More on covid pandemic 2020-23

View of the world

Ukraine – what you’re not told

Is the pandemic going to plague us for a third year?

Considering the covid pandemic dominated so many peoples’ lives for so long things, at least in the UK, have been very quiet in the last few months. Occasionally there will be a report by some ‘expert’ reminding people that covid is still around but there is definitely the general idea that ‘we are over the worse’. Whether or not that is the case time will tell. And if the clock is ticking the sound will get noisier from now on as winter definitely takes grip in the northern hemisphere and all the elements that the virus likes will come into play.

If there is any real mention of covid at the moment it is in relation to how the Chinese government has dealt with the matter. It’s ‘zero-covid’ policy is being used, by the western governments and its slavish media, as a stick to beat the Chinese authorities. As with the war in the Ukraine it’s regime change that the west is more concerned about and western governments rub their hands with glee in the hope that opposition to the strict lock down policy in China will rock the government and its leadership there.

Although considering the policy adopted in China has now been going on for too long and lacks an imaginative approach to the future (to a virus that has not gone away) it’s important to remind people what that policy has achieved. A little more than 5,000 people have died of covid in China – out of a population of 1,500,000. Many more than 100,000 have died in the UK – out of a population of 60 million. And it is estimated that in the region of a million people have died in the USA – out of a population of 300 million. These high levels of fatalities are similar in many countries in the so-called ‘developed world’. If the numbers speak then they are saying that the Chinese policy has been more concerned about the lives of its population that all the countries of the ‘west’.

Ever since I started the ‘Journal of the Plague Years 2020-20??’ the aim was to provide a record of how the challenge of dealing with the pandemic was being met throughout the world. When I started in early 2020 I, like most people, I’m sure, didn’t think it would go on for so long. That assumption was based upon ignorance. But even when we all had the ability to understand this virus more fully it still seems it has been around longer than it really should have been.

The flu pandemic that swept through the world in 1918-19 (mis-named Spanish Flu) was able to do its worst not least because a world war had made any attempts to deal with it that much more difficult (in the industrial countries) and the poverty that existed in so many countries as a consequence of colonialism had made what we now call the ‘Global South’ unable to cope with such a biological tsunami.

Surely, a hundred years later the sophisticated and technologically driven capitalist system would be able to cope with a simple virus much more effectively? But that wasn’t going to happen as it was a capitalist system which was in control. What we do know what happened is that huge amounts of money was put into the pockets of gangsters, thieves and fraudsters – only the exact quantity is unknown. And at the start of the third year of the pandemic most countries still haven’t come up with a workable strategy.

In the UK those aspects of life that were identified as being crucial in the spread of the virus, as well as the incidents of death, are still with us – probably even more so as we approach 2023 as we did at the beginning of 2020.

ALL diseases and pandemics will always effect the poor and the vulnerable the most. The levels of poverty in Britain were, in many ways, hidden prior to March 2020 but as the pandemic swept through the population it became obvious who were most at risk. (Many of the posts published here attempted to point out that situation in one of the richest countries in the world.) In the last two years that situation has only gotten worse for all the reasons that everyone should be aware. On top of that the NHS in Britain is probably less well equipped to deal with another major outbreak if it should occur in the next few months – that is despite the expensive vaccination programme (although not for the vast majority of the people in the ‘Global South’) and the vastly increased knowledge about how the virus functions.

In this present post I publish a number of articles I have come across over the quiet interregnum of the last few months. The aim of these posts was never to be an up-to-date story of the pandemic, more a place to find a record of what was said, what was done and the mistakes and failings that were made by those we have foolishly allowed to rule us.

Time and events might have made some of these links a little antiquated or irrelevant but are included here for the above reason.

The future frequency of these posts will depend upon how well the virus has been able to circumvent the aimless and uncoordinated antics of the world’s governments.

Vaccines

Better covid vaccines are on the way. What do they do? And what technology might we see in future?

Five reasons why young people should get a covid booster vaccine – keep on vaccinating the rich whilst ignoring the rest of the world.

