Author Archives: Bodger

Gülpen.

Der unjabbed für de krappen.

Merkel warnt vor weiteren Einschränkungen für Ungeimpfte (Der Spiegal)

Last night.

Supporting Jed and The Hoffman Family (Gofundme)

Meanwhile…

Avi Barot, 29, Saurashtra cricketer suffers cardiac arrest, passes away:

Abou Ali, 22, professional footballer collapses on pitch during game:

Fabrice NSakala, 31, Besiktas defender collapses on pitch during game:

Jens De Smet, 27, footballer collapses on field, passes away of heart attack:

Jente van Genechten, 25, footballer collapses on field due to heart attack:

Frederic Lartillot, French footballer collapses in changing room, passes away due to heart attack after game:

Benjamin Taft, 31, German footballer collapses after game, passes away due to heart attack:

Rune Coghe, 18, Belgian footballer suffers cardiac arrest on pitch:

Helen Edwards, referee taken off court during World Cup qualifier due to heart issues:

Dimitri Lienard, 33, FC Strasbourg midfielder collapses during game:

Sergio Aguero, 33, Barecelona star striker admitted to hospital for cardiac exam after match:

Emil Palsson, 28, Sognal midfielder collapses due to cardiac arrest during game:

Antoine Méchin, 31, French triathlete suffers pulmonary embolism following Moderna:

Luis Ojeda, 20, Argentine football player unexpectedly passes away:

Greg Luyssen, 22, Belgian pro cyclist ends career due to heart issues:

Pedro Obiang, 29, ex-West Ham star suffers myocarditis post vaccine:

Cienna Knowles, 19, equestrian star hospitalised due to blood clots.

Yesterday: Young Hearts

Monday:  ‘Irregular Heartbeat’

Via Telegram

Thanks KN

 

This morning.

Via The Irish Times:

With 3,726 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the State in the last 24 hours, it is clear that the epidemiological trends are still going in the wrong direction…

…Unlike previous surges, however, this one is not being met with new restrictions on social and economic life…

…The difference, of course, is that more than 90 per cent of the population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. That has placed a protective shield around the community, substantially lowering the death rate and providing very strong protection against serious illness.

In recent weeks, however, the Delta variant has begun to pierce that shield. The jabs continue generally to provide protection against the worst health outcomes, according to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac), but it has been well-documented that their ability to prevent infection and mild disease wanes over time. This was observed in Israel, where a third-shot booster programme was rapidly introduced. We also know that vaccinated people can transmit the virus….

…the situation will get worse before it gets better. If Israel’s experience is replicated here, a large-scale booster programme with high take-up levels (perhaps encouraged by a three-jab rule for admission to indoor hospitality) will depress the infection curve substantially towards the end of the year. In the meantime, however, hospital admissions and deaths will rise at least through this month. The question now is whether the health system can hold out until vaccines can reinstate that protective shield.‘

Anyone?

Reinstating the protective shield (editorial, Irish Times)

RollingNews

Meanwhile…


Yesterday evening.

Dail Eireann.

Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara challenged Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on his plan to extend covid emergency legislation for a further three months.

He also took issue with a tweet from the Minister:

Mr McNamara said:

“While looking at this debate in my office I noticed that there was a tweet a couple of minutes ago and indeed it was from your good self, the Minister for Health, saying that everybody who opposed this was reckless. With regard to being reckless, it was reckless to have such a disregard for Parliament and for the Dáil, not for me or Deputy Connolly, or any of the Deputies here, but for the people that we represent because it is the essence of democracy. One thing that Fianna Fáil always had, that party the Minister joined so late in the day, was a fairly healthy respect for parliamentary democracy.

“If the Minister wants to talk about recklessness, it is reckless to run down a health service the way our health service has been run down. The Minister did not run it down, but there are three members of the Cabinet in which he sits who had collective responsibility for running it down.

“The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, when he was the Minister for Health, came up with the HSE as a way to spend money on reports. The Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, when he was the Minister could not get out of there fast enough. The Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, caused a general election when he was the Minister for Health. We thought he was the most inept Minister for Health ever, or at least we were told that by some Fianna Fáil canvassers before the last election.

“That was reckless to run down a health service the way they did. It was reckless to fail to do anything about it when getting into office, which is what the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has done. Where is the additional capacity that he spoke about and that he asked about when he was on the Covid committee? It is simply not there. Cholera hospitals were built in this city in response to a cholera outbreak. TB sanatoria were built all over the State in response to that. We had €23 billion. What was the €23 billion spent on apart from masks that are now clogging up our sewerage systems, which was junk that was brought in from China? What was the €23 billion spent on? We have nothing to show for it. Such a wanton waste of Exchequer funding is simply reckless.

“If the Minister wants to talk about recklessness, it is reckless to deny children the ability to play sports during a pandemic when they are locked up in their homes. It is reckless to tell them it is safe to sit in a classroom for six hours a day but not safe to play sports. It is reckless because of the effect it has on their formation and particularly on their mental health.

“This is the case with some children whose parents have come to me to complain about what is going on. It is reckless to fail to look at schools and their ventilation, and to spend €23 billion without remedying this. Last winter it was understandable because it was all new but we are heading into our second winter with nothing done. I put it to the Minister that this is reckless.

