Covid booster vaccine to be offered to millions in England next week | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Care home residents will be first to receive spring top-up jab as infections in England hit 2023 high

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This is so welcomed news to many and enforces that COVID-19 has not gone away. For it is believed that COVID-19 is no longer with us by many, for it so still here and will be for a long time to come.

If you are in the groups who are entitled to receive the vaccine, then please do so to ensure you are as protected as much as you can be.

 

Source: Covid booster vaccine to be offered to millions in England next week | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Trump’s verbal assaults pose risks to prosecutors and could fuel violence | Donald Trump | The Guardian

Trump has resorted to ‘incendiary rhetoric’ to deter investigations and to rile up his base, experts say, and shows no sign of letting up

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Trump is fighting for his political life and it can be assumed he is far from sure he will obtain it through the US democratic voting process, so he is appealing to his supporters to rise and obtain it through mob violence.

If there is any justice left in America then Trump should not succeed in any approach he uses, but have we have seen in some instances America is predictable, hence the ‘gun lobby and others it is not.

Unfortunately some of the Trump supporters have nothing left to believe in, except the retoric of Trump.

If Trump does eventually succeed receiving the Repblican canditure for the Presidency and then become the President for another, then ‘God’ help us all, not just America but the whole World.

We all saw how he left America after his previous term as President and while there as been some recovery, the damage he caused will take some time to reverse. With another term any damage caused may not be possible to reverse for there maybe no World left.

These are very dangerous times for us all and certainly in America all Human Rights will be removed.

 

Source: Trump’s verbal assaults pose risks to prosecutors and could fuel violence | Donald Trump | The Guardian

Six myths about learning disabilities and OKUs | Malay Mail

Dr Chua Sook Ning expressed concern about the stigmatisation of mental disorders and blanket statements that people with OKU cards shouldn’t drive. ― Picture courtesy of Dr Chua Sook Ning

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While this is relating to Malaysia its content could relate to anywhere for myths are myths wherever they arise.

In the instances described the myths are mainly derived through ignorance  and in some instances to discriminate and not from known facts.

In days gone by it would have been difficult for information to be found to discount the myths, but in these days with the internet, as long as the information is from a very reliable source they can be discounted and so the discriminations should reduce. But some of these myths are very strongly supported by some, so great care is needed to differentiate what is myth and what is truth.

 

Source: Six myths about learning disabilities and OKUs | Malay Mail

‘Burning shame as Brits from all sections of society were left in Covid’s crosshairs’ – Anna Morell – Mirror Online

All Covid support has gone, but there are still shielders – disabled people who know their underlying conditions put them at too great a risk from Covid to venture out and reclaim a fully lived life now

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COVID-19 was and perhaps still is viewed as a once in a lifetime situation, but over the years there have been many instances were pandemics could have occurred Bird Flu, to name one and there is influenza, which is a form of COVID, where vaccine is available each year for those who are seen to be at risk and for those in some of the emergency services.

When the COVID-19 vaccine became available, yes, certain groups were deemed to be in need of the vaccine, but not those with Learning Disabilities, (LD), even though many are deemed eligible for the influenza vaccine. Then when they were included for the COVID-19 vaccine, at first it was only those with certain conditions and not all.

You may say that sufficient information was not available, but was it for it is already known that persons with LD, have a life expectancy of on average 20% less to those who don’t have LD, and this is from the LeDeR programme. The resulting reports are sent to the Department of health & Social Security so there is no way that the department can say they were not aware of the information. Perhaps it was decided that persons with LD were not considered to be a sufficient priority as they were deemed to be not important enough, who Knows, perhaps this will come out in Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages, but who knows.

This is a disgrace and shows that this Government and perhaps any government don’t really care about anyone, other than themselves and those who they seem to believe to be important.

Source: ‘Burning shame as Brits from all sections of society were left in Covid’s crosshairs’ – Anna Morell – Mirror Online

Fact-check: What’s behind the anti-Zelenskyy graffiti popping up all across Europe? | Euronews

Euronews took a closer look at these viral images and who is behind this anti-Ukraine campaign

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Don’t always believe what you see, Fact-check it?

Propaganda is so rife these days so you need to know what to believe.

 

Source: Fact-check: What’s behind the anti-Zelenskyy graffiti popping up all across Europe? | Euronews

Biden Says We’ve Broken COVID-19’s Grip On Us. Is He Right? | Time

Soon, COVID-19 will no longer be declared an emergency in the U.S. Here’s how public health experts feel about that path forward

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While this is being said in America it is true in many other countries too, so no one should be complacent, for although current COVID-19 variants are not that severe no one knows when one or more could be so.

So anyone who is anywhere near having a not-so-good immune system always needs to be aware of their own health and avail themselves of all vaccines available to ensure their immune system is always as good as it can be.

Source: Biden Says We’ve Broken COVID-19’s Grip On Us. Is He Right? | Time

Monkeypox: Concerns mount over vaccine inequity | The BMJ

While it is great that there is already and existing vaccine for Monkeypox, why is there still so, much reliance on vaccines which need to be injected by a needle, surely, a much easier form of administering vaccine should be prioritised, as injecting needs a medical professional to inject the vaccine, why, not more reliance on nasal sprays, tablets and patches, as these could be self-administered.

This would be so much more convenient, especially in parts of the World where medical professionals are not readily available, let alone better for persons who are needle phobic.