An annual booster like the flu shot could be the way forward – and the rest of the world has still yet to be fully vaccinated ONCE.

What next-gen covid-19 vaccines might look like.

Inhalable and nasal vaccines could offer more durable protection than regular shots.

We measured vaccine confidence pre-pandemic and in 2022 – it’s declined considerably.

Should people under 50 in the UK be offered a fourth dose?

Vaccine policy worldwide

Pfizer REFUSES to share vaccines with other researchers.

EU hypocrisy hits dizzying new heights as Commission’s scandal-tarnished President pledges to wage global fight on corruption.

The origins of the pandemic

US biotech cartel behind covid origins and cover-up.

Coronavirus origins: the debate flares up, but the evidence remains weak.

Testing

Covid-19 rapid tests can breed confusion – here’s how to make sense of the results and what to do, according to 3 testing experts.

Unintended consequences of covid and/or the vaccines

Covid or covid vaccination can cause dermal fillers to swell up

The economic impact of covid in the UK depended on where you live.

The pandemic worldwide

The covid debacle rolls on.

The scientific response to covid-19: what does the biomedical literature say?

Covid pandemic created immunisation gaps in Africa. Over half a million children are at risk.

The WHO has advised against the use of two antibody therapies against covid – here’s what that means.

How Bill Gates and partners used their clout to control the global covid response — with little oversight.

The Lancet Commission on Lessons for the Future from the covid-19 Pandemic: A Critical Review.

Mask wearing – the experience of

Maskstravaganza: mask fit, mask manufacturing, masks on the movie set.

Effects of the ‘first waves’

Has the pandemic changed our personalities? New research suggests we’re less open, agreeable and conscientious.

Covid has taken a greater toll on mental health among people from ethnic minorities – sadly this is no surprise

The risk of seizures and epilepsy is higher after covid than after the flu.

Young people without access to a computer had poorer mental health during the pandemic.

High blood pressure linked to 22% greater risk of severe covid.

Six common covid myths busted by a virologist and a public health expert.

The Pandemic in the UK in 2020-21

How Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in England were stretched to cope with the pandemic.

Austerity led to twice as many excess UK deaths as previously thought – here’s what that means for future cuts.

Covid inquiry: the UK government’s pandemic response was often not ‘guided by the science’ – yet now scientists are under fire.

Parental beliefs, perceived health risks, and time investment in children: evidence from covid-19. Working paper from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Pandemic in the UK in 2022 – 23

Covid cases are rising in England – here’s how things might play out as we move towards winter.

Covid and the cost of living crisis are set to collide this winter – the fallout will be greatest for the most vulnerable.

Covid, flu, RSV – how this triple threat of respiratory viruses could collide this winter.

Variants

Another new covid variant is spreading – here’s what we know about omicron BA.4.6.

XBB and BQ.1: what we know about these two omicron ‘cousins’.

Alert level

UK’s covid alert level downgraded – the move makes sense for now but things can always change.

‘Long’ covid

New cases of severe long covid appear to be dropping – and vaccination is probably key.

Long covid stigma may encourage people to hide the condition.

Overweight women may be at highest risk of long covid.

NHS Waiting lists

Forget the pandemic, ‘NHS decline is to blame’ for record waiting lists.

The Buffoon (now fortunately gone) and the pandemic

Boris Johnson’s pandemic legacy – where he went wrong managing covid (and some things he got right). [But not many ‘right’ – included due to the bizarre attitude in Britain to ‘impartiality’.]

Excess deaths

Summer 2022 saw thousands of excess deaths in England and Wales – here’s why that might be.

We were told to ‘stay home’ to stop covid. Then our homes became disease hotspots.

The next pandemic

5 virus families that could cause the next pandemic, according to the experts.

Poverty in Britain

Thousands of children treated for malnutrition in Scotland.

Universal free school meals would make a huge difference to the cost-of-living crisis.

Health inequalities.

More on covid pandemic 2020-2?

View of the world

Ukraine – what you’re not told