5 ms·

The UK has (first-dose) vaccinated close to a quarter of the population now. Given the vast population difference between it and Israel it seems to be doing pre

by kjakm 6y ago

The UK has (first-dose) vaccinated close to a quarter of the population now. Given the vast population difference between it and Israel it seems to be doing pretty well too.

scrollaway 6y ago
Yes I agree, the UK is also doing very well considering. It just baffles me that no other country is even in the same category as israel in terms of readiness, despite nine months to prepare.
- peteretep 6y ago
  There’s just not that many countries as rich as Israel who could be, though? UK and UAE are doing pretty well. All EU countries are subservient to the EU on this, America and Canada are geographically huge and of course America has Covid and medicine as an outsized political issue, Oz and NZ don’t need to rush it ... I guess maybe the Asian tigers are lagging a bit here?
  - nopzor 6y ago
    i don’t think “rich” has much to do with it. look how much economic loss and fiscal stimulus many countries have endured, on a per capita basis. in the grand scheme of thing, relative to that, does it matter whether they pay 20$, 40$, 100$ etc per dose?
    - peteretep 6y ago
      Let's say you're buying two-three treatments per person to try and make sure you end up with one that works, at 2021 Q1 delivery prices of around $40 per treatment ... $100 per capita. And let's say you're Malaysia, so that's $3.2bn in total which is 10% GDP. If you wait until Q3, you can get a proven vaccine for $3 per person, so $90m instead, so going early is going to cost you ... $3.1bn? So that's still 10% of GDP ish. Not sure that's an easy sell.
      - nopzor 6y ago
        that’s 1%’of their gdp not 10%
  - kalleboo 6y ago
    The Asian countries also don't appear to really need to rush it
- baq 6y ago
  most countries of the EU vaccinate at perhaps 20% capacity due just because there isn't enough supply.
mytailorisrich 6y ago
Yes, currently the UK is vaccinating at rates of up to 600,000 per day. That's about 3x the top daily rate of, say, France.
- Milner08 6y ago
  I had my first jab yesterday in London, I am (just) under 30 so I was surprised to be offered it, but I went along anyway and it was very well organised. In an out in 5 mins, the vaccines were being given by army and navy medics (all in uniform, which was cool but also a bit apocalypse-y). They said they were giving over 100 an hour in there alone, and there can't have been more than 15 bays for vaccines. I was very impressed. I am looking forward to seeing how it continues. If there is a way to improve supply I have no doubt they could go even faster. As a side note; The side effects to the Oxford jab was less than ideal. Bad chills (on an already very cold day) and a cracking headache. Feel much better now but I wasn't expecting it to be so bad! I had had COVID before, although it was mild, and I've heard this can make the reaction a bit worse than normal. So maybe that was why.
  - ck425 6y ago
    Out of curiosity how did you qualify for the vaccine? I work for the NHS but as I'm not frontline don't qualify for it. Not that I disagree with the decision but the internal talk I've heard is that the government has been extremely strict about only vaccinating those in the priority groups.
    - kjakm 6y ago
      I am in the same situation as the parent comment. Youngish but offered it at the weekend. I would be group 6 but I think there is more at play. There are vaccine centres in London (certainly the one I attended) having to close early because a lot of people in group 1-4 are refusing to take up their appointments. I believe that so they can make use of their supply they've had to transition to lower groups a lot sooner than planned.
- PacketPaul 6y ago
peteretep 6y ago
That’s the deep state at work! [0] 0: by which of course I mean strong institutions like the NHS, apolitical and well-organised army, regional councils, and the civil service
- FranzFerdiNaN 6y ago
  If EU countries had the same supply as the UK, they would also have vaccinated roughly the same percentage of people.
  - peteretep 6y ago
    Some countries probably, but institutional strength in the EU varies dramatically country by country
  - Robin_Message 6y ago
    EU approved the vaccines over a month later IIRC, and Germany and France won't use the easy to distribute vaccine (astraveneca) in over 65s, the major target group. So I'm not sure it's only a supply issue.
    - hef19898 6y ago
      The AZ story is a very interessting one. This whole debate started after the Handelsblatt, a German newspaper, pblished an article saying that the AZ vaccine is only 8% effective for people over 65. Totally wrng of course, as 8% was the number of trial patients above thaage. Yet, the source was apparently someone in the German Ministry of Health. Obviously, that story went viral, it got all the uplift it needed when Bild and Spiegel jumped on the bandwagon. The latter has a, IMHO, obvious pro-Biontech agenda. With countries like France having already a problem with low vaccine willingness, and some smaller screw ups in AZs trial data, EMA restricted the AZ use for patients over 65 due to "insufficeint data", even if EMA thinks AZ will be effective. That detal, obviously, is way too small for online news. My pet theory is, that someone looked for a scapegoat why German vaccinations are so low. AZ was a welcome one, especially after the question of whether AZ had to use its UK factories for EU orders. After that stunt, I have the impression AZ is somewhat pissed.

