# Blaming the authorities for the current wave



## Brendan Burgess (24 Nov 2021)

Paul O Mahoney said:


> The "vox pops" that are being sent out by some, for example, " when should have nationalised private hospitals", or we should "have increased ICU beds" and loads more , simply emboldens people to simply blame the government and justify their actions.



Very good point.

But it's not just the vox pops. It's the media as well.









						Government should fear political danger from Covid surge
					

Though not quite a U-turn, Coalition’s response to fourth wave is lacking direction




					www.irishtimes.com


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## Brendan Burgess (24 Nov 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> But it's not just the vox pops. It's the media as well.



Here is another example









						Róisín Ingle: I am choosing not to listen to the scaremongerers in charge
					

Instead I listen to Adele, and remember the day I realised my marriage was over




					www.irishtimes.com
				




_However sad most of the songs are, and they are heartbreaking, I am choosing to listen to Adele at the moment rather than to the people in charge. The people in charge are deliberately and tactically scaremongering. They aren’t even trying to hide the fact any more. According to one senior Government Minister, a combination of our chief medical officer “scaring the bejaysus out of people” and booster shots is going to keep us out of lockdown. Fear as a weapon. Fear as a cattle prod. No thanks. Bejaysus, I’m not buying into that.

Anyway, it could reasonably be argued that the much more likely impact of the round-the-clock relaying of the same messages we’ve been hearing for nearly two years is that you risk boring the bejaysus out of people. No offence meant to him – he is only doing his extremely difficult and unenviable job after all – but lately when the Chief Scaring Officer comes on the radio I’ve been turning him off and sticking on Adele instead._

And another one









						The week the State’s Covid gears were jammed into reverse
					

Officials hope heavy messaging, restrictions and boosters will start to do their work




					www.irishtimes.com
				




It is right to change policy when necessary. It would be much worse to blindly stick to a policy when the evidence changes.  

Brendan


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## odyssey06 (24 Nov 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Here is another example
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What's her alternative? Actual lockdown?

Who will she deflect blame onto then?

Living with covid isn't about ignoring it in 'la la land', or business as usual - it means you need to have a healthy sense of awareness, fear or concern, if not for what it can do to you than for the vulnerable people & potential superspreaders (physios, hairdressers, waiting staff) you might interact with, and conduct yourself accordingly as you try to lead as normal a life as you can.


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## Paul O Mahoney (24 Nov 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Here is another example
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> ...


Ye Gads,  you'd really would worry about what is considered journalism nowadays. 

It's this infantile type of tripe that many people will lap up, it will give their Ill informed views a boost and again justify not doing the correct thing.


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## Paul O Mahoney (24 Nov 2021)

odyssey06 said:


> What's her alternative? Actual lockdown?
> 
> Who will she deflect blame onto then?
> 
> Living with covid isn't about ignoring it in 'la la land', or business as usual - it means you need to have a healthy sense of awareness, fear or concern, if not for what it can do to you than for the vulnerable people & potential superspreaders (physios, hairdressers, waiting staff) you might interact with, and conduct yourself accordingly as you try to lead as normal a life as you can.


She doesn't know what she wants it's a piece to match Boris at the CBI conference the other day trivialisation of serious issues,  just to look cool.


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## Brendan Burgess (24 Nov 2021)

Another example of the media blaming the government 









						Fintan O’Toole: Official messaging on pandemic a mess
					

Coalition has swung from obsessive control of the message to what is now a free for all




					www.irishtimes.com


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## Brendan Burgess (25 Nov 2021)

And another one









						Jennifer O'Connell: We've had enough of being micro-managed by Nphet
					

Public would respond better to clear rules than to clamour of discordant messaging




					www.irishtimes.com


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## Brendan Burgess (25 Nov 2021)

And from the Indo 









						Our leaders preach personal responsibility to stem fourth Covid wave but fail to give us the tools to back that up
					

It is happening again. Last year the Government announced a meaningful Christmas and threw open the doors to festivities – welcoming in the British B117 variant at the worst possible time.




