 as well as the UK variant that is present in our great nation.  And yes, the vaccine is not 100% effective, I have already spoken to people who have caught COVID despite being vaccinated, catching it after the two weeks it takes to become effective.  But the outcome data for at least one of the vaccines is a reduction in those going to hospital rather than preventing all infections.

We are not protected, until we are all protected, both by remembering hands, face, space, as well the need for as many people as possible to be vaccinated.

Meghan Markle and balance

I know that this is a bit late to blog about this, but I have to mention this.  Meghan Markle has been discussed in the media again thanks to the way that Prince Harry and her have split from the Royal Family.

There are two sides to every story, and we are never going to know the truth about what has happened to result in the couple taking their son and leaving for the USA.  What I do know though is that too many in our media have treated them appallingly.  Fortunately, there are some who are willing to speak up for the truth and discuss the double standards that exist as well as how some of the views that people have about the couple have no rational justification.

There may be reasons other than skin colour to explain the differences in what appears to be double standards.  I would be grateful if someone could explain them to me.

13 Reasons Why; Tape 2, Side A

Watched this with my son, and it makes me want to read the book again.   He appears to be hooked, and he was happy to talk about this episode which dealt in part with the objectification of women.  While my son blamed our gender for this, I did have to point out that not all men objectify women, and some women are seen to encourage objectification.  

However, almost all would agree that the inappropriate and unwanted body contact that occurred in this episode is wrong.  I am sure that there are a few morons who will disagree.  Watching this with my daughter a few years ago allowed me to broach the topic of how some men will wrongly view attire as permission giving.  We agree that women should not be subject to harassment and since then, she has been more aware of what she has worn, though we agreed that some men will find any excuse to assault women.  

I do not know who he will identify with in this series.  Myself, I now am one of the parents, but as a child, looking at the first series, I would have been a much less cool mix of Clay Jensen and Tyler Down.  In fact, I would not have featured in it due to be being such a socially inept nerd.  

He was upset that we were not going onto watch the next episode, but it was time for bed.

COVID-19 & vaccination

I feel that I have to make a post on this again.  People continue to deny that COVID exists, or in a latest series of tweets, one person is stating that side effects from the vaccine are being covered up.

Just a reminder, COVID-19 exists.  It has killed loads.  I have treated patients during the Swine Flu pandemic as well as other bad years of influenza, and this is worse.  I help care for a nursing home which was devastated when COVID managed to get in.  Many died quickly and thanks to planning, peacefully.  However, the surgery I work in has had many patients admitted to hospital. None who we have sent in have affected by the shortness of breath that this condition causes compares this to influenza as those patients have already had to ring 999 to get there.

Our local hospital now has less people affected by COVID-19 in it.  The children's ward at one time had adult patients on it and there was a time that emergency operations were not being carried out, instead the only operations taking place being life or death ones.  When people talk about the death rates of COVID and compare it to influenza, they forget that for many, death does not come quickly.  Patients who die, and those who survive, often are given help to breathe.  This can be oxygen, CPAP, or ventilation, and the amount of people requiring this has overwhelmed the NHS in our area.  Such support can require stays in hospital of weeks, again, something that was not seen on such a large scale in any of the years that Flu has caused strain to the NHS.

But onto the claims of this tweeter, stating that vaccinations are causing side effects that are being covered up.  They are wrong.  There is no way of knowing for certain if there are going to be long term consequences of the vaccine, but we do know that there are long term consequences from surviving COVID infections.  People spreading scare stories about vaccinations that can save lives when we know that there are both short and long term consequences of COVID are, to put it politely, silly.

    

White Tiger

Yesterday, I surprised my wife.  It is our anniversary weekend (we started to go out together may years ago) and she had wanted something special.  She actually wanted a themed night much like last weekend, but instead I tried to surprise her by getting afternoon tea.  

Sadly, I had left it too late to sort this out.  I had postponed this on Wednesday when after working at the vaccination hub, I fell as asleep on getting home and had to sort out a flat tyre.  On Thursday, I found that I had left things too late, but after searching the internet, I found an afternoon tea delivery service.  

Sadly, when it came, it was not up to the standards of last weekend.  It was still nice, but nothing as spectacular that my wife had arranged.  My wife did get a surprise present though which she loved later in the day.

As for the children, my son appears to be content playing on the Nintendo Switch and talking to his friends.  My daughter had a socially distanced walk with a friend of hers.  I had met her mother working at the vaccination hub and I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to say anything to the friend due to fears of embarrassing  her!