by kjakm 6y ago

The UK has (first-dose) vaccinated close to a quarter of the population now. Given the vast population difference between it and Israel it seems to be doing pretty well too.

scrollaway 6y ago

Yes I agree, the UK is also doing very well considering. It just baffles me that no other country is even in the same category as israel in terms of readiness, despite nine months to prepare.

peteretep 6y ago
There’s just not that many countries as rich as Israel who could be, though? UK and UAE are doing pretty well. All EU countries are subservient to the EU on this, America and Canada are geographically huge and of course America has Covid and medicine as an outsized political issue, Oz and NZ don’t need to rush it ... I guess maybe the Asian tigers are lagging a bit here?
- nopzor 6y ago
  i don’t think “rich” has much to do with it. look how much economic loss and fiscal stimulus many countries have endured, on a per capita basis. in the grand scheme of thing, relative to that, does it matter whether they pay 20$, 40$, 100$ etc per dose?
  - peteretep 6y ago
    Let's say you're buying two-three treatments per person to try and make sure you end up with one that works, at 2021 Q1 delivery prices of around $40 per treatment ... $100 per capita. And let's say you're Malaysia, so that's $3.2bn in total which is 10% GDP. If you wait until Q3, you can get a proven vaccine for $3 per person, so $90m instead, so going early is going to cost you ... $3.1bn? So that's still 10% of GDP ish. Not sure that's an easy sell.
    - nopzor 6y ago
      that’s 1%’of their gdp not 10%
- kalleboo 6y ago
  The Asian countries also don't appear to really need to rush it
baq 6y ago
most countries of the EU vaccinate at perhaps 20% capacity due just because there isn't enough supply.

mytailorisrich 6y ago

Yes, currently the UK is vaccinating at rates of up to 600,000 per day. That's about 3x the top daily rate of, say, France.

Milner08 6y ago
I had my first jab yesterday in London, I am (just) under 30 so I was surprised to be offered it, but I went along anyway and it was very well organised. In an out in 5 mins, the vaccines were being given by army and navy medics (all in uniform, which was cool but also a bit apocalypse-y). They said they were giving over 100 an hour in there alone, and there can't have been more than 15 bays for vaccines. I was very impressed. I am looking forward to seeing how it continues. If there is a way to improve supply I have no doubt they could go even faster. As a side note; The side effects to the Oxford jab was less than ideal. Bad chills (on an already very cold day) and a cracking headache. Feel much better now but I wasn't expecting it to be so bad! I had had COVID before, although it was mild, and I've heard this can make the reaction a bit worse than normal. So maybe that was why.
- ck425 6y ago
  Out of curiosity how did you qualify for the vaccine? I work for the NHS but as I'm not frontline don't qualify for it. Not that I disagree with the decision but the internal talk I've heard is that the government has been extremely strict about only vaccinating those in the priority groups.
  - kjakm 6y ago
    I am in the same situation as the parent comment. Youngish but offered it at the weekend. I would be group 6 but I think there is more at play. There are vaccine centres in London (certainly the one I attended) having to close early because a lot of people in group 1-4 are refusing to take up their appointments. I believe that so they can make use of their supply they've had to transition to lower groups a lot sooner than planned.
PacketPaul 6y ago

peteretep 6y ago

That’s the deep state at work! [0] 0: by which of course I mean strong institutions like the NHS, apolitical and well-organised army, regional councils, and the civil service

FranzFerdiNaN 6y ago
If EU countries had the same supply as the UK, they would also have vaccinated roughly the same percentage of people.
- peteretep 6y ago
  Some countries probably, but institutional strength in the EU varies dramatically country by country
- Robin_Message 6y ago
  EU approved the vaccines over a month later IIRC, and Germany and France won't use the easy to distribute vaccine (astraveneca) in over 65s, the major target group. So I'm not sure it's only a supply issue.
  - hef19898 6y ago
    The AZ story is a very interessting one. This whole debate started after the Handelsblatt, a German newspaper, pblished an article saying that the AZ vaccine is only 8% effective for people over 65. Totally wrng of course, as 8% was the number of trial patients above thaage. Yet, the source was apparently someone in the German Ministry of Health. Obviously, that story went viral, it got all the uplift it needed when Bild and Spiegel jumped on the bandwagon. The latter has a, IMHO, obvious pro-Biontech agenda. With countries like France having already a problem with low vaccine willingness, and some smaller screw ups in AZs trial data, EMA restricted the AZ use for patients over 65 due to "insufficeint data", even if EMA thinks AZ will be effective. That detal, obviously, is way too small for online news. My pet theory is, that someone looked for a scapegoat why German vaccinations are so low. AZ was a welcome one, especially after the question of whether AZ had to use its UK factories for EU orders. After that stunt, I have the impression AZ is somewhat pissed.