(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[J T Melsom]

If we are not still a free country, then those who do not consent to vaccination can be placed under house arrest, using the powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Can you give a reliable source for the suggestion that refusal to be vaccinated would lead to mandatory house arrest.

[Simon Rogers]

Shaun Press who is an Australian/ Papua New Guinea player/arbiter/organiser writes a blog at
http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/

In it, he mentions events in Canberra, one of which hopes to be OTB.
http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/2020/0 ... ossed.html

Thanks Roger.
I have found a couple more taking place in Australia.
The New Zealand Chess Federation has updated their Calendar and there are quite a few OTB tournaments taking place between now and Christmas.
I've looked at the Chess South Africa website and sadly there are no OTB tournaments taking place to report.

[MartinCarpenter]

If we are not still a free country, then those who do not consent to vaccination can be placed under house arrest, using the powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Can you give a reliable source for the suggestion that refusal to be vaccinated would lead to mandatory house arrest.

I can't really imagine it, even with this Government. Public health people are very well aware that forcing these things is counter productive.

Having said that, if you presume a 70% effective vaccine, getting a bit less so in the elderly, then you need very wide take up to get herd immunity and still face huge deaths if you fully release without it.

So you'll have real problems if there's a big percentage refusing it. I refuse to believe there's enough sadly misguided people in the country for that.

[David Sedgwick]

If we are not still a free country, then those who do not consent to vaccination can be placed under house arrest, using the powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Can you give a reliable source for the suggestion that refusal to be vaccinated would lead to mandatory house arrest.

The message which I was intending to convey was that this could happen, not that it would.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 gives police the power to detain "potentially infected persons". See for instance https://www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk/c ... s-act-2020.

I'm not having a go at Martin Carpenter in particular, but when I read "those who we decide to vaccinate" rather than "those to whom we decide to offer vaccination", then I start to feel nervous.

I don't regard it as out of the question that the Government might classify vulnerable people who declined vaccination as "potentially infected persons". I really hope that I am wrong about that.

Edit: The above was written before I saw Martin's post immediately above.

[JustinHorton]

Are you able to quote from the text of the Act rather than a blog post from nearly six months ago?

[Matt Bridgeman]

If we are not still a free country, then those who do not consent to vaccination can be placed under house arrest, using the powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Can you give a reliable source for the suggestion that refusal to be vaccinated would lead to mandatory house arrest.

I can't really imagine it, even with this Government. Public health people are very well aware that forcing these things is counter productive.

Having said that, if you presume a 70% effective vaccine, getting a bit less so in the elderly, then you need very wide take up to get herd immunity and still face huge deaths if you fully release without it.

So you'll have real problems if there's a big percentage refusing it. I refuse to believe there's enough sadly misguided people in the country for that.

I read the uptake for childhood vaccinations in the UK has declined for the 5th year in a row. Parental reasons given include a fear of needles, a low tolerance for the perceived impingement of freedoms or belief in conspiracy theories.

I suspect it will be more carrot than stick with a Covid vaccine. No international travel without a 'Covid passport' might be one.

I think the Oxford vaccine is close to the stage of collating results as to whether the thing actually works, so maybe we'll hear something on that in the next week.

[Simon Rogers]

Without getting involved in politics. I know sadly, some people believe that Covid-19 is a government conspiracy.
I sent a PM to someone a couple of days ago telling him that a Congress Organiser believes in Government conspiracy theories.
He talked to me about the American government using alien technology and all these projects including something called Aurora, TR3B and Zero Point Energy.

[J T Melsom]

I was replying to David, but paused when I saw his latest post and in checking his source, lost my reply. I will simply note therefore that the same chambers quoted by David were also quoted in a BBC fact check in May confirming that compulsory vaccination was excluded from the emergency powers in the Act. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/52565764. Those unhappy with the government would be better advised to remain precise in their criticisms.

[David Sedgwick]

Are you able to quote from the text of the Act rather than a blog post from nearly six months ago?

The source to which I linked quoted chapter and verse.

However, as Jonathan pointed out, they also gave chapter and verse refuting my contention.

I am very relieved to stand corrected.

[MartinCarpenter]

I read the uptake for childhood vaccinations in the UK has declined for the 5th year in a row. Parental reasons given include a fear of needles, a low tolerance for the perceived impingement of freedoms or belief in conspiracy theories.

I suspect it will be more carrot than stick with a Covid vaccine. No international travel without a 'Covid passport' might be one.

I think the Oxford vaccine is close to the stage of collating results as to whether the thing actually works, so maybe we'll hear something on that in the next week.

The other factor hopefully working positively is that people have had a firm reminder just how nasty infectuous diseases can be. We've done so amazingly well with most of them that it is natural the they'd 'forget'.

Also a huge carrot just from releasing the various restrictions.

I thought the stage 3 trial results were going to be a bit longer? They have to run them for a long time to get useful & thorough results. There's been talk of a few challenge trials, not sure if anyone is really keen on that.

[Simon Rogers]

There is one of those trials starting in Blackpool. There was a feature on the North West News earlier in the week and a lengthy report in the Blackpool Gazette.
I think the newspaper was put in the blue bin a couple of days ago. I'll have to fetch it out before the rain comes.

[JustinHorton]

Incidentally, fact fans, it is possible in the UK to be both detained and medicated against your will without having committed a crime or indeed having been accused to doing so.

[J T Melsom]

Although you have not given a source [!], a quick glance suggests these are provisions under the 1983 Mental Health Act.

[Mick Norris]

I read the uptake for childhood vaccinations in the UK has declined for the 5th year in a row. Parental reasons given include a fear of needles, a low tolerance for the perceived impingement of freedoms or belief in conspiracy theories.

I suspect it will be more carrot than stick with a Covid vaccine. No international travel without a 'Covid passport' might be one.

I think the Oxford vaccine is close to the stage of collating results as to whether the thing actually works, so maybe we'll hear something on that in the next week.

The other factor hopefully working positively is that people have had a firm reminder just how nasty infectuous diseases can be. We've done so amazingly well with most of them that it is natural the they'd 'forget'.

Also a huge carrot just from releasing the various restrictions.

I thought the stage 3 trial results were going to be a bit longer? They have to run them for a long time to get useful & thorough results. There's been talk of a few challenge trials, not sure if anyone is really keen on that.

I know someone on the Oxford trial, and I certainly think Matt is being optimistic

I've learnt this week a lot more than I ever wanted to know about the flu vaccine and how GP practices deal with administering it, so I can't see a Covid vaccine being available in practice until next summer

[Roger de Coverly]

I've learnt this week a lot more than I ever wanted to know about the flu vaccine and how GP practices deal with administering it

It has been my impression over several years that GP practices can be well organised to give relatively large numbers the flu vaccine. My local practice would send a letter giving a date and time on a Saturday, but in practice you could show up on two alternative dates. That was handy if the weekend coincided with a Congress. You would walk in, show the letter to a receptionist, be assigned to one of three or four nurses, get the jab, walk out. Five minutes usually.


This year there's the additional challenge of keeping people apart and I'm still awaiting the letter.