Vaccine trials

Apparently, I need to go on trial.  Yesterday, I was mixing Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for the vaccination clinic that was being run.  Sadly, the take up for COVID vaccines has not been as good as before, but people are still coming.  We had a few no-shows, mostly those who had booked in for their first vaccines, but surprisingly, there were some who had their first dose who did not come for the second.

I guess risk perception is a factor here.  But it is frustrating.  We managed to use all the doses in the last vial which is a good thing.

However, I now know that apparently, I should be put on trial and hung for preventing the spread of this dangerous disease.  A friend sent me this tweet and we discussed it soon after.  I told him that I felt these people were being opportunist and were deliberately distorting the truth for their own ends.

He later won the argument by sharing what else was discussed in the demonstration

a) - The presence of a conductor in the vaccine.  Technically, water will conduct electricity (with a high enough voltage).  Does that mean that we are conductors as well?

b) - Face-masks cause pneumonia.  Face-masks have been used for ages in medicine and has not been associated with an increased incidence of pneumonia. 

c) - 5G is an energy weapon.  There have been concerns about the safety of mobile phone masts and electricity substations (and powerlines) but nothing conclusive has been proven.  Remember that 5G is present in New Zealand which has a low rate of COVID and is not as prevalent in nations like Brazil and India which suffered greatly due to this.

d) - The virus is a hoax. It is not. It is all too real.

Just a reminder if there is any doubt about COVID...

 1 - COVID kills. I have treated people who survived as well as too many who died. A nursing home I am involved in looking after has yet to become full again after COVID killed many of the residents there last year.  I have seen nothing that killed so many so quickly before. 

 2 - Face masks save lives. Not just by reducing the risk of spreading it if you have no symptoms, but as seen by those working in healthcare, myself included, face masks prevented many from catching this when treating those with COVID. 

 3 - Funeral homes were overwhelmed over the wave of infections seen in the winter surge of infections. I know as I had to visit a few. One had issues coping despite the increased capacity that they had built.  Speaking to someone who works in a funeral home, they said that they had never been busier during the winter wave. 

 4 - People with no symptoms can spread COVID. We saw that with the super spreader events held by President Trump last year. 

 5 - Just because Boris has dropped restrictions, this does not mean that we can act like we did in 2019. Our local hospital is under pressure again, though not let to the point like they were this winter when things were limited to life and death operations only. 

 6- Vaccines work.  We have seen that in the USA. The states where vaccination rates are lower have the highest numbers of COVID.