I read a few articles in which the "experts" expressed concern that at least some of the vaccines in Europe might not protect as well against some of variants. So I wondered if your variants of concern differ for different experts. Either way... its not a big deal for me... I am simply stating the concern I mentioned came from an article... not thin air.
Lockdowns accomplish little if anything. Contract tracing is another BS move and waste of resources. People sick with Corona Virus especially, the asymptomatic are going to go out and infect others when the lockdowns end. So, what did that really accomplish? Maybe, slow down the spread for a short while, then, what? A better solution is encourage people at high risk to stay home by giving them a stimulus, say $5,000 per person. Most Seniors are staying in for the most part already. Allow people in the low risk group to get out and do their jobs. Let them earn a living. That will reduce the stress on them and maybe, reduce the killings of late. You think some of them could be stress related to the loss of jobs? In addition, vaccinate everyone that wants a vaccine pronto. No ifs and buts about it. That is the fastest way and people do have to still wear masks.
Countries doing contact tracing the right way have the best performances against Covid infections / deaths and some of them did not need to lockdown. Last year's (2020) low risk group is this year (2021) high risk group that's being hit hard by the variants of Covid. Yeah, I'm talking about the young adults. This year low risk group are still children. Yet, viruses are survival artists and they mutate fast...very fast. What will happen if they change and begin causing serious illnesses in children that requires hospitalization / ICU's...the way the measles and meningitis changed when they first became known. Please educate yourself. Seniors are now doing much better because of vaccination. Seriously, I saw a help wanted ad in a grocery store asking for anyone that's been fully vaccinated to apply because the young adults are becoming more educated about why / whom the variants of Covid are now attacking. In addition, young adults are now under more stress or stress is increasing with them because they see what has been occurring with variants of Covid plus they see more young adults not following health guidelines. The good news...universities are educated people. A fast growing list of them are now requiring students to be fully vaccinated to be allowed to return back to school in the fall of 2021. A few have offered reduced tuition for those fully vaccinated while allowing any student back to school... They know whom are now the high risk group. wrbtrader
Merkel is not putting up with anymore nonsense from the states and is federalizing all COVID lockdown powers. We should do the same thing in the U.S. Germany Is Expected To Centralize Its COVID-19 Response. Some Fear It May Be Too Late NPR - https://tinyurl.com/3mpxdvst This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making good on a veiled threat she issued two weeks ago to centralize pandemic management. Amid growing calls for Merkel to take control of the situation and bypass the country's 16 state leaders, Germany's parliament is expected to pass a measure this month that will allow her finally to take charge of the country's COVID-19 response. As the third wave of infection rages, some worry it may already be too late. Hospitals in Germany warn they're about to run out of intensive care beds, even as state leaders continue to relax coronavirus restrictions. Germany, with a population of 83 million, has lost nearly 79,000 lives to the pandemic. With the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant now dominant, the national seven-day incidence rate has risen in recent weeks from below 100 to 136.4 cases per 100,000 people. The country's total number of infections has surpassed 3 million. A year ago, Germany was weathering the pandemic relatively well and Merkel's coronavirus response — attributed to her scientific understanding of the virus and a robust test, track and trace system — was praised far and wide. But exponential growth has long since overwhelmed virus trackers, and the slow start to vaccine rollout, combined with an increasingly confusing patchwork of regional lockdown regulations, has left the country in epidemiological disarray and sent Merkel's party plummeting in the polls, losing 10 points in recent weeks. "It's been a bit of a rude awakening for us Germans to realize that we're not the masters of organization," says Melanie Amann, who heads the Berlin bureau of Der Spiegel. While the pandemic has debunked the myth about German efficiency, the same cannot be said of another cliché — the nation's love of red tape. "Our ability to create complex systems and bureaucracy have pretty much stopped us from effectively fighting the pandemic," Amann says. Nonfunctioning websites, unstaffed hotlines, excessive paperwork and authorizations are among the issues she cites — amid regulations that differ from state to state. Severin Opel, a 23-year-old Berlin resident, had to wait several days to get an appointment for a recent rapid coronavirus test. "Paperwork is getting in the way of this pandemic," he laments. "There's so much focus on minutiae and documenting every step to the nth degree, guidelines end up contradicting each other and nothing makes sense." Merkel is known for her careful, measured responses to crises, but even she admits there's sometimes too much devil in the details. Speaking in a rare television interview last month, Merkel conceded: "Perhaps we Germans are overly perfectionist sometimes. We always want to do everything right because whoever makes a mistake gets it in the neck publicly." But "in a pandemic," she went on to say, "there needs to be more flexibility. We Germans need to learn to let go." Janosch Dahmen, a front-line doctor and health spokesperson for the Green Party — which is close to rivaling Merkel's conservatives in the polls — believes the government's cautious approach is actually reckless. "A strategy or intervention without risks doesn't exist," Dahmen says. "Waiting for the perfect, flawless game plan is a recipe for failure, especially in the face of this virus, which is mutating insanely fast." And yet Merkel's crisis management style is only one factor. Germany's system of federalism means she has little say in the country's vaccination and lockdown strategies, of which there are no fewer than 16 — one for each German state. Amann argues, though, it's high time that Merkel — who leaves office this fall — used her considerable political capital to take charge, rather than simply advising and negotiating pandemic guidelines with the 16 state premiers. "Because her term is ending, she theoretically has all the freedom and all the independence she wants to take bold steps in the corona management," Amann says. "Nobody could run her out of office. And she's not using this. She's just working as if she were at the beginning of her first term." State leaders agreed in March on an "emergency brake" strategy to impose more rigorous measures as infections rose, but the agreement was only in principle, and few states have implemented the measures strictly. After weeks of frustration, political commentators have observed, Merkel looks the way many Germans feel — namely mütend, a pandemic-era mashup that means both tired (müde) and angry (wütend). And while there's concern that parliament might take too long to pass a bill allowing Merkel to streamline and centralize pandemic crisis management, the chancellor and most of the state premiers agree the current situation is untenable.
Imagine that... for months... gwb-amoron... was calling Germany his model Covid response country. Then when lefty policies fail... they say they were too big to manage and they need more power? Where have we seen that excuse before?
Lockdowns loom as Germany passes 'emergency brake' coronavirus rules https://this.kiji.is/en/757958901574516736 Coronavirus: Bundesrat approves nationwide COVID restrictions Residents of coronavirus hotspots are likely to face nightly curfews and school closures as soon as next week. After the Bundesrat vote, the legislation needs only to be signed into law by the president. https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-bundesrat-approves-nationwide-covid-restrictions/a-57285117
Well.... only in France. French MPs take a swing at COVID-easing as sex clubs allowed to reopen but nightclubs remain closed https://www.euronews.com/2021/05/13...x-clubs-allowed-to-reopen-but-nightclubs-rema