					www.independent.ie
				














						Questionable calls at top level leave public baffled
					

You do not need to be clairvoyant to sense trouble in the air when government and health experts are either preoccupied playing whack-a-mole with each other or swatting away grave public health concerns with increasing desperation.




					www.independent.ie
				












						Ten examples of Government figures and health officials saying ‘schools are safe’ after deputy CMO said ‘we’ve never said schools are a safe environment’
					

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn today said that public health officials “never said schools are safe”, however, there are multiple examples of them doing so.




					www.independent.ie
				












						Government slammed for ‘lack of urgency’ on antigen testing
					

Covid is the biggest threat facing the State faces but “it didn’t even get a mention” at this week’s Cabinet meeting, the Dáil has been told.




					www.independent.ie


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## Sunny (25 Nov 2021)

Well whatever about the other ones, the mistake by Ronan Glynn yesterday about never saying schools were safe smacked of a rubbish attempt at starting to cover ones ass. I don't mind policies changing if the data warrants it but I do have an issue with public health officials attempting to rewrite history. They are not politicians. They shouldn't care whether we blame them or not. If they have decided that schools are no longer safe considering the level of transmission then say that. But don't try and make it sound like you never declared them safe. It is worrying if NPHET are now concerned with looking like they might have got things wrong.


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## Purple (25 Nov 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Here is another example
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> 
> ...


I saw the headline and just didn't read it. Shoddy 'journalism' but about what I'd expect from the author.


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## michaelm (25 Nov 2021)

Sunny said:


> It is worrying if NPHET are now concerned with looking like they might have got things wrong.


They opposed masks for a long time and were recently dismissive of antigen tests.  It's fine to change tack but they should just own it as it's an evolving situation. 

I wouldn't blame the Government for the current wave and I don't expect that the tinkering with opening times or which venues can open or who can meet with who(does anyone keep track?)  will make much difference to anything.  I do blame the Government for not getting the health system a bit more winter/Covid ready this year, although I appreciate it's a multifactorial problem and they went all-in on vaccines instead.

There seems to be some revisionism in relation to what the vaccines promised also.  Initially they were heralded as a game-changer and the key to a return to normality (efficacy rates of 90%+ bandied about).  Now that infection/transmission is motoring on, as efficacy falls off at an alarming rate, the best can be said is that the vaccines weaken the link between infection and hospitalisation/death.  While this again is what it is, it's not how the vaccines were sold (although this may be a minority view on AAM).

This current wave will surely burn itself out soon.


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## Leo (25 Nov 2021)

michaelm said:


> There seems to be some revisionism in relation to what the vaccines promised also. Initially they were heralded as a game-changer and the key to a return to normality (efficacy rates of 90%+ bandied about).


That of course was prior to the emergence of the Delta variant, and variants were flagged early as a significant risk. That said, while the vaccines we are currently using have a significantly lower effectiveness against Delta after a single dose, they are close to 90% effectiveness against the Delta after the second dose. 



michaelm said:


> They opposed masks for a long time and were recently dismissive of antigen tests. It's fine to change tack but they should just own it as it's an evolving situation.


Other countries have shown that antigen testing at mass scale does not result in a significant drop in infections, and there is a valid concern that symptomatic people here are using them and failing to isolate if the results are negative.


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## michaelm (26 Nov 2021)

Regardless of recent tinkering with Covid restrictions, vaccines touted for young kids, and pending boosters for everyone in the audience, the hospital/ICU graphs here might be cause for optimism https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing

The wave over last Christmas saw hospital Covid numbers jump from circa 200 to over 2000 (ICU from 22 to 221) in just one month before slowly declining until late June.  The numbers have crept up in the five months since late June, reaching 685 in hospital with 132 of those in ICU, but have inched downward over the last few days.  Surely the pool of those likely to end up in hospital/ICU is dwindling fast.


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## Brendan Burgess (1 Dec 2021)

At last the Irish Times is showing a bit of balance and understanding.