 

Source: Monkeypox: Concerns mount over vaccine inequity | The BMJ

Water plant that could prevent hosepipe ban ‘secretly mothballed’

Thames Water’s £250m desalination site out of action until next year at earliest despite record summer heat

 

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With global warming and climate change the World and the UK is getting hotter and dryer, ice-caps are reducing as ice is melting, so increasing sea levels and there is much less rain, so casing inland water shortages. So, too much water in the seas and insufficient inland. So, surely any measures to take water from the seas and convert it to desalinated water, but is this occurring. But it is expensive, so by this article it is not. however, when is cost exceeded by necessity of demand, you would think, with the current drought conditions and that these will occur more and more as years go by.

The costs need to be reduced so, use of green processes more should be considered, wind farms, hydroelectric and others.

But will the water companies do this, are shareholders more important than customers and sufficiency of water.

Who are these water companies there for, their customers or Shareholders, well a privatised company should be there for both, but who should get the priority?

For without both the companies would not exist, without customers the company would not receive any income and without shareholders there would be no one to monitor the Directors and to own the company shares.

But to keep shareholders happy dividends need to be paid to shareholders, especially currently when great profits are being made, but also out of these profits investments also need to be made to ensure water supplies are maintained, leaks are repaired, new infrastructures installed, research conducted and new innovations considered, staff salaries are paid from.

If the companies are renationalised the theory is that all profits will be channeled to all of the above, with the exception of paying shareholders dividends because there will be no shareholders.

But these water companies used to be a nationalised industry, so why are the infrastructures so old, as it is reported that much of the current pipe works are still from the Victorian era, hence the excuse for so many leaks, so was the required investments not done to the degree required. Well not all pipes can be replaced at once, for the nationalised industry or even the privatised companies would not have sufficient staff to do so, but saying that was there really sufficient investment before privatisation.

Well, in my opinion, no for even though there were, technically no shareholders, there were, for although not classed as shareholders, it was owned by the country or the Government of the day by way of a Quangos, as each area of the UK had their own Water Boards or Authorities

So, Governments, in effect, controlled money to nationalised companies, so in virtually every nationalised industry, prior to any privatisation, there was lack of investment, as there was before they were nationalised .in the early 19th century. But, at least with nationalised industries the money would, more or less, be retained in the UK, but, it was pooled into Government and used how they felt fit, so money from water could be used anywhere other than water.

With privatisation, it was believed that the money raised would, in most instances, be retained in the UK by UK owned companies by members of the public owning shares or pension trusts. However, by passage of time, many of the original UK companies are now owned by organisations or outside the UK or countries.

Source: Water plant that could prevent hosepipe ban ‘secretly mothballed’

COVID-19 and the Vaccination Programme

It is viewed that the COVID-19 vaccination programme was a huge success, especially initially, but it appears now that there has been some reduction in the uptake in coming forward for additional vaccinations. As it is shown that the vaccine did produce a good rate of immunity to catching COVID-19 and if caught passing this onto others, over time this immunity will decrease and continue to decrease.

Many reasons for this could arise, being reactions to the vaccine, some reluctance to invasion by needles, time availability to attend for the vaccination and while not the UK, it could be the costs involved in purchasing the vaccine and also availability and further costs of a medical professional to undertake to give the vaccination.

So should more be done to alleviate some of the above for there could be other means to have the vaccine, being nasal sprays, tablets and even patches. There are some projects which are being researched, but not with the same urgency as with the original vaccines.

I believe there should be for nasal sprays, tablets and patches would, more than likely not need to have a medical professional for its administering, which could be so much better in ways of time, availability, especially in many other countries and much more easy to transport.

Some of the original vaccines had to be kept at certain very low temperatures, which caused the need for a least being kept in a refrigerator and with some, even in a freezer, which could well be difficult in some countries, especially where there is a great need for transportation over large distances. This would not, be to a large extent for these other forms of providing the vaccine.

But not everyone can be vaccinated by injections, some have severe needle phobias and while some forms of needle aversion therapies are around, they may not be readily available when required or even successful. Also the injections had to be in limb muscle, invariably the muscle at the top of a persons arm, but a considerable number of persons may not have such limbs available, but we all have mouths and noses, so tablets and nasal sprays could be accessed by more than can be injections.

I feel these other forms of providing the vaccine are much better than the vaccine, especially the nasal spray which will when taken go directly into the nasal passages and then down to the throat, where the COVID-19 infections generally around, so the vaccines start to work much quicker, the upper arm muscle.

But, the urgency and amount of finance and time are not being given to these other forms than were to the original vaccines. While research is being conducted in many areas, by not being viewed in the same urgency much is being lost in bringing COVID-19 under control to a greater degree.

We all need to understand, that COVID-19 is to be with us for the long term and all is needed to ensure we can all live with it, so much more still needs to be done.

Learning disability training for all nurses set to be mandated in law | Nursing Times

While I so agree that Learning Disability training should be mandatory for all nurses, why just restrict to nurses as both Learning Disability and also autism training should be mandatory training for all staff within Health and Social Care. When I say all staff within Health and Social Care I mean all staff starting with the Chief Executives and all Board directors down to every level within all of these organisations.

Also it mentions co-production and co-design, but it should mean real co-production and co-design, 2 different but similar concepts and in many organisations co-production is simply just consultation and no way meets the standards of co-design, let alone the standards of co -production and in many instances it is just a ‘tickbox’ exercise and therefore there is no real intention to comply.

It does not state it, but in true co-production and work and especially outcomes are the property of the co-production team and not anyone of the individual partners in the co-production, so it will not be the property of the NHS, Social Care, etc, so any instances to change or amend should be a reforming of the original Co-production members.

Source: Learning disability training for all nurses set to be mandated in law | Nursing Times