“Above all, it is reckless to fail to look at the science and to pretend that we are following the science but instead lurch from hysterical reaction to hysterical reaction. Let us look at the vaccines and let us look at their efficiency and efficacy. There are studies about this. Vaccines of course have stopped people from getting seriously ill, but now we know of waning immunity.

“We now know that how infectious somebody is, whether they are vaccinated or not, varies relatively little. We know that there is an enduring immunity from recovery. There are also question marks still about masks and about how small are the particles by which the virus is spread. Are they so small that masks do not capture them? If the Minister wants to talk about recklessness let us talk about it, but also have an honest reflection upon his role and how reckless he has been.”

Meanwhile…

Yesterday evening.

Dail Eireann.

Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy also opposed the extension of emergency powers…

“I have had contact with many disgruntled constituents who are wondering why we did not open on 22 October as was planned. I share many of their concerns. There seems to be an attitude from the Government to try to extend its power with these restrictions under the guise of being precautionary, yet as soon as they are passed they are being used as a matter of course rather than as an emergency power.

“I also have another major concern which needs to be met head-on. Why are Government Members and policies being designed to scapegoat those who decided, for whatever reason, that they did not want, or could not take, the vaccine? We have the highest vaccination rates in Europe. I would like to commend all of the hard-working staff in all of the vaccination centres who have been very confident in their roll out of the vaccine programme. The constant scapegoating of the unvaccinated does not stand up to scrutiny or evidence and is completely unwarranted.

“Every time we see evidence of a failure in Government policy, the narrative shifts to find the latest random thing to blame it on. There has yet to be any evidence presented which shows that vaccine passports actually serve any purpose in preventing transmission. In fact, recent studies have shown that a vaccinated person is every bit as likely to transmit this virus as a non-vaccinated person. Therefore, why is the Government continuing to divide society on this basis? Some of the language used by Ministers…”

Mr Donnelly interjected:

“Deputies, that information is false and it is really important that Members of Parliament do not spread anti-vaccine information like this in the Chamber.”

Adding:

“It is so damaging in terms of the anti-vaccine campaign.”

Ms Murphy continued:

There is nothing anti-vax about some of the constituents contacting me. They are contacting me and telling me they are unable to take a vaccine. It is stupid to tell people they can attend weddings without certificates…if the same people cannot then go out to a restaurant the next day because they are being labelled as unvaccinated.”

Transcripts via Oireachtas.ie

Last night: Three More Months

Meanwhile…

Gulp.

Earlier…

Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin opposed vaccine and mask mandates

Last night/this morning.

Via Reuters:

Republicans won the Virginia governor’s election and were within striking distance in New Jersey on Wednesday, a warning that President Joe Biden’s Democrats are in trouble heading into next year’s congressional elections.

Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive who surged in the polls in the Virginia campaign’s final weeks, beat Democratic former Governor Terry McAuliffe, CNN and NBC projected. Youngkin declared victory in a speech before ebullient supporters, while McAuliffe did not publicly concede…..

…In New Jersey’s closer-than-expected governor race, Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli and incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy were locked in a virtual draw, even though registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than 1 million. Democrats clung to hope because more votes were due to be counted in their strongholds.

Republicans capture Virginia governorship, dealing setback to Biden (Reuters)

Getty

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly

Sure why not?

This afternoon.

Dail Eireann.

Via RTE News:

The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has told the Dáil that “we have to be concerned that things will deteriorate further” as he proposed extending emergency legislation providing for face masks, Covid passes, enforcement powers and fixed penalty notices.

The laws were due to expire on 9 November.

Mr Donnelly proposed extending them for another three months until 9 February.

He said he could not commit with certainty what the trajectory of the disease would be.

Minister proposes extending Covid emergency legislation until 9 February (RTÉ)

RollingNews

This afternoon.

Glasgow, Scotland.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is currently addressing the COP26 summit on Climate Change.

He said:

“We have enacted legislation to put a legally binding target of reducing our emissions by 2030 to 51% below 2018 levels. We will reach climate neutrality by 2050.

“We are working closely with our EU partners in the green transition that will make Europe the first climate-neutral continent.

“We are implementing a statutory system of carbon budgeting and emissions ceilings for each sector of the economy.”

More as we get it.

Micheal Martin Addresses COP26 (RTÈ)

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet at COP26 yesterday

This afternoon.

Via RTÉ News:

As of 8am, there were 493 people in hospital with the virus, down 22 on the same time yesterday.

Of these, 90 were in intensive care units, down one from yesterday.

Mr Martin said the use of antigen testing is increasing and if people “collectively remain cautious we can avoid the need to have a backward return to restrictions”.

The Health Service Executive said it has issued by post 6,976 antigen test kits to people who are close contacts of a confirmed case.

Mr Martin also said he spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, who told him that Israel’s booster campaign had been “very successful and impactful” on the latest wave of the virus there.

Mr Martin said that “no one can guarantee anything”, but the vaccines work and Ireland was in a different position to last year.

Rise in Covid-19 cases ‘very concerning’ – Martin (RTÉ)

Oh.

Meanwhile…