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Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Old Apr 11th 2021, 12:23 am
  #1216  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

As some one who has been directly affected by the collapse in international travel, we should be, as the Government said they would do, get the vaccine rolled out ASAP. I am an aircraft engineer specialising in long haul aircraft (A380, A350, A330, B744 etc), and been made redundant. Not many jobs out there in my area of qualification, i.e. none. My partner was long haul cabin crew for VA and has just managed to get a part time with another regional carrier after 12 months. As I didn't work for Qantas or VA, Jobkeeper was not on offer to me even though I pay Australian tax. There are literally thousands of us in the long haul operational sector who have lost our jobs, and that is even before we get to travel agents and the such like. I had a personal effect as well as that I couldn't get back to the UK for my mothers' funeral last year.

The sooner the vaccine is rolled out, the sooner the likes of myself can get back to doing what we do. However, airlines will struggle to get capacity back online quickly as those of us in certain operational positions will require recurrent training which combined with a recruitment and induction process will probably take about 2-3 months to get us back producing work. We simply can't just be "turned back on". The sooner the vaccine plan is ramped up and a firm date given for opening borders, the sooner airlines can start looking at schedules and manpower requirements and get recruiting, induction and training planned. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any of that happening. A lot of my ex-colleagues are looking at or have left the industry which will compound matters as well.

So far the vaccine roll out has been a debacle, and yes some of it was out of the Government's control, but there doesn't seem to have been a decent to plan to get the available vaccine into peoples arms through clinics, which was in their control. They also seem to have bet heavily on only 2 vaccines, with a 3rd sometime later in July time when originally we should have been nearly 2/3rds through the advised roll out. What about getting the J&J vaccine approved now? I believe NSW is going to be the first with a mass vaccination centre announced this week. Why aren't these already planned and set up ready to go? Regular shipments have been arriving, so why the slow rollout? Aren't we something like 3.5 million people behind the Federal Government's own plan/target?

Despite all of the above, I do think the border closure has been very effective at minimising the impact of the virus in Australia. It is just that some of us are paying a heavy price without any realistic idea of when things may start picking up for us.

(For anyone interested, I got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine before being laid off as I was classed as a border worker with direct contact with overseas crew and pax. 1st dose only a slightly stiff arm. 2nd dose wiped me out for about 5-6 days with headaches, nausea and just generally feeling crap. However, most of my ex-colleagues have been fine though).
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Old Apr 11th 2021, 12:58 am
  #1217  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Thanks for the informative post. The airline/travel industry has probably been hit hardest as even I haven't stepped foot on a plane in something like 14 months now. And I haven't got anything booked for the foreseeable future either...

The vaccine rollout is definitely lagging behind. More vaccines should have been contracted (beats me why Moderna hasn't been ordered a LONG time ago?) and they should have talked to Pfizer many months ago about contracting greater numbers of doses (as opposed to reaching out just now!).

The mRNA technology is truly phenomenal and groundbreaking in terms of both the current Pfizer/Moderna jabs as well as future vaccines and other medical uses (primarily as an effective way to tackle cancer). And the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines is second to none.

Instead it seems that someone went "all-in" on the cheapest, old-tech one that a lot of people are currently hesitant about. Overall the AZ vaccine is still a respectable achievement in such a short period of time, but eventually I think it will be destined for the developing world where poor infrastructure will make the AZ vaccine easier to administer. Same with J&J, which might even edge out AZ due to the single dose required.

Anyway, the bottom line is that if you were to have a choice, you ought to go for the Pfizer jab 100%. But if there is no choice (which appears to be the case almost everywhere in the world), getting the AZ jab now makes more sense than waiting things out.

In terms of the side effects of vaccines the major differences between the likes of Pfizer and AZ are that the 2nd Pfizer jab is more likely to have side effects whereas with AZ it's the other way around. In similar fashion the older you are the less likely you are to have side effects from the Pfizer vaccine, whereas with AZ it's the opposite: as you get older you have a higher chance of experiencing side effects.

How strong were your side effects after the second dose? Was there a fever too? Anything you did to make yourself more comfortable, such as standard paracetamol/ibuprofen pills, wine/other alcohol to settle down, etc.? How soon did the side effects appear... same day, next day?
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Old Apr 11th 2021, 1:17 am
  #1218  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by astera
How strong were your side effects after the second dose? Was there a fever too? Anything you did to make yourself more comfortable, such as standard paracetamol/ibuprofen pills, wine/other alcohol to settle down, etc.? How soon did the side effects appear... same day, next day?
They weren't enough to confine me to bed or anything, but certainly did not have the will to do much. Took the new mixed para/ibrufen tablets which helped. Temp was 37.2 degC, so not enough to class as a fever, but certainly made me feel a bit warm. Overall lasted 5-6 days, with the 24-72 hours after the jab being the most obvious. First started feeling a bit off maybe 8 hours after the jab. Overall, general flu like symptoms with a stronger than usual tension kind of headache.

