Brexit Benefit for UK -- Covid Vaccinations
I've disliked the EU ever since they started putting austerity measures in place for small member countries like Greece. It showed more than anything to me that the EU was really Germany in charge of the rest of Europe from an economic standpoint, without other member countries having a way to control their finances like any other sovereign country (e.g., print more money, go into debt, etc.). I really like Greece, and their population, even to this day, is basically enduring a form of debt slavery to EU banks.
Therefore, potential racial motivations aside (which of course were awful), I was actually kind of pro-Brexit, just to see the first potential domino fall for the EU. Yes, I realize the first few years would be terrible for the UK economically while trade systems were reset and jobs were lost and/or moved around--and this has pretty much happened with Exports crashing--but I figured eventually they'd figure things out and things would get relatively back to normal. After that happened, I foresee other EU countries that are getting crushed looking at the UK as a solid example of what happens when you leave the union, and therefore you can better plan for outcomes.
It is now interesting to see that, thanks to Brexit to a large degree, the UK is in a hugely advantageous position with regard to Covid vaccinations. While Europe is really struggling with distribution, to the point where Italian authorities--on their own--raided an AstraZeneca facility in the country to claim/pilfer 29 million vaccine doses that were not being distributed largely due to EU bureaucracy. Europe is unfortunately barely getting any vaccines, whereas the United Kingdom has a large supply--again, largely due to trade restrictions and rules in the EU.
Euro News - State of Vaccinations in Europe (March 26)
It's good to see the UK avoiding getting swept up in the trade issues the EU has during this pandemic. Perhaps at least one good thing resulting from Brexit--saving people's lives.
Comments
I could never figure out why Greece...
didn't drop the Euro and go back to the drachma. Several EU countries have their own currency...UK, Sweden, Finland and so on. Then they could just print them willy nilly the way we print dollars.
As to Brexit, the folks I know in the UK have strong feelings on both sides of the issue. As you suggests, sure has helped with vaccination in the UK. The EU is dragging their feet on vaccine approval...actually kinda like the US. The Oxford AZ (the UK vaccine) still hasn't been approved. And of course there's the sputnik V which must be evil and will never be approved here (nor the UK). However the Italians are not so particular.
Then there's a vaccine from China and another from Cuba, but they won't get a mention.
Interesting observation and essay.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Euro vs Drachma
Because the drachma wasn't worth as much as an old olive oil label. No one outside of Greece wanted it. Printing willy-nilly is a sure way to make your currency worthless unless you are a world-class empire which Greece hasn't been since Alexander (arguably Byzantine Empire).
Empires can force their currencies at the point of a sword (or gun). Small countries like Switzerland, Sweden, Greece and Italy need value. which the Lira and Drachma didn't have.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Except
Drachma would have value with what Greece provides--tourism, olives, and sea shipping. If you don't trade in drachma, then you don't utilize Greece's services.
Switzerland has its own francs and it survives perfectly well against the Euro.
Yes, both switzerland and Sweden
A currency's value depends 9on its government, unless that government has many many wepons.
Neither Italy nor Greece was prudent nor powerful, hence they were eager to join the Euro. I don't agree with what the EU did to their economies, but that has nothing to do with the Euro. Now that the EU's central bank has gone to negative interest (to prop up European stocks - Yes, particularly German banks) the Euro will slide too.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Need some help with this
Something about apples and oranges here doesn't make sense.
Immunity from being infected from Covid is due to the body creating antibodies, but that isn't what the MRNA vaxs are supposed to do so how can they say that without showing any proof or links to a study? Will others ask that too? Sorry,, but the CDC has lost my trust with its latest finding that after a year of thinking it was air borne and lingered in the air and can travel more than 6 feet they are now saying it is safe for kids to be crammed into severely underfunded public schools and only have to be 3 feet apart. Even though in Michigan the number of infections in kids is rising. Texas has removed all mandates to COVID and I haven't seen recent numbers on infections rising or kids getting infected. When I know that the media is censoring news that goes against the grain, I will not trust what I read. Same goes for government and its mouthpieces. Redfeild from Trump's CDC went on CNN and said that the Wuhan virus escaped from the lab with help from China. That stood with no one saying, HEY wait a minute. Is that true? The WHO says it is not. CNN didn't off countering opinions. Russia Gate part 2?
First off I did not think that the MRNA vax created antibodies to Covid, but got the cells working to fight it. Second, antibodies from being sick seem in no way to what the vax's are creating according to what I read. And that they do not give people immunity to the virus, just might not get as sick, but can still be as spreading as before the shot.
Color me confused.
As for Brexit if any country dabbled with it I would think it would be the US because if we can get involved in their NHS and our health companies can get their fingers in then they make out like bandits while people in Britain find out what our health care system is like.
Other than that, I know nothing.
Vaccine Action
Conventional vaccines introduce dead or weakened viruses to the body to generate antibodies while the pathogen is too weak (or dead) to produce serious symptoms.
The J&J vaccine introduces an artificial virus to act like a conventional vaccine.
The mRNA vaccines, enter the cell nuclei and alter your genome so to make it immune to the virus.
Along with whatever unintended changes that won't show up for five or ten or twenty years (n the case of kids).
Conventional or J&J vaccines may have unknown side effects too but turning yourself into a GMO is really unknown.
Doctors here feel free to correct this lay explanation, but try to keep it to words of three syllables or less.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
That is the point of my question
I know that. So how does it provide 'antibodies' which is how immunity works. If it doesn't then it shouldn't be called a vaccine either because its not doing what they do. Hence my question.
the message...
in the mRNA vaccine is an instruction to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (a spike of the corona crown). Your body reacts to this protein that your body makes, much like it reacts to the virus itself. The virus is an mRNA semi-lifeform wrapped in a spiked protein capsule which instructs your body to make more virus. If you have antibodies in your system to react to the spike protein the virus appears to be deactivated.
