COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

I don’t think you have anything to apologise for, they are your opinions and I don’t go down the road of necessarily making any remarks about a person due to them. Better to have an opinion and try to remain informed than not.

Sometimes logic works, sometimes your logic and my logic and other people’s logic just aren’t the same and this basically then comes down to a difference in opinion.

Anything made by government, health or otherwise, will of course have political basis in many regards, it’s inevitable. But broadly speaking the fact that many other political parties have broadly agreed or supported many of the decisions leads me, personally, to see less of a political agenda than in other areas.

1 Like

Maybe not an agenda, but possibly they’ve dug themselves into a hole that they don’t know how to get out.
(Thinks of the Scotch Egg debacle :joy:)

Had my flu jab yesterday it’s taken just over 24 hours for it to make me feel like :poop:

Shivering away and aching, I’d sooner have my covid jab again, no reaction then :rofl:

I’ve never had any noticeable reaction to the flu jab and didn’t for my AZ Covid jabs, either.

There’s always a first time, I guess, and I’ll be having my booster and flu jab at the same time next month :slight_smile:

Hmm… Flu jab season again? Mine was cancelled at the start of lockdown (it happened so fast the GP didn’t have time to notify everyone and by the time I got there I was met with a fortress covered in ‘no entry’ signs and confused people outside).

Just checked and they’ve just opened flu jabs for those with underlying conditions in the last day or so… should probably wait for an invite though.

With the end of furlough today, how do you all think it will impact unemployment numbers, the economy, etc.?
Hopefully, if the Gov is to be believed, there is an excess of jobs out there and as few people as possible will actually lose out.

Wish anyone who is affected the very best of luck.

I just did a trip to Lisbon and it’s incredible the difference between there and here.

Agree or disagree, everyone (and I mean 100% from my whole time there) was wearing a mask on transport and in shops. Everyone. No exemptions. Everyone.

To go into a bar, restaurant or hotel you show you’ve been vaccinated or tested negative. No issues, no complaining, people just did it and got on with their lives.

I honestly was so conditioned to it being so controversial and society-ending that it was refreshing to just see it being a mild inconvenience and moving on with their lives.

14 Likes

Whilst this may have been accepted as nothing more than a minor inconvenience in Portugal (and possibly some other countries) there are people who crave things just getting back to normal.
To many, having to prove vaccination status or take (sometimes daily) tests just to do everyday things is a step too far.

It really didn’t really feel any less abnormal or intrusive than showing ID to get into a bar.

I have to say it wasn’t difficult and it’s been severely overblown here. That’s just from my experience. Two seconds at the door and my night was the same as ever.

8 Likes

I really don’t want to live in a country where people think like that. What do I have to do to live in Portugal?

2 Likes

I haven’t had to show ID to get into a bar for 30 years :joy:
(Yes I’m an old fart)

1 Like

Did you just show your NHS app? Presumably it was accepted?

I did yes, they were fine with it (my partner just had a negative lateral flow test and that was fine too)

2 Likes

Out of curiosity, how long does the neg LFT last?

I have read in some countries that it is only 24 hours, which would mean daily testing.

And is that a problem? It’s just a piece of cotton up your nose. I think all tests should only be valid for 6-8 hours, as it only provides a snapshot of your current status

1 Like

48 hours generally. Which is roughly what we were advised here anyway (3x a week).

Or just get vaccinated.

2 Likes

I’ve had to do prove test/vaccination in a few places in the last couple of months, I really don’t have a problem with it.

The only time it’s slowed anything down is the people that don’t read and then get to the front of the queue and don’t have it ready and because it’s a busy place, phone data is hard to get so they have to wait for things to load.

Small price to pay for things being back to normal.

2 Likes

So like most places then.

When you need to produce tickets, when paying at the supermarket and so on… I hate people sometimes :rofl:

3 Likes

Was this in Lisbon?

I go off down to the highlands tonight for some hiking over the weekend before setting off on a European trip on the Tuesday.

We’ve heard a lot of conflicting stuff with the NHS app and it’s acceptance so have downloaded a French equivalent which seems to be accepted as proof Europe-wide.

As far as I know, the Scottish vaccine certificates aren’t even accepted in Scottish airports as proof to enter European countries unless I scan the QR codes into an EU app.

EU passport apps I believe have to be accepted. Other forms of proof are down to venue discretion I believe. Better safe than sorry. I’d put your QR cards into the app provided by the country you’re heading to if they have one.

I mean we went there with the right documents and tests and didn’t expect to rely on the NHS App but we weren’t asked for anything at the border in either direction.

The only times we were asked for things were in venues at they were essentially just checking that we had something to say we were vaccinated. No QR codes being scanned just a glance at the pass.

5 Likes