Heard from someone in Singapore afterwards that they are being advised not to drink for 24-48 hours before and after the jab as it makes the side effects worse. Can't remember if I did or didn't, but probably had 1-2 units at most if I did.

Given the alternative of having Covid or delaying a return to normality (whatever that maybe now), the vaccine is worth it.
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Old Apr 12th 2021, 10:44 pm
  #1219  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

My 28 year old daughter in the UK had her first AstraZeneca jab the other week (she's Epileptic). Felt like she'd been hit by a truck for 24 hours, couldn't even stand up to shower. Her temp remained normal.
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Old Apr 12th 2021, 10:56 pm
  #1220  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by moneypenny20
My 28 year old daughter in the UK had her first AstraZeneca jab the other week (she's Epileptic). Felt like she'd been hit by a truck for 24 hours, couldn't even stand up to shower. Her temp remained normal.

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Old Apr 12th 2021, 11:47 pm
  #1221  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer
As some one who has been directly affected by the collapse in international travel, we should be, as the Government said they would do, get the vaccine rolled out ASAP. I am an aircraft engineer specialising in long haul aircraft (A380, A350, A330, B744 etc), and been made redundant. Not many jobs out there in my area of qualification, i.e. none. My partner was long haul cabin crew for VA and has just managed to get a part time with another regional carrier after 12 months. As I didn't work for Qantas or VA, Jobkeeper was not on offer to me even though I pay Australian tax. There are literally thousands of us in the long haul operational sector who have lost our jobs, and that is even before we get to travel agents and the such like. I had a personal effect as well as that I couldn't get back to the UK for my mothers' funeral last year.

The sooner the vaccine is rolled out, the sooner the likes of myself can get back to doing what we do. However, airlines will struggle to get capacity back online quickly as those of us in certain operational positions will require recurrent training which combined with a recruitment and induction process will probably take about 2-3 months to get us back producing work. We simply can't just be "turned back on". The sooner the vaccine plan is ramped up and a firm date given for opening borders, the sooner airlines can start looking at schedules and manpower requirements and get recruiting, induction and training planned. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any of that happening. A lot of my ex-colleagues are looking at or have left the industry which will compound matters as well.

So far the vaccine roll out has been a debacle, and yes some of it was out of the Government's control, but there doesn't seem to have been a decent to plan to get the available vaccine into peoples arms through clinics, which was in their control. They also seem to have bet heavily on only 2 vaccines, with a 3rd sometime later in July time when originally we should have been nearly 2/3rds through the advised roll out. What about getting the J&J vaccine approved now? I believe NSW is going to be the first with a mass vaccination centre announced this week. Why aren't these already planned and set up ready to go? Regular shipments have been arriving, so why the slow rollout? Aren't we something like 3.5 million people behind the Federal Government's own plan/target?

Despite all of the above, I do think the border closure has been very effective at minimising the impact of the virus in Australia. It is just that some of us are paying a heavy price without any realistic idea of when things may start picking up for us.

(For anyone interested, I got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine before being laid off as I was classed as a border worker with direct contact with overseas crew and pax. 1st dose only a slightly stiff arm. 2nd dose wiped me out for about 5-6 days with headaches, nausea and just generally feeling crap. However, most of my ex-colleagues have been fine though).
Interesting and informative post.
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Old Apr 13th 2021, 12:38 am
  #1222  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer
As some one who has been directly affected by the collapse in international travel, we should be, as the Government said they would do, get the vaccine rolled out ASAP. I am an aircraft engineer specialising in long haul aircraft (A380, A350, A330, B744 etc), and been made redundant. Not many jobs out there in my area of qualification, i.e. none. My partner was long haul cabin crew for VA and has just managed to get a part time with another regional carrier after 12 months. As I didn't work for Qantas or VA, Jobkeeper was not on offer to me even though I pay Australian tax. There are literally thousands of us in the long haul operational sector who have lost our jobs, and that is even before we get to travel agents and the such like. I had a personal effect as well as that I couldn't get back to the UK for my mothers' funeral last year.

The sooner the vaccine is rolled out, the sooner the likes of myself can get back to doing what we do. However, airlines will struggle to get capacity back online quickly as those of us in certain operational positions will require recurrent training which combined with a recruitment and induction process will probably take about 2-3 months to get us back producing work. We simply can't just be "turned back on". The sooner the vaccine plan is ramped up and a firm date given for opening borders, the sooner airlines can start looking at schedules and manpower requirements and get recruiting, induction and training planned. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any of that happening. A lot of my ex-colleagues are looking at or have left the industry which will compound matters as well.

So far the vaccine roll out has been a debacle, and yes some of it was out of the Government's control, but there doesn't seem to have been a decent to plan to get the available vaccine into peoples arms through clinics, which was in their control. They also seem to have bet heavily on only 2 vaccines, with a 3rd sometime later in July time when originally we should have been nearly 2/3rds through the advised roll out. What about getting the J&J vaccine approved now? I believe NSW is going to be the first with a mass vaccination centre announced this week. Why aren't these already planned and set up ready to go? Regular shipments have been arriving, so why the slow rollout? Aren't we something like 3.5 million people behind the Federal Government's own plan/target?

