Stingychips

I’ve read today that the Spanish tourism minister wants to press ahead with the vaccine passports so Spain can open up as early as possible. There main target is the British tourist. Even if the EU don’t want to go down that route the Spanish have suggested that they will go alone in order to get British tourists back again l.

Chipmonk

Well, I think a lot will depend on what happens in Semana Santa and if this Brazilian variant becomes more widespread . Spain got burnt last summer by opening up too soon. Majorca etc moaned on and on about how they were free of infections etc only to end up with terrible contagion levels within a couple of months. Reminds me of the mayor in Jaws insisting on opening the beaches despite the warnings of the shark

Stingychips

Yes I think by summer we will have a better idea: At some point though people are going to have to go back to work regardless. You can’t keep the economy going by printing and borrowing imaginary money.

Chipmonk

Ironically that is kind of the position of UK government although having said that it seems totally contradictory. For example we hear rumours that the furlough scheme will continue until September while at the same time Boris wants to have the European football championship played in England with Stadiums packed full of people singing Football's Coming Home!!. Talk about stupidity!!!

missile

You can't fix stupid

Chipmonk

Also the UK says it wants people to be able to travel abroad while at the same time saying it needs to highly vigilant over it's own borders. How does it all work? People have to social distance and work from home and not travel unless necessary whereas you can cram yourself into a shouting mass of people for 2 hours !. You can go on holiday where many people might not be vaccinated and bring back a new variant and wont need to quarantine because it's not a red list country.

Stingychips

They have to be banking on the vaccine certification/passports. Anyone without one will be stuck in their house.

Chipmonk

So what about Brits with private healthcare who might miss out on early vaccinations. Is it fair that they will have to stay at home when other are out getting back to normal? That is why it discriminates and that is why there will be more problems than answers

Barriej

I have asked our healthcare provider about this (Aegon) and the answer was typical and non committal.

Basically they have been told by the Spanish Government that there are no plans to give the vaccine to ANY private provider, nor make it available to be purchased by them. Until such time as the general population who are in the system have had theirs. And then decisions one way or another will be looked at??
Was then advised that we could return to the Uk and have ours, but I'm in good health and under 60 the wife has mild asthma and is the same age, so it could be months. Also we deregistered with the NHS when we came over so probably would not be able to get it easily anyway.

Don't think the passport system can work anyway, will it be designed to cover the lowest common denominator?
The EU has said it doesn't believe that the AZ vaccine works properly on over 60s, does that mean that even with a 'passport' they wont let anyone over 60 into the EU if they have had this???

I raised this on a LinkedIn thread about under 18's. There are no current plans anywhere to vaccinate this age group, does that then mean mum n dad can go on holiday to Benidorm but the kids have to stay at home???

If they are exempt and can go is that not age discrimination??

Chipmonk

It is quite clear that some people are thinking that discrimination doesn't matter. For them it's an each for themselves world. I am not happy with the idea that younger people have suffered alot economically and yet are likely to find themselves unable to travel or do things that older retired person can. I personally feel we shouldn't open up travel to and from countries until at least 70 % of people in EU are vaccinated and those who havent are provided with free testing which can be used to substitute a vaccination cert.

Barriej

Completely agree. My son (and millions of others) is in his mid 20's has been working all through the lockdowns (works in M&S back stage for a large store) and will not be eligible for the vaccine for ages. He had to isolate last month because his girlfriends mum (who works in a care home) caught covid and he didn't get paid for his isolation, he is trying to claim the allowance the government have made available but its like getting blood from a stone.

To be honest the young are going to be responsible for getting the world out of this problem, yet they are the ones who will suffer, while people like me who are not really useful (I dont pay tax or NI anymore) are able to go about my business and holiday willy nilly.
I would have preferred that all medical staff followed by teachers and those in full time employment got vaccinated first.
Doesn't hurt us older people to stay in and watch a bit more daytime TV.

My 2c doubt many would agree though.

billgates

I realize that this is a controversial pov, but there are more questions about the vax than answers.

It doesn't stop you from catching CV
It doesn't stop you from spreading CV
There are thousands of reported side effects of the vax
There are hundreds of reported deaths from the vax
Why would anyone bother taking the vax when your own immune system protects you to a greater percentage than the vax claims to protect?
Average age of death from CV is 82
Tiny (really tiny) percentage of deaths under 60 that didn't include other health problems
So why does it matter if you've had the vax or not?
You're not safe to travel if you've had the vax, only if you've got the passport to say you've had it.
So the passport protects you but the vax doesn't?
Why has the world economy been trashed over something that over 99% of people shake off as nothing more than a bad cold?

I'm not anti-vax, I've had all mine throughout my life, but this one that all governments are trying to force into people is just sinister.

Fred James

When you are in the 1% I think you might feel differently.

Chipmonk

There was an interesting article about personality and intelligence iof persons adhering to conspiracy theories in the guardian last week .Not very flattering.

Rosemary

Could you put a reputable link for this comment.

Rosemary