That is my understanding and I hope answers your question.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for explaining it
Science was always hard and lots of numbers make my brain feel lose or something. I get the same response to poems. It’s unpleasant.
mRNA doesn't alter the genome
Despite what you might have heard, the mRNA CANNOT modify your genome. It is rapidly degraded inside the cell, but hangs around long enough to trigger an immune response. Also, you are wrong about it not triggering antibodies. The mRNA vaccine triggers strong antibody production that neutralizes the COVID virus. The data we have so far tend to suggest the mRNA vaccines are triggering a stronger antibody response than the conventional vaccines. All the vaccines, including the mRNA vaccines, also trigger T cell responses.
I presumed I was wrong
Hence my questions. I’m not taking a conspiracy jaunt I’m asking about the antibodies and immunity. Apparently there are stupid questions.
Not a dumb question at all
There is a lot of misinformation out there.
I think this is an experiment in forcing the body to re-intregate
response to a virus. Time will tell if it is effective.
I'm still in the wait and see side of the fence.
Had we not been lied to so many times on this "pandemic"
I would be less skeptical.
question everything
Not dumb
Not definitely not. No dumb questions. I know I can't learn if I'm not asking questions.
Doesn't alter the genome
The mRNA vaccines don't alter your genome, despite the conspiracy theories floating around that they can. mRNA is typically very short-lived in cells. So, your cells take up the mRNA, use it to make viral spike protein and then the mRNA gets degraded and no more spike protein is made. But the time during which the spike protein is made is sufficient to trigger the immune responses. The DNA genome is never altered. In my mind, it is very unlikely that there will be long-term consequences of the mRNA vaccines, because the mRNA is so short-lived in the body.
I've been furiously googling
I had read that right on a government ).gov) website a few weeks ago. Now, everything plainly and pointed says that mRNA does not enter the nucleus. I smell the Ministry of Truth. Both the MSM and the web are controlled by the corps.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
you're correct...
The mRNA must be read by the nucleus (DNA) in order to make the virus if it is the COVID RNA or just the spike protein if it is the vaccine mRNA. Virus use our own DNA to replicate. The vaccine differs in that it just instructs for the spike protein...just enough of a piece to let the body build antibodies and T-cells.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The mRNA is not read by the nucleus
It is translated on ribosomes in the cytoplasm, producing the spike protein (actually a modified portion of the spike protein) which then is released stimulating an immune reaction (antibody plus T cell). The mRNA is then degraded. RNAs are generally fairly short lived because there are enzymes called RNases that are fairly abundant and destroy RNA. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have modified nucleosides that reduce inflammatory reactions against the vaccine itself and they are packaged in lipid nanoparticles to prevent RNAse destruction of the mRNAs before they are taken up by cells. When they are taken up the RNA is released and then is available to be translated by ribosomes to produce the spike protein.
That is becoming very worrisome
The information is being censored and removed from websites. Just after Fauci changed his numbers on herd immunity the WHO changed their website on it. It used to say that number for it was with vaccines and people recovering from Covid with immunity to get to the number. Now it’s only through vaccines will we get there. Plus they’re only talking about the numbers of vaccines given with no mention of those who have recovered.
But the censorship is a huge red flag for many.
There has been much too much messaging
and not enough fact in the popular media (as opposed to scientific publications which are generally doing a good job). I think this has led to vaccine hesitancy. People aren't so stupid that they couldn't learn how these vaccines work. Instead, we are given the bottom line "message" i.e. what we are supposed to think. The message is sometimes wrong and changeable, and this rightly leads to doubt and confusion, and provides space for awful ideas to spread. With respect to the question of how long vaccines are effective, it is not possible to know that immunity will last longer than the length of time since the vaccines were administered. If they were administered six months ago we can say there will be robust antibody and T cell responses six months after administration of the vaccine. We can guess, based on a lot of accumulated knowledge, that they will last much longer. We can also be extremely confident that a single booster shot will restore high levels of immunity.
FWIW about herd immunity
The more contagious strains that have developed have a higher R value and, consequently, they increase the percentage of vaccinated and formerly infected people necessary to achieve herd immunity. Tony Fauci was guessing in both his initial estimates and later estimates. I think his guesses were well-informed and pretty reasonable, but the numbers can change as the strains evolve. Herd immunity is not really a single point in any case, as the % of individuals that have immunity increases, the probability of spread decreases. If 60% of the population is immune, you will encounter fewer people with COVID-19 than if only 10% are immune. You can still contract the disease, but the probability decreases as the % of individuals that are immune increases.
Remember that the UK now has its own COVID-19 variant.
So that might matter.
Also, leaving the EU is probably bad for "trade," as I pointed out in my discussion of Umair Haque's discussion of Brexit. The key to dissolving the EU is in a mass departure from the capitalist system as a whole. That was the hope for SYRIZA, some of whose members were said to have read their Marx. Too bad it didn't pan out.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
The links to Europe stats are really good. Thank you.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
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Sure thing!
I was actually rather surprised by all the data--I had assumed Europe was doing relatively well with vaccinations.
Your feelings about Brexit
and about Greece are similar to mine, and I think you described something really important about the whole issue. Greece's economy and strengths are in just what you said, tourism, olives, art history, weather, not industry, banking, and technology. So the implication from Euro-centric forces seems to be that the people of Greece should be poor, indebted, and punished for their lack of industrial strength. Why?
Especially when you consider people save up all their lives to vacation in places like Greece, not Hamburg, why isn't Greece's protection of its environment and its antiquities considered more valuable than banking?