Coronavirus update - NO MORE RESTRICTIONS

[xsnaggle]

More pollitics, Drakeford saying something is "Simply untrue" answering a different question. He says that they have never drawn from the UK Buffer stockpile implying Hancock said they had, where in reality Hancock said the buffer is available if it is needed. A different thing.
The reason Wales have vaccinated a greater percentage of people is because they are targeting first vaccinations where England and Scotland are going more for second, and that's the only reason. They haven't manage to make more doses by giving less or conjured up extra doses on their own, it's nonsense. you can only give the number of vaccines you have, the difference is who you give them to.
The other political thing in this article is Mr Drakeford also said he was not prepared to follow England by announcing a date when all freedoms would be restored in Wales.

"I think it's too optimistic to say that vaccination has broken the link between falling ill and hospitalisation with the new Delta variant," he said. It implies he has already made his mind up, so much for someone who says he always follows the science. If the science says open up, does anyone honestly believe he will?
It's not medical, it's political.

[surge]

More pollitics, Drakeford saying something is "Simply untrue" answering a different question.

.....

Matt Hancock said the following:

"Our colleagues in Wales decided to hold no such buffer and go ahead on the presumption that supply would come through," he said.

"But they also knew that if there was an interruption to supply that England's buffer would be used to ensure nobody in Wales would miss their second vaccination."

To which first response from Welsh government was:

"It is wrong to suggest we are reliant on an 'English buffer' as we hold our own and actually deliver a smaller proportion of vaccine to our centres than other UK nations."

So Hancock saying Wales could press ahead with no buffer safe in knowledge that in hypothetical event it all went wrong they had support and Wales saying we had our own buffer in case things went wrong, have not needed to use England's and have been able to send vaccines back the other way. They're both emphasizing the bit which makes them look better but selective hearing on your part also.

Regarding re-opening, England have not given a date but the way it was messaged allowed people to put one in their calendar as freedom date. It appears England's "freedom date" may be pushed back by upto a month and nightclubs not initially included which is causing a stir on radio/in the press. It's predominantly a case of whether you want to give message of optimism or not when things could quickly change as medical officers are now saying it's too early to give a date and more information needed.

[xsnaggle]

Matt Hancock said the following:



To which first response from Welsh government was:



So Hancock saying Wales could press ahead with no buffer safe in knowledge that in hypothetical event it all went wrong they had support and Wales saying we had our own buffer in case things went wrong, have not needed to use England's and have been able to send vaccines back the other way. They're both emphasizing the bit which makes them look better but selective hearing on your part also.

Regarding re-opening, England have not given a date but the way it was messaged allowed people to put one in their calendar as freedom date. It appears England's "freedom date" may be pushed back by upto a month and nightclubs not initially included which is causing a stir on radio/in the press. It's predominantly a case of whether you want to give message of optimism or not when things could quickly change as medical officers are now saying it's too early to give a date and more information needed.

I don't disagree with you, what I said was that Drakeford said "It's not true, we haven't used their buffer" when in fact no one said they had, only that it was there if they needed it.

The other point is that he was already stating that he had no intention of following England before he even knows what England intended to do, which, if he is following the science, would seem to be a statement driven more by politics than up to the minute infection/hospitalisation information, as he clearly did not have that when he made his comment. Does he mean if England doesn't open up that he then will just so as not to follow them?

As I have opined before, he often make the right decisions but for the wrong reasons.

[surge]

I don't disagree with you ....

It would be really interesting to see the paperwork behind decision making processes which would clear it up. It's highly unlikely that Wales' strategy amounts to going at a pace because we can fallback on England (if that was a bullet point on meeting notes I expect it to be down the list and several other processes in place to stop it being relied on) and Hancock said Wales didn't have a buffer which is factually untrue. We hopefully never find out the answer in practice about whether Wales' buffer would be enough.

[A Quiet Monkfish]

More pollitics, Drakeford saying something is "Simply untrue" answering a different question. He says that they have never drawn from the UK Buffer stockpile implying Hancock said they had, where in reality Hancock said the buffer is available if it is needed. A different thing.
The reason Wales have vaccinated a greater percentage of people is because they are targeting first vaccinations where England and Scotland are going more for second, and that's the only reason. They haven't manage to make more doses by giving less or conjured up extra doses on their own, it's nonsense. you can only give the number of vaccines you have, the difference is who you give them to.
The other political thing in this article is Mr Drakeford also said he was not prepared to follow England by announcing a date when all freedoms would be restored in Wales.

"I think it's too optimistic to say that vaccination has broken the link between falling ill and hospitalisation with the new Delta variant," he said. It implies he has already made his mind up, so much for someone who says he always follows the science. If the science says open up, does anyone honestly believe he will?
It's not medical, it's political.

If the scientists - and by default, the government - can delay the end of lockdown for another 6 weeks there will be consensus that opening up for a month before the autumn surge, including flu etc., would be a risk not worth taking. I know it seems absurd to think that restrictions could remain in place for years to come whatever the number of cases are, but with the economy having 'adapted' and bouncing along nicely, I think this is where we're heading..