My wife and I did watch White Tiger.  I have not read the book and she says that the film is a different experience to it.  But as a film it was quite powerful.  It deals with the issues of poverty, corruption and discrimination very well and the end is mixed, not being quite happy, not not being sad either.  I do think that we need to consider getting the children to watch this, but they may not be too keen to do so.  It is not the most cheerful of films and we may get more out of them by making them watch other films instead.  But the appetite from the children to do so is not that keen.  

13 Reasons Why, Tape 1, Side B

I watched this with my son last night.  We watched the rest of the first episode first of course.  I think that he might be hooked.  He is more sympathetic to Hannah than I am about her reasons/excuses why.  It was nice to spend time with him again, and hopefully he will continue to watch the other episodes with me.  I may even watch the third series with him, the series I disliked the most.  I have yet to watch the final one so it may be that I dislike that more, but I doubt it.

I know that this song is not about suicide, but it does have the sentiment about missing the departed, an issue that comes across a lot in 13 Reasons Why. 

The Princess Bride

Our family film today was The Princess Bride, an appropriate film for Valentines Day.  Sadly, my son did not watch it, and I was surprised that my daughter did.  She tends not to enjoy Damsel in Distress films but watched this till the end.  I have wanted to watch this film for many years, but have never watched it, until today.  Any description of this film has to be put in context of how such films were in the past, as well as the fairy tales that they are based on.  

It is a magical fairy tale based on honour and with many characters driven by stereotype.  But the way the film is put together is amazing, as it finds the right balance between humour and adventure without being cringeworthy.  I understand that people have considered a remake of the film, but it is inconceivable that the same balance will be found.

When it comes to the family, we had a Valentines Tea for lunch which my wife had ordered.  She also got flowers from me which she added to some of the flowers that she had got on Friday.  The children are looking forwards to having a week off school and they have been told to wear the braces that they have been given during the week, but also to enjoy as one of them is going to be worked harder than they have been so far in this lockdown.

Contagion

Three things to discuss in this post. The film, the family and the innocence of President Trump.

First of all, the film.  Contagion is a film I was not able to watch before.  Being a healthcare worker, I get anxious seeing patients because any of them may have COVID.  Some are more blasé than others about this, and seeing both high and low risk patients sets my nerves on edge.  I decided to watch it because of how Matt Hancock said that it taught him things.  Watching it, I can see how.  Back in 2011, while governments were looking at pandemic influenza as the cause of a global crisis, this looked at a cross over infection as being the cause of a pandemic.  It identified the risks posed to those around infected people, and also the fatal consequences for healthcare workers (which is why it was good that I did not watch it sooner).  It even dealt with how people would endanger lives by spreading fake news.  Eerily accurate, it is almost as if someone had a crystal ball in 2011, but saying that, training since Swine Flu has influenced this film.

Next, the family.  My wife got some flowers yesterday for Valentines Day which I did not get to see until today as I got home late last night.  They look amazing but I am worried about who sent them.  We had to go to Mersea Island as part of my job as I had to visit an undertakers.  Thanks to COVID bodies are being moved out of Colchester due to issues storing them.  Later we dressed up for a meal while listening to music from the 70’s and 80’s.  It was nice all of us talking and chatting together.  My dressing up was marred by two scars which Leia gave me this morning on my nose.  The one on the left side was from the morning when she greeted me and got overexcited, the other was when she helped my daughter when we had a play fight.

Trump has been found innocent of inciting a riot.  The attack on the capitol buildings in the US was planned and premeditated, but despite the rhetoric leading up to it, he was deemed innocent.  Which means that Biden should be able to do what he likes in the last few weeks of his presidency.

And last of all, a joke...

At school one day, Little Johnny’s teacher asks the class to use the word “contagious” in a sentence…

Cindy raises her hand. “Yes, Cindy?” She answers, “I was at the dentist’s office with my mom, and she said not to play with the toys in the waiting room because the other kids were contagious.”

“Very good, Cindy!” the teacher said, “Anyone else want to try?” Samantha raises her hand. “Yes, Samantha?” She answers, “My dad tells me not to yawn because then everybody else yawns. He says yawning is contagious.”

“Excellent work, Samantha! Very creative,” the teacher praises. “Okay, one more volunteer.” Little Johnny raises his hand. “Yes, Johnny?”