Despite all of the above, I do think the border closure has been very effective at minimising the impact of the virus in Australia. It is just that some of us are paying a heavy price without any realistic idea of when things may start picking up for us.

(For anyone interested, I got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine before being laid off as I was classed as a border worker with direct contact with overseas crew and pax. 1st dose only a slightly stiff arm. 2nd dose wiped me out for about 5-6 days with headaches, nausea and just generally feeling crap. However, most of my ex-colleagues have been fine though).
Great post. It's very interesting to hear you speak about the start up of the airline industries again. How they do this will be quite the challenge. Given business travel will not be like it once was, I guess no one knows what this will look like. Good luck and thanks for sharing.
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Old Apr 13th 2021, 7:45 am
  #1223  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
Our son 28 had his 1st AZ jab two weeks ago and had no side effects at all, my husband 57 had his 1st AZ two days after our son and no side effects at all, I am due this Thursday to have my 2nd Pfizer jab.......I will let you know how that goes ..gulp..lol...1st jab I was fine so fingers crossed. My SIL worked for BA long haul (1st class cabin crew) for years, she was made redundant (she was devastated) but she walked straight into a job helping with the admin at the covid injection sites.
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Old Apr 13th 2021, 8:48 am
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

With regards to the AZ vaccine, it would be difficult to find a more maladroit, tone-deaf major global pharmaceutical vendor than AstraZenica right now.

Seriously, I don't understand why heads haven't rolled already at both executive and board levels.

The "non-Covid" bits of the company must be copping serious reputational blasts at the moment, and all over a product that will be lucky to make back its development costs.

Stop digging.
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Old Apr 13th 2021, 5:46 pm
  #1225  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

I think people are mistaken if they think things are near over yet. Here in the UK we achieved all over 50' have now been offered at least one dose. The easing of restrictions started big time yesterday in England.

I work with with covid testing and we are racing to open more testing centres. The scientists are expecting another significant spike. Just that this one won't risk the collapse of healthcare, so, we will live with it. But it will mean some significant deaths.
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Old Jun 29th 2021, 11:45 pm
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

What are you buggers up to in NSW? All my work at the moment is either in WA or SA, in WA and lucky enough to be inundated. Looks like another lengthy stint here. Hope everyone is good, unfortunately this needed to happen to give people a kick up the arse wrt getting vaccinated. Good luck everyone.

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Old Jun 30th 2021, 12:33 am
  #1227  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by verystormy
I think people are mistaken if they think things are near over yet. Here in the UK we achieved all over 50' have now been offered at least one dose. The easing of restrictions started big time yesterday in England.

I work with with covid testing and we are racing to open more testing centres. The scientists are expecting another significant spike. Just that this one won't risk the collapse of healthcare, so, we will live with it. But it will mean some significant deaths.
It comes down to deaths. Keep them low and live with the virus. The vaccines aren't going kill off Covid all together. At least you are learning to live with it. Sadly here we expect zeros, thats zero cases, so we are going to have repeated lockdowns for a long time. Zeros has been drilled into the population here, especially in Qld and WA. Sadly those states are holding too many federal votes. Australia can expect to see the rest of the world in about 2024 with this attitude.
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Old Jul 2nd 2021, 2:59 am
  #1228  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

I was at a remote camp for the last ten days. 120 km to the nearest town, all the usual, sanitise hands, gloves when serving your food etc. However the one thing I didn't do was sign into the dry mess. Literally everyone on camp HAD to eat there, and if one person caught covid the whole camp would've been in lock down even if they'd somehow managed to steer clear of eating anything. I'm all for following the rules, but some are just too daft
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Old Jul 2nd 2021, 8:10 am
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

And if you think I'm being a bit of a dick for not taking some of the rules seriously, at an even more remote site they had even more silly rules. We were allowed to book a table in the wet mess and get a pack of beers, but according to WA rules we had to eat too, no problem. "I'll get some spicy chicken wings please" said I. "You have to have a pizza" came the reply. "But I don't want pizza, I want the chicken wings" said I not understanding why it would have to be this way, surely food is food, and the chicken wings were more expensive than the pizza. "It just does" said the barman. "Tell you what, shove your beers" and that was the first and last time I ever refused a beer
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Old Jul 2nd 2021, 12:39 pm
  #1230  
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Default Re: Coronavirus - how's everyone doing?

Originally Posted by Beoz
It comes down to deaths. Keep them low and live with the virus. The vaccines aren't going kill off Covid all together. At least you are learning to live with it. Sadly here we expect zeros, thats zero cases, so we are going to have repeated lockdowns for a long time. Zeros has been drilled into the population here, especially in Qld and WA. Sadly those states are holding too many federal votes. Australia can expect to see the rest of the world in about 2024 with this attitude.
Early in the piece, around the time Australia locked the gates, I said it would be 2025 before we could fly to Europe again like we used to. Everyone laughed at me at work, but now they are starting to wonder if I am psychic after all.
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