Interesting Links for 13-09-2023

[andrewducker]

1. Loughborough University student's device detects sport concussions in 10 seconds

(tags:brain injury Technology )

2. Inside Russia's undercover crackdown on gay men in Chechnya

(tags:lgbt russia OhForFucksSake torture homosexuality )

3. One in three female surgeons have been sexually assaulted at work in the last five years.

(tags:doctors abuse assault OhForFucksSake women uk )

4. Note: attempting to get rid of sunken explosives by dropping explosives on them, while moored directly above, is not a good idea

(tags:explosions history ships ocean viaDanielDWilliam )

5. Everyone in America is getting a Covid booster (unlike the UK, where it's only the very old)

(tags:USA vaccination Pandemic )

Comments

[channelpenguin]

5. But can you ask for a booster and get it? Like a flu jab. I'm pretty sure that's how it's working here in Germany. I mean to go and find out in the next week or so.

[fanf]

As far as I know, it’s impossible to get a COVID jab in the UK (even privately) unless you are in an NHS approved category.

[channelpenguin]

Oh. That's disappointing. I do hope it's not the same here.

[dewline]

Yeah, that's just horrific.

[nineveh_uk]

No. In addition to the age categories, people in various clinical risk groups get one, but there is no option to request one. I had a UK booster last year because my doctor agreed it was a good idea and shoved me in under the closest option, and I'll ask the same this year and hope for the best, but if you just reasonably don't want to catch Covid there is no route.

[autopope]

No, you can't.

Although the Tories did hint that they're going to let patients pay for a booster privately within the next year.

Which is utterly shitty and offensive but I'm going to be queuing up and yelling take my money the instant it's available ...

[channelpenguin]

Pragmatically, logically - surely the cost in lost working time, sick pay, loss of tax income (self employed etc) and medical costs from lots of people getting sick (some long term) HAS to be more than the cost of giving all adults a booster? So it should be a no-brainer. (Even if you don't care about the human misery).

And of course I'd pay too. Anyone with the cash to spare would. I've had COVID (once) and even though it was mild (likely because I'd had 3 shots, but not one for 9 months) it wasn't something I want to repeat if it's at all avoidable.

If vaccination everyone is not being done for "the looks", because it makes it obvious that COVID isn't "over" or "nothing to worry about" then that's both illogical and despicable.

[autopope]

The problem is that the government has agreed (with itself) that "the pandemic's over". So rolling out boosters would be a tacit admission that they were wrong, and if they're wrong about something as screamingly important as "plague's over, people", what else could they be called out over?

They're only bothering with the crumblies and clinically vulnerable because if they didn't a whole lot of people would certainly die at great expense, clogging up ICUs for weeks on their way out. Somebody might notice.

Remember, the current government is a bunch of cynical asset-strippers and neoliberal ideologues as deeoly stupid as Liz Truss. And there's not a scientist among 'em. (I can't help thinking that even Thatcher would have been better at handling this crisis than the post 2019 shower.)

[andrewducker]

You'd think so! I'd love to understand what the nominal maths looks like.