Coronavirus

[katy]

Another deal today in my inbox from BA
Return flight, 23K baggage and car hire £99

[maureenscot]

I look forward to seeing my holiday home at the end of September. Flight to Malaga £24

[markwilding]

I'm getting even cheaper for Bilbao to London but all in the autumn so will try to go in the early December bank holiday. However, If I want to take my original BA flight on Thursday, which cost me 20 Euros each when I bought them last year , it would now cost 427Euros.

Odd thing though, even though the flight is going ahead, they told me the flight had been cancelled and changed it from a direct one to an indirect one via Madrid

[olive]

What is the situation in Spain regarding CV19 vaccines? have contracts been placed for any supplies.?

The UK have placed orders for 90 million. Great that the pharmaceuticals have rushed through these but you have to wonder how effective, if there are side effects and so on. Story is here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53469269

Will folk vaccinated be able to NOT wear masks, not social distance etc? How will we be able to tell a vaccinated person from the rest?

[katy]

How will we able to tell a vaccinated person....the way things are going we will be ordered to have a number tattooed on our arm

Wonder why they have ordered 90 million when the population is only 68 million.

[Pamela1]

Ordering 90million of what exactly? A liquid of some description! because right now that is all it is until it has been proved to work...They could be a million miles away from getting a vaccine that works and is safe, in the meantime it's been ordered!

[elusive]

Update today that the oxford vaccine has created a immunity responce in the ppl its been tested on with no obvious side effects. Even better responce when they were given two doses

[firsttango]

Ordering 90million of what exactly? A liquid of some description! because right now that is all it is until it has been proved to work...They could be a million miles away from getting a vaccine that works and is safe, in the meantime it's been ordered!

Or they could be fairly close as reflected in Elusives post regarding the Oxford vaccine and being prudent by placing orders for delivery when it is ready.

[Lavanda]

Is everyone completely insane? Side effects may take years to show up. They may also show up in subsequent generations. Has everyone REALLY lost the plot?

[elusive]

very true. But isnt that the same with any vaccine. Obviously normally i presume vaccines are trialed for many years but there must have been precious history of vaccines been rushed through for other diseases?

[olive]

I am reminded of the old folk offered vaccine for flu. Some swear by it and others say it gives them flu. Then there are others that just avoid going anywhere with flu sufferers. We had an elderly relative with a serious lung condition that did just that- avoided flu and colds for best part of twenty years.

Isn't the flu virus that is brought ought each year "tailored" to that years expected version of the flu virus.? maybe the CV19 vaccines being produced will do likewise. I dare say we will spend the next three months debating that as we are drip fed info on the subject, much the same as we have done on masks, hand washing and so on.

[Beachcomber]

An article here on the testing and development of vaccines:

https://www.historyofvaccines.org/conte ... regulation

[Wicksey]

I am reminded of the old folk offered vaccine for flu. Some swear by it and others say it gives them flu.

My dad only ever had the flu jab once and it made him feel so ill he said he's never have another. This was someone who had his first injection (a tetanus jab after an injury) when he was well into his 50s. He was generally fit and well for most of his life and never usually got flu or colds.

I did see a very interesting programme about how the yearly flu jab is developed. I was surprised at the complexity, the time and the number of countries involved.

Must admit I feel that they are rushing this through to try to get a very lucrative contact for supplying a COVID19 vaccine to the world. Personally I am not keen to have it.

[katy]

A view from an expat living near Malaga.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/07/2 ... rty-state/

[Wicksey]

I've just booked a cruise for next summer, but I am aware that this may not happen!

This has just happened sooner than I expected. Cruise and Maritime have gone into administration Just as well I only paid a small deposit but a shame as they were well priced and had a good choice of cruises. I am not booking anything more for now

[elusive]

Any chance of getting your money back wicksey?

[Enrique]

Hi Wicksey,
You may have seen this.............

https://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/

[Wicksey]

Yes thanks Enrique. I had only paid a small deposit of 150GBP and according to the instructions from ABTA I need to contact my bank to ask for a chargeback. I didn't realise that Debit Visa and Mastercards are treated the same way as credit cards, so under their schemes you can ask for a refund if you do not receive the goods/services you have paid for. I booked it knowing that it may not go ahead, but I didn't expect the company to go under less than a week later!

There must be many people who have paid the full amount or have vouchers for cancelled cruises this year, and goodness knows if they'll see their money again.

[elusive]

https://english.elpais.com/society/2020 ... matic.html

40% of new cases under the age of 40 plus other intresting bits of info

[Wicksey]

I see there's another spike in Murcia now according to the DT. I have been a little concerned as hygiene in shops seems to be becoming more lax, despite more tourists being here.

Yesterday in Lidl there was only a hand gel machine at the door and no gloves available, even in the veggie counter. Unusually for mid afternoon it was busy, with a couple of groups of about 5 or 6 young people blocking the aisles. Although everyone was wearing a mask I'm not sure if they all cleaned their hands, and anyway the trolleys are outside and not cleaned between uses, so despite us using hand gel we then had to touch the dirty trolley handle and then the food we bought. I always wash veg before using it but I feel that the hygiene measures that were in place a few weeks back (someone on the door to hand out gloves and make sure people used hand get) has disappeared now.