“Well,” he says, “I was helping my dad in the yard last week, and we saw the neighbor painting his house. He was using a small brush, so I asked my dad, ‘Daddy, why is he using such a small brush?’ and he says, ‘I don’t know son, but it’s gonna take that contagious.'”

13 Reasons Why, tape one (series one)

It should be side one really, not tape one.  I have read the book and watched the series with my daughter.  I am glad I did so as it did bring up many issues.  

I was quite annoyed after reading the book as well as I felt that Hannah did not have a reason to end her like and ruin that of those who loved her by doing so, but rather it was 13 excuses why.  One of the episodes is more upsetting for me, but I will post about that when we come to it.  I had read the book because a patient I was seeing before lockdown used it as inspiration to try to kill themselves.  Reading the book was harrowing, but the series is different, and while not as good as the book in some ways, it is much better when it comes to showing the devastation that suicide leaves on those left behind.  The patient was annoyed that Netflix cut the suicide scene itself, and when I used the series to show how suicide harms the survivors, then their case if they go through with it, their siblings and parent, they stopped watching it.

Anyway, my son has talked about watching this before, and the decision of my wife and I was that he has to watch it with one of us and is not allowed to watch it by himself, a message reinforced by the show itself at the beginning.  We were not able to watch all of it as we started to watch it late in the day, but it was nice to watch something with him again.  We finished watching Star Wars Rebels on the weekend and he is not keen on watching the rest of Star Wars with me.  He is aware that this means that we have to talk about what happened in the episodes.  Hopefully, it will not be too traumatic for him to do so.

The Girl in the Book

I watched this film on the weekend. It was one that I had heard about and was interested in for a while.  Not a major block buster, it was a sad story, well told, and one that I suspect is all too real for too many women, but just in the wold of literature, but everywhere else as well.   

While the adult and teenage versions Alice look nothing like each other, it does make it easier to understand which parts of the film are flashback's and which are set in the here and now, an issue which can complicate other films and TV shows.  Part of me does wonder if Ana Mulvoy-Ten has been type casted into the role of playing a teenager, as if this is the case, there is only a limited amount of time that she can play that for.  I have not seen Emily VanCamp for a while, it being when I would watch the occasional episode of Everwood with my wife, a show I found hard to watch as one of the characters reminded me too much of someone I used to work with (and was one of the reasons I left my job back in 2010).  

It will be interesting to see if Marya Cohn directs or writes other films in the future and what they are like as I did like this one and would recommend it as a film to watch, if you are willing to see one which has no humour in it and may open healed psychological wounds.

There is no night without a dawning

No winter without a spring
And beyond the dark horizon
Our hearts will once more sing ….
For those who leave us for a while
Have only gone away
Out of a restless, care worn world

Into a brighter day

One of my children wished my death upon me tonight.  

Needless to say they were not in a good mood with me.  I defended them against their mother, over a minor difference of opinions, but they decided to take things up a notch and made some statements what required to be challenged.  It can be argued that I could have challenged them tomorrow, but I do not know what time I will be back from work tomorrow, so I dealt with them then.  The thing is that the child admitted that they were wrong, but then decided to redefine back and while and ignored the admission that they had made.  Saying that their mother had made no sacrifices for them was the issue, though later they said that their mother did not need to have made any sacrifices.

As a parent, we will make sacrifices for children.  I do not want to be thanked for all, and yes, some are not going to be appreciated by children, but some are, and the refusal of this child to acknowledge that made me see red.

They did hit and kick me, but I still love them, and told them so.

On a more positive note, Leia loved the snow, this video being taken when there is a light dusting.  A lot more fell and she kept wanting to be taken out, just so she could play in it.  In the end, we tied her lead to items so she could be in the snow, but she preferred to be with us so wanted to come back in.  Playing with me can be interesting as she does view me as her fight partner as well.  Saying that my daughter and I took her for a walk on a cold snow swept part of Colchester.  It was so cold, but Leia loved it.  Sadly, it did not tire her out.

Other than the end of the weekend, I would say it was a much needed rest.  I do feel guilty that I did not vaccinate at work this weekend like so many of those I work with did.  But not so guilty that I had volunteered before.  

Anyway, I hope you like these videos, one to make you laugh, and the others on the topic of my child wanting me to die.

Holding Keir Starmer to account

Yesterday in PMQs, Keir Starmer was wrong.  Boris Johnson challenged him when it came to PMQs about obtaining vaccines, and how, if the UK had followed the lead of Keir Starmer when it came to Brexit (a view I share with the leader of the opposition), that the UK would not have been able to vaccinate as many people as it has.  Keir Starmer said that Boris Johnson was in the wrong, but this was a situation where Boris actually spoke the whole truth.  

