Disappointed in French vaccine progress

…but more lockdowns then?

On verra !

I think the rave party of over a thousand currenty underway south of Rennes won’t help much but shows the big differences in how people regard covid depending on their personal risk. I sincerely hope the vaccines work and with no side effects but I still have the image of that politician feeding his daughter a hamburger in front of the cameras saying it was perfectly safe and mad cow disease didn’t exist…!

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So slow take up of the vaccine means the deaths and lockdowns will continue, do the French want to see their parents and infirmed perpetually in isolation or are they trying to reduce the numbers of the elderly and infirmed in the population.
This " It won’t happen to me" and it will go away approach baffles me, sorry but it isn’t going to go away and no matter how carefull you are eventually it will catch up with you.
I for one am sick of having to be so carefull and take all the precautions because we have a 87 year old parent living with us and my partner is disabled, I want a reasonably normal life back and until the threat of them dieing is reduced by people being vaccinated that is not going to happen.
I suppose people’s attitudes will not change until someone close to them dies because of Covids, then there will be a lot of hand ringing because of their it won’t happen to me attitude, I hope it does not happen to anyone on here but as this covid situation goes on, it will happen nothing surer.

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3rd lockdown looks to be on its way

The vaccine isn’t a proven panacea yet. Caution is the rule after the various health scandals we have had in the past.
I expect lots of people are sick of having to be careful etc.
I am fed up with wearing a mask 8 hours a day for work and then again to go shopping etc and soaking my hands in alcohol solution at least once an hour and so on, but tough, that is how things are at the moment.
I’d like to be able to remove myself from circulation as many people have and isolate at home since I am asthmatic and had a terrifying bout of whooping-cough a couple of years ago (a month off work and another 5 or 6 before I actually felt well) but that isn’t happening any time soon.
I have colleagues in the same boat but with 90+ year-old or ill parents/ partners so it is even worse for them. They are fed up too. Of course everyone would like things to get back to normal but you have to be realistic and have some perspective.
One good thing about the whole situation is 'flu is being kept at bay…

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Not too many raves in Lescure Andrew. Anyway, how many people constitute ´a rave ´ ? Can you have a rave with two people ?

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Wrong end of the stick Vero, my statement was to do with the poor uptake of the vaccine, I know everyone is sick and fed up with the precautions and I am being realistic and have a good perspective on the situation thank you, but at the moment the best hope of getting some normality back into our lives is the vaccine and is vastly preferable to doing nothing and hoping the pits and troughs of lockdowns will solve the problem and the it will go away or won’t affect me attitudes a lot of people have.
I would rather take my chance with one of the vaccines than the russian roulette of doing nothing for the next few years, but each to their own.

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What is your job? Mine is exactly as it was before, only with a mask and constant handcleaning. Article in LCI yesterday outlining how a man (a nurse) in California who got a first dose of vaccine got covid 8 days later: it takes 2 doses to achieve 95% immunity, so perhaps people here feel it is not yet reliable enough to change anything.

One person out of how many millions that have had the vaccine, we are never going to agree so I will leave it.
Good luck with your job.

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With an incubation period of up to 2 weeks it’s possible he was infected before he had the vaccine, if not then a vaccine is not usually effective until at least 10 days/2 weeks after it’s administered anyway.
My understanding is that the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine provides 91% immunity and the 2nd dose 95%. It’s one of the reasons that the UK is delaying giving the 2nd dose because the difference is fairly small.
All the best next week Vero. Hope the little darlings have been obeying the rules during the holiday.
Take care
Izzy x

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Not answering the question but I wonder how many of those against having the vaccination would be prepared to run their phones and computers without virus protection?

I read that France is «championne du monde» des réfractaires au vaccin and that is the reason the govt has decided the vaccination campaign should to be conducted carefully, making sure to counsel, obtain consent, and record data securely.

At first the vaccine is being taken to the residents of Ehpads rather than making them all go to a centre or a doctor. Véran said yesterday that before the end of January they are going to set up “centres de vaccination en ville, pour commencer à vacciner les personnes âgées de 75 ans et plus, puis les 65 ans et plus, etc.” Only another month to wait for us oldies. The soignants of 50 and more will have it starting Monday 4th Jan.
Stronger measures in the meantime in those departments most affected will hopefully help to reduce the number of cases and deaths.

depends on the operating system and if you are connected to the «wider world» :wink:

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Just another 950+ deaths then…

Not sure how many, Peter, but the 1000 odd rave goers is now being reported as 2500. Very quiet in Carmaux, mirandol even more so. Just been out for a couple of hours on the bike and not a lot was happening!

I’ve had it, as have many members of my family, Uk family have it too and are hit far harder. All of us that have had it here in France have been almost no symptoms/problems to flu, nothing more and we’re hoping it stays that way. Our old folk are kept on their farms or ehpad. For the rest of us it’s work and school as normal, infact the only real change has been not being able to go out for a meal or have a coffee in a bar. I expect there’ll be another confinement mid jan, perhaps earlier especially for eastern départements. This thing’ll run it’s course, one way or the other we should get to the 70% group immunity. That is if it doesn’t mutate too much and mean the vaccine is of no use as seems to happen from time to time with the flu jabs, which I don’t have either but at 55 with no health problems it’d be a waste of vaccine for somebody who is at risk, rather like the covid vaccine…! :wink:

I think the whole thing is cultural too: while all french family and friends are rather reserved and don’t want the vaccine, as soon as I spoke to family back in the UK the difference was “le jour et la nuit” instant acceptance and blind faith in something that the big drugs companies have cooked up in a few months. They too couldn’t understand my apprehension or that of those around me.

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Glad you family has been luck so far, many haven’t unfortunately.

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A relative of mine from the UK caught the virus in September but made a good recovery. Thinking he now had antibodies he probably wasn’t as cautious as he should have been and unfortunately caught the virus for a second time and consequently died on xmas eve. I too have reservations about having the vaccine but feel the risk of contracting this deadly virus far outweighs any risk the vaccine may pose but only time will tell.