						Kathy Sheridan: Complaints over vaccine queues a sad reflection on entitled, negative public
					

First-world vaccine privilege is taken for granted




					www.irishtimes.com
				





My 2½-hour wait for the booster last Friday was a doddle compared to the later four- and five-hour queues that presented a challenge for people with mobility and other issues. That was clearly not the fault of staff and volunteers who remained calm, efficient and kindly even in the face of brewing irritability. Perspective: the booster is a triumph. Case numbers are falling in those lucky groups. Fewer people will take up an ICU bed or die. Yet one rheumatologist’s timeline on Saturday was full of people giving out about the queues – “This is a free, life-saving shot. I would happily wait starkers in the snow for it,” she commented. One nurse vaccinator at Citywest arrived home exhausted having watched colleagues being told they were “bloody useless”.


“Spent a day having the head torn off me by people who had to queue . . . for a life-saving, free vaccine! Frontline workers don’t deserve the abuse they received today.”


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## Sunny (1 Dec 2021)

Giving out your poor investment returns or your higher than normal mortgage rate are first world problems. Giving out about stories in a free media is a first world problem

There is simply no need for massive queues. There was no reason to do walk in's when there are more than enough eligible people to fill appointment slots.

However, no excuse for abusing anyone on the ground. It is a systemic issue rather than a personnel issue.


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## Purple (1 Dec 2021)

Sunny said:


> It is a systemic issue rather than a personnel issue.


There's so much in this country that could be applied to.


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## Paul O Mahoney (1 Dec 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> At last the Irish Times is showing a bit of balance and understanding.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


And to think that since only 60 + are eligible for the booster, manners seems have disappeared for some.


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## Sunny (1 Dec 2021)

Paul O Mahoney said:


> And to think that since only 60 + are eligible for the booster, manners seems to have left our society for some.



Everyone knows old people aren't cranky so it must have been the health workers!


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## Paul O Mahoney (1 Dec 2021)

Sunny said:


> Everyone knows old people aren't cranky so it must have been the health workers!


Well that's what Joe Duffy will be hearing.


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## Paul O Mahoney (1 Dec 2021)

Before the media decide to continue with the blame some facts..  up to last Thursday, 516k boosters were administered,  last week that was 187k .

Overall we got 10.1 m vaccines delivered,  with just over 7.1 million administered.

The rollout has been probably the greatest achievement in health in this country's history,  surpassing any other health emergency, including TB/ Polio , by a factor of ?

Let the media at it, but the facts are the vaccine program has been a huge success,  and if a few rude/ greedy people want to insult " F..um" theyd be dead without those who did their job for the entire year.

There's much to complain about in this country , but the vaccine strategy/ implementation isn't one.

And I have the figures by week to prove that,  it's the sense of entitlement, greed and lack of appreciation , the media "making things up" to sell advertising space,  or feel important in a tiny world.

Rant over   but I have the figures, based on ECDC data.


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## Bluefin (2 Dec 2021)

The initial rollout was superb but I do think they drag their feet in relation to the booster jabs..we saw a very quick sea change when the news broke from SA.. 

TG I got my booster this morning... Walk in with plenty of people below the 50 age cohort getting their jab.. All seem to be booster jabs


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## Paul O Mahoney (2 Dec 2021)

Bluefin said:


> The initial rollout was superb but I do think they drag their feet in relation to the booster jabs..we saw a very quick sea change when the news broke from SA..
> 
> TG I got my booster this morning... Walk in with plenty of people below the 50 age cohort getting their jab.. All seem to be booster jabs


I did notice that about 6.5k first and Second doses were being administered over the last few weeks which was higher than the previous weeks.

The booster program is only 4 weeks old and looking at the figures I'd imagine that as of today and based on the run rate should be around 700k ,the ECDC figures don't seem to be updated yet.

 If that pace was continued I would expect everyone eligible should be done by the end of February obviously any uptick in the rollout would shorten that.

Of course if the new variant needs a new vaccine then things will change significantly so the key information we need now is how well the present  vaccines work against Omicorn.


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