Covid-19 Pandemic - Alright everyone, back to The Pile

[SJ]

yes the new variant is a worry. WHO meeting today - expect they will designate it a variant of concern. Then we will probably stop travel like the UK has.
Things come at you fast huh?

[crank_case]

Wait now we can lump non nationals in with anti vaxxers for some tar & feathering……let the games begin!
My own sampling of the crew at work suggests a similar stark difference.

Out of 5 wonderful Polish folk - 0 vaccinated
To the best of my knowledges out of 19 Irish & 4 French -23 vaccinated

Everyone gets a little twitchy when we starting discussing "non-nationals" but it's worth discussing openly.

From personal experience, my wife is Polish, and she's a sensible person, but my goodness, the level of anti-vax sentiment among family was astounding. She knew getting a vaccine was the right thing and did get vaccinated, but even the most sensible people can have doubts when your family is bombarding you with anti-vax and her mother is pleading with you not to get vaccinated out of genuine but misplaced concern. We just didn't tell her...

I don't want to get too far down the rabbit hole of discussing the politics or cultural climate the country, but I think there's a common thread between places like Poland/France/Austria - a distrust of authority and the influence of family/friends in ones homeland is going to have an impact even if your living elsewhere.

What it highlights is the Government and health system needs to work a little harder to reach out to the immigrant communities.

They've done some great things in reaching various communities, such as pretty consistently having an Irish Sign Language interpreter where other countries seem to have had weird, inexplicable, hurtful issues with doing something so simple and practical, like it's going to hurt hearing people or something, but there is always work to do.

[SJ]

Everyone gets a little twitchy when we starting discussing "non-nationals" but it's worth discussing openly.

From personal experience, my wife is Polish, and she's a sensible person, but my goodness, the level of anti-vax sentiment among family was astounding. She knew getting a vaccine was the right thing and did get vaccinated, but even the most sensible people can have doubts when your family is bombarding you with anti-vax and her mother is pleading with you not to get vaccinated out of genuine but misplaced concern. We just didn't tell her...

I don't want to get too far down the rabbit hole of discussing the politics or cultural climate the country, but I think there's a common thread between places like Poland/France/Austria - a distrust of authority and the influence of family/friends in ones homeland is going to have an impact even if your living elsewhere.

What it highlights is the Government and health system needs to work a little harder to reach out to the immigrant communities.

They've done some great things in reaching various communities, such as pretty consistently having an Irish Sign Language interpreter where other countries seem to have had weird, inexplicable, hurtful issues with doing something so simple and practical, like it's going to hurt hearing people or something, but there is always work to do.

As well as using mainstream traditional, social and digital media, here are some ways that the HSE has worked on reaching people with varied language or other specific needs:
Languages
• To support the population who don’t speak English as a first language, vaccine information materials are available in 27 languages (online and print).
• 36 multi-lingual video messages on the COVID-19 vaccine and ways to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Multilingual targeted advertising
• Social media - vaccines in pregnancy and universal vaccine campaigns are translated into a range of languages and going out as targeted adverts on social media platforms.
• Radio campaign: broadcast radio ads on community radio 10 languages (including Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Punjab, Urdu, and Russian.)
• Digital audio - radio advertising is translated and played on digital platforms like Spotify and Podcasts, these respond to language settings on people phones, or to the language of content being listened to.
• Press ads have also been published in Russian (Nasha Gazeta), Lithuanian (Lietuvis) and Polish (Nasz Glos) language newspapers in Ireland.

[Guest]

As with anything, you cant legislate for stupid.

[SJ]

I've just gotten this in an email. I guess you guys are a stakeholder group?

In the COVID-19 pandemic, we ‘layer up’ our defences so that the virus has less opportunity to infect us and the people around us. We Layer Up with vaccines, face masks, regular hand washing/sanitising, social distancing, managing our social contacts, isolating and getting tested when symptomatic, keeping windows open when visiting indoors, avoiding crowds, meeting outdoors.

Here is a link to the posters and materials on the gov.ie website. We would be very grateful if you could share these materials widely with your stakeholder groups. The materials are available in both Gaeilge and English: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/696fc-layer-up-posters-and-guidance-for-you-to-use-to-prevent-the-spread-of-covid-19-in-our-community/

#LayerUp #ForUsAll

[bloke]

With the coughs some of the kids in school here have I don't know if I'm a teacher or a coal miner.

No real point in asking the question but - would you book anything for Easter in the current environment and this South African craic on the horizon?

[SJ]

I would but not if I couldn’t stand canceling if it came to it.

[crank_case]

With the coughs some of the kids in school here have I don't know if I'm a teacher or a coal miner.

Have you started saying things like "By 'eck lad" or own a whippet? These are early onset symptoms.

[bloke]

Have you started saying things like "By 'eck lad" or own a whippet? These are early onset symptoms.

One beady eye on the canary anyway!

[Cold]

Maybe get one of them dogs that’s trained to smell Covid?

[SJ]

Boosters for all approved. Jannsen after 3 months.

[crank_case]

Maybe get one of them dogs that’s trained to smell Covid?

Like a whippet? Careful now.. it's only miner at first, but soon you're down a deep hole... by 'eck.

[cibo]

Boosters for all approved. Jannsen after 3 months.

How does that work SJ? I got my J&J in May, can I get a booster straight away as a healthy(ish!), non risk group, 52 year old?

Scratch that, just saw it's 'mid December'.....

[cibo]

With the coughs some of the kids in school here have I don't know if I'm a teacher or a coal miner.
(

And if you tell kids today that, they won't believe you.....!

[Wrasslers]

NuVariant is God's punishment for 400,000 people buying Garth Brooks tickets.