Monday 13th December 2021

[refitman]

Morning all.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Sky a notable absence from the weekend thread, which is unusual.

[GetYou]

Oh, just in time for the winter surge:

NHS website runs out of lateral flow Covid tests amid high demand

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/li ... st-updates

Great.

[Willow904]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... 1639394140

No more home Covid tests available, says NHS England

Given how quickly Omicron is spreading, how realistic (and, indeed, expensive) is this daily LFTs for close contacts going to be?
And why are boosters being opened up to 18-29 year olds when people in their 40s and 50s are already struggling to get appointments before January?
It really is a complete mess, especially given from Wednesday negative LFTs or evidence of full vaccination is necessary to attend many venues. Btw, does anyone know what "fully vaccinated" actually consists of currently? My daughter has had the one vaccine she's entitled to, would she still be able to attend a pop concert for instance?

[Willow904]

"Offering" boosters.

Not actually giving them though. There don't appear to be any appointments before January. Could this backfire on Johnson? He definitely said everyone could get a booster before the end of the year and it wasn't a slip in a live announcement, it was pre-recorded.

[refitman]

Seems like I ordered some tests and booked my booster just in time.

[GetYou]

So another omnishambles then.

Fortunately I booked my booster 3 weeks ago and had it done at a local chemist (Moderna, after 2 Astra Zenicas).

I'd run out out of lateral flow tests but the kind lady in the chemist gave me a set for free so I could take one before the jab.
I'll have to ration the rest wisely now.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Johnson saying it doesn't matter if Omicron is milder than Delta - erm, I think it does somewhat?

[GetYou]

OK, own up, who put Chris Grayling in charge of the Champions League draw?

[gilsey]

Re the tests, I understand there isn't a shortage of tests, but of postage slots, ie there's a pre-determined number to be posted out each day.
Should be available at chemists, I wonder if some people are so used to doing everything online, they didn't know that.

They can organise parties in No10 but not in the proverbial brewery.

[gilsey]

Johnson saying it doesn't matter if Omicron is milder than Delta - erm, I think it does somewhat?

It doesn't in the short term, it could be half as severe but if there's 5x no of infections it's still a catastrophe for the NHS, and by extension the rest of us.

[gilsey]

Johnson's statement.

Disrespectful, because of his appearance.
Crashed the vax booking system.
Crashed the online test system.
Was seriously misleading.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Its the last aspect that is the least surprising, of course.

Which didn't stop the BBC uncritically repeating the "everybody boosted by the New Year" spin in its lunchtime bulletins.

[GetYou]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC:

Now I'm not a huge blowing my own trumpet kind of guy, but it has become increasingly apparent that some of the Nester's musical tastes overlap with mine, and I have a radio show that comes out every couple of months, and tonight's the night, so hopefully some of you can tune in and tell me that you didn't hate all of it:

It's on from 7pm at www.mixcloud.com/live/MusicBoxRadioUK/

I would upload the flyer but can't seem to find an attachments button.

[refitman]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC:

Now I'm not a huge blowing my own trumpet kind of guy, but it has become increasingly apparent that some of the Nester's musical tastes overlap with mine, and I have a radio show that comes out every couple of months, and tonight's the night, so hopefully some of you can tune in and tell me that you didn't hate all of it:

It's on from 7pm at www.mixcloud.com/live/MusicBoxRadioUK/

I would upload the flyer but can't seem to find an attachments button.

I'm digging it so far, although I can't remember what the track at about 7:15 is and it's gonna bug the hell out of me

I think I've got most of the tracks myself, so far

[GetYou]

Thanks, it wasn't all rubbish then

The track that starts at 7:15 is 69 Police by David Holmes (after Frontier Psychiatrist)

[refitman]

Thanks, it wasn't all rubbish then

The track that starts at 7:15 is 69 Police by David Holmes (after Frontier Psychiatrist)

69 Police, that's the one. Cheers, you've saved my brain a lot of fretting.

[tinyclanger2]

I can feel it

[GetYou]

Thanks for listening

[AnatolyKasparov]

Real Madrid getting PSG in the redone draw today - genuinely hilarious.