Chinese Virus May Have Infected Hundreds

What can you say except it must be more important to the eu to try and score points over a post Brexit UK and its very successful vaccine rollout than keeping its citizens safe from covid...

'Italy admitted today that its suspension of AstraZeneca jabs was a 'political' move under pressure from other EU governments, amid fury at the 12 EU states who have called a halt to the shots over unproven fears of blood clots.

Nicola Magrini, the head of Italian medicines regulator AIFA, said politicians had come under pressure to call off the jabs after Germany and France made similar moves in what one Conservative MP described as a 'Brexit sulk'.

'We got to the point of a suspension because several European countries, including Germany and France, preferred to interrupt vaccinations... to put them on hold in order to carry out checks. The choice is a political one,' Magrini said in an interview with La Repubblica.

Fourteen European countries including 12 EU members have now suspended their use of the shots altogether - with Sweden joining the list today - while another five have black-listed specific batches and a handful of governments outside Europe have also pulled the emergency brake.

Health experts in Germany and France have accused their governments of playing politics with the AstraZeneca jab, which is already an unloved choice in Europe after top officials lashed out at the firm in a post-Brexit row over supplies and raised unfounded doubts about its effectiveness.

Scientists fear that Europe's moves could now fuel 'more extreme anti-vaccine sentiment' despite findings by the EU, UK, WHO and AstraZeneca that there is no evidence of a link to the sporadic blood clots.

Belgium's health ministry said it would continue using the jab because it was in a race against time to protect its population. Extraordinarily, one French minister told Politico that it decided to copy Berlin's move to avoid 'stress' - and at the same time Paris is threatening to sue AstraZeneca for failing to supply enough doses.

In an attempt to stem the tide of countries stopping the roll-out of the jab, the EMA insisted the rate of clots 'in vaccinated people seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population'.

Whitehall sources claimed the suspensions were a 'cynical attempt to discredit' AstraZeneca in the wake of the bloc's row with the Anglo-Swedish drugs firm amid a shambolic rollout.

'I genuinely don't know what they are playing at,' said one insider. 'There is no data to support what they are doing. They just don't seem to be able to get over their disputes with AstraZeneca.'

In Britain, Tory and Labour MPs highlighted the assurances given by regulators and experts as they appealed for Britons to ignore 'fake news' and accept invitations for jabs. Nearly half the UK population has now had their first dose of either the Oxford or Pfizer vaccine.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it was 'crystal clear' the vaccine was safe, while Conservative backbencher Anthony Browne said European leaders were driven by 'politics not science'. 'The EU's Brexit sulk will cost EU lives,' he said.

Among the 17million people across Europe who have received the vaccine there have been 37 reports of blood clots, which experts say is well below the expected level.

Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon leapt to the defence of the jab yesterday, saying it is 'safe and effective' and no such side effects have been witnessed in the UK, which has used more doses than anywhere else in the world.'

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I think it is time AZ told eu leaders like mutti and josephine to make up their minds. Either they stop this trashing of the Oxford vaccine and start giving it to the people of europe or they cancel the eu contract (without AZ taking legal action over cancellation) and allow the export of the vaccine to those countries that want it.

On the radio last night it was suggested that the EU may purchase vaccines from Russia and China ?

Some callers to LBC have said they back the precautionary move to have a look at this issue.

What we do not need is for the UK government to suddenly suspend the AZ rollout also. And you just know some will call for that.

The world is descending into an abyss of its own making.

I said to one of the co-op staff a couple of weeks ago that I thought there would be stings in the tail.

This is the first sting , with a few more to come.

There was a really good documentary on the Smithsonian Channel the other night about bats and their harbouring of potential killer viruses. Scary stuff and one the world needs to wake up to.

Plenty of money to be made in a pandemic standby for a few more

Elias wrote:

mouldyoldgoat wrote:

AZ should just stop supplying these countries.

Why would they make it up?

Whole story isn't being told, I can't believe it's brexit revenge

Maybe not ! Totally unbelievable.

What are they doing?

How on earth have two people infected with the Philippine variant found its way here.
As far as I know theres no (current) non stop flight connecting Manila and Heathrow running. As such they'd have had to connect via a hub somewhere getting past that countries restrictions for Covid in transit

Then getting here and avoiding the quarantine ??  Each time we drive down the numbers a "new" variant seems to "appear"
I can see how some just "might" be becoming sceptical

Only last night I copied and pasted something to another BM here over a curfew from 10pm to 5am being introduced in Angeles City without quite knowing why. Now we do

We gotta open up in June and in the interim stick to the Bozos unlocking route which I entirely agree with

Any elections coming up in France and Germany? Asking for a friend.

harvetheslayer wrote:

How on earth have two people infected with the Philippine variant found its way here.
As far as I know theres no (current) non stop flight connecting Manila and Heathrow running. As such they'd have had to connect via a hub somewhere getting past that countries restrictions for Covid in transit

Then getting here and avoiding the quarantine ??  Each time we drive down the numbers a "new" variant seems to "appear"
I can see how some just "might" be becoming sceptical

Only last night I copied and pasted something to another BM here over a curfew from 10pm to 5am being introduced in Angeles City without quite knowing why. Now we do

We gotta open up in June and in the interim stick to the Bozos unlocking route which I entirely agree with

Why are there thousands of people at airports in a pandemic? A mate of mine has a brother who works in investment and has made millions on the short sell. As a finacier and invester he has an exception to travel he just tells border force he is on business and off he goes. He's presently in the Ukraine shagging some tart he met on Tinder.

