Feest Isolation Days –9 April 2021
I know I shared photos of the garden last week with you, but if you have a resident gardener as good as mine, the garden is a place of ever changing magnificence! Here’s a video this time that shows you the current state of play. If you’re local and fancy a cuppa, give me a call and you will be more than welcome to come see for yourself!
The weather has reverted to cold and wintry days. Tuesday, it snowed! It was only fifteen minutes or so and I was in my nice warm study as I watched the flakes swirl around outside. Thankfully, the cold waited to arrive until Easter Monday! That meant Easter Sunday was a special day for sitting in the garden in the glorious sunshine with our friends. What a difference a day can make! The temperature plummeted on Monday. For once, though, mother nature got it the right way round.
Speaking of the right way round, the EU has been giving the wrong advice to their citizens regarding the Astra Zeneca vaccine. According to our Deputy Chief Medical Officer, JVT (Professor Jonathan Van Tam) at a scientific press briefing yesterday, the vaccine is safe for those over thirty. There are however, indications that younger people might, although the evidence is not yet conclusive, have a small risk of developing a blood clot. The EU was suggesting earlier that those over the age of 55 or 65 should not have the vaccine. It certainly seems that waiting for the evidence provided by science is far better than drawing conclusions based on…hmmm on what did they base those assertions?
It looks like the AZ vaccine might produce in a tiny fraction of people, this unwanted side affect. However, there are also reports that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are also responsible for the same very rare risk factor. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) report on the 5th of April that “Blood clotting needs to be watched with All COVID vaccines. You have to dig to find this information, it isn’t being splashed all over the headlines and on the news. The AAPS refers to an article in one newspaper in the States, the US SUN, which talks about several people who have developed the same blood disorder that the Astra Zeneca vaccine is researching.
Professor Adam Finn from the University of Bristol who sits on the JCVI, the national Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation has tried to set the record straight on what the new recommendations for the vaccine are in the UK for those under thirty. He says, “there are some news outlets & politicians incorrectly reporting and criticising respectively MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority) for advising against use of OxAZ in under 30s. Neither MHRA nor EMA (European Medical Agency) have done this. JCVI have expressed a preference for alternative vaccines for healthy under 30s in the UK.”
He also expressed his dismay that the Astra Zeneca vaccine does seem to be constantly in the firing line. He points out that it is the only vaccine in the world that is being produced at cost, meaning big pharma are not going to make any money from these jabs. Perhaps these two issues might be connected? Vaccinations are a significant contributor to our way out of the pandemic. Let us all hope that the latest information does not put people off having their jab and the vaccination programme continues apace! There are nearly 32 million people in the UK who have had their jabs…and the death rate has plummeted. Another coincidence?
From Monday we will all be able to do a bit more! Here at Chez Feest, it means I will be stepping out for a much needed hair cut. I wonder how many other people will be doing this over the next days and weeks?
What will your first unlocking steps be? Go for it and whatever it is, enjoy! You’ve waited long enough for the moment.
Take care, stay safe and see you next week.
With love
Kathy x