The media are quite right to hold Keir Starmer to account on this, but what I find sad is that most of the media do not do this for the Prime Minister on the many occasions in Parliament that he gives the wrong answer.  I do not consider Keir Starmer to have lied.  I consider him to have got the facts wrong, an embarrassing issue considering this was over that he himself had said.  He has been decent enough to apologise for the mistake that he has made.  While this meant that he lost the bout of PMQs in parliament yesterday, it was a rare loss as he normally savages Boris in his debating chamber. 

Saving lives through vaccination, and a rant on fake news.

I worked at the Colchester Vaccination centre today.  I was meant to work in the afternoon, but got called in early due to sickness of someone else.  Considering that I got home after midnight the night before, I was not too pleased.  But the service needs to be provided so that we can hope to make a dent in the plague.  

It is scary working in the NHS on the frontline, and vaccinating patients meant that I saw loads of people, a number in a day that I have not seen since the flu clinic last year.  I know that these vaccinations are not going to be effective in all, but I also know that this will save lives.  Saying that, I told all those I saw to observe the hands face space rule.  The only way to find out if the vaccination that someone has got is effective or not is to catch COVID and I strongly recommend that people do the best they can to avoid contracting this terrible plague.

And on this topic, I reported by first YouTube video.  I am a firm advocate of free speech, but I found my limit with a person spreading fake news on the internet.  I know that there are those who are sceptical about vaccinations, but people spreading, what is in essence either lies or delusions is unacceptable.  Due to this, I have made my first report of a post, in this case, a You Tube video.

This video is littered with half truths.  The first half truth relates to how COVID was geographically located at 03:10.  COVID was geographically located within Spain and Italy, the worst affected areas having much higher rates than other areas of those two countries, this relating to a Champions League game involving Spain and Italy.  At 05:40 she discusses how mismanagement of patients was the reason for deaths.  This ignores how many people died of COVID in the community who were not admitted, an example being how a COVID-19 outbreak killed many in a nursing home which I am involved in caring for.  She talks about how a quiet year with deaths would result in a spike later, but this ignores how influenza killed so many in the winter of 2017/18. At 09:20 she talks about how many die of other causes and just happen to have COVID, describing an example at 09:55 of a patient with heart failure who died after contracting COVID.  She is right that this patient may have died soon anyway, but COVID places additional strains on the heart due to the hypoxia it causes.  The odds are (I have to say this as I am basing this on my experience with other patients) that COVID was the big shove that pushed them off the cliff edge and resulted in their death.  In the UK, such a death would be recorded as 1a- heart failure 1b - ischaemic heart disease 2 - COVID19.  She later talks about financial incentives to doctors to record COVID cases.  There is no such incentive in the UK and in the US, this is not an incentive, but rather compensation due to the increased costs that caring for someone with COVID brings.  At 10:40, she features a doctor talking about the uncertainty with COVID diagnosis.  This was a major issue at the beginning of the pandemic when testing was not available but COVID also presents with certain features not normally seen on a chest x-ray making a diagnosis of COVID more likely, an example being patchy bilateral pneumonia and on CT scan, also has a characteristic appearance.  In the first lockdown, I treated a fit runner who came down with sudden onset fever and shortness of breath.  They did their best to remain at home, but when they got to hospital, it was too late for the PCR tests to pick up COVID.  The x-ray and CT findings however confirmed the features of COVID.  So on testing they were negative, but based on other investigations and the presentation of this, they had it.  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and is seen amongst loads of other ducks, the odds are that it is a duck.  It just happens that she is selling a book, which I suspect is spreading half truths.  

This woman tells the real truth about COVID-19.  I disagree with some of the things she is saying (notably about government support considering that there has been a recent change in government in the USA which means it must be given a chance to bring about change).  The change about what happened is from 0:55 and at 1:15 she explains why so many celebrities have not died, but so many others have.  An issue described so well last year on the BBC.

Locally, our GP surgery is working really hard to vaccinate people.  Healthcare workers are working extra hours, in hospital to treat people with this and in the community to continue treating people with other issues as well as preventing illness by vaccinations.  So when people like Jimmy Kimmel calls for people to be vaccinated 24/7, he forgets that we need trained people to vaccinate the population of the world and those trained people like me are busy doing our job.