1st jab done op at Argo.

All seemed pretty well organised. In and out in about ten minutes.

No side-effects, so far. Coincidently, since my jab this morning, my 5G reception has been fantastic!

They are now fighting between themselves....

'An extraordinary civil war has broken out in Europe over vaccinations as leaders turn on each-other over the decision to halt the use of AstraZeneca jabs.


Stella Kyriakides, health commissioner of the European Commission, issued a rare rebuke to EU leaders on Tuesday, urging them to keep using AstraZeneca shots to protect as many people as possible with a Covid third wave looming.

'Every dose counts,' she told a virtual summit, pointing to 14million vaccines that have gone un-used in Europe including 7.5million AstraZeneca jabs.

Meanwhile Poland's Prime Minister vowed to keep administering the shots in defiance of 19 countries which have paused their use, accusing other leaders of 'giving in to panic' about blood clots.

In Germany, health minister Jens Spahn is facing calls to resign over his handling of the crisis including the decision to block AstraZeneca jabs, with Wolfgang Kubicki, leader of the FDP, accusing him of undermining trust in the vaccine.

'We should open up AstraZeneca to everyone,' he said. 'The vaccine is of no use if it is not vaccinated quickly enough.'

Angela Merkel's CDU party also slumped to its lowest rating since the start of the Covid pandemic in a new poll released today, as public confidence in her management of the crisis ebbs away.

Elsewhere France's Emmanuel Macron - also facing an election this year - and Italy's newly-installed premier Mario Draghi signalled an imminent U-turn on AstraZeneca once the European Medicines Agency gives its final verdict on Thursday.

But the EMA has already insisted twice - once last week and once on Tuesday - that any risks from AstraZeneca's vaccine are far outweighed by the benefits and that there is no reason to stop using it.  
Italy’s medicines authority yesterday admitted the decision to stop using the Oxford-AstraZeneca was ‘political’, while in Germany, Angela Merkel’s closest allies hit out against the decision to suspend its use when cases were rocketing across the country.

Berlin officials yesterday defended the move, claiming that seven cases of a rare type of blood clot had occurred in the 1.6 million people it had given the jab - a higher number than expected. The German Health Ministry argued ‘it would not be responsible to continue vaccinating without an investigation’.

But in sign of the chaos, France and Italy were last night already signalling they could make a U-turn - suggesting they could restart use of jab once EMA gives its final verdict tomorrow (Thursday).

Poland said yesterday that it would carry on using the AstraZeneca jab, accusing other states of giving in to ‘disinformation’.

The PM’s chief of staff said: ‘Most countries that have temporarily suspended (AstraZeneca) vaccinations have given in to panic caused by media-fuelled information about alleged complications.’'

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Fantastic to see the remnants of the Dinosaur infested Dystopian EU beginning to crumble.

Now. Stop your pathetic bickering and get your nations jabbed. FFS.

POI wrote:

Fantastic to see the remnants of the Dinosaur infested Dystopian EU beginning to crumble.

Now. Stop your pathetic bickering and get your nations jabbed. FFS.

It is init !!

Put a smile on my face it did.

Tomorrow is the day the the EMA release their findings.

Interesting read on AZ vaccine side effects

Read that very interesting. I felt pretty shitty yesterday and feel a little better today I would liken it to the symptoms as exactly as I've had from some flu jabs ie an immune response, achy, bit feverish and tired. Most people I've talked to haven't had any ill effects at all. Get it done.

All I had was achy arm for about 36 hours. Fine now.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Read that very interesting. I felt pretty shitty yesterday and feel a little better today I would liken it to the symptoms as exactly as I've had from some flu jabs ie an immune response, achy, bit feverish and tired. Most people I've talked to haven't had any ill effects at all. Get it done.

I had a flu jab back in December and had no side effects at all , so hoping it is the same when I have my 1st covid jab next monday (22nd).

lol who would have thought it. Only the terminally dimwitted in the Tory Party didnt grasp that Dominic Cummings would fight back.....
I dont know where to start but he describes the Department of Health and Hancock and its catastrophic handling of PPE as a "smoking ruin" within the committee hearing...

I couldnt have been the only one rolling around in laughter

Geddon Dom now finish off that evil oaf at the top as the skeletons are extensive...

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