Choices

I walked into town this morning for a freshly baked loaf and a newspaper. I spotted two cars that I thought would make a blip, the other was an Aston Martin. A lazy day otherwise after a busy week. 

Day 891 / Day 182 of no Legal Covid Requirements in England (for my record only)
Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for the infringement of patents on mRNA technology used by them in the development of Covid-19 vaccines. Moderna said it invested billions of dollars in developing an mRNA technology platform before the pandemic, which it patented. Early in the pandemic Moderna said it would not enforce its patents to allow other companies to develop jabs for low and middle income countries. It’s not the only lawsuit going around re Covid vaccine development and patent infringement. 

From 31st Aug, NHS and social care staff in England will not be offered LFTs unless they have symptoms. Also most hospital patients and care home residents in England will not be tested for Covid unless they have symptoms. Immunocompromised patients will be tested when the  are admitted - surely the bigger risk is to them from other patients and staff? I think this is plain daft (research showed as many as 50% of people with Covid didn’t have symptoms) and a false economy, the virus will spread further and to more vulnerable people and employees and I would expect the overall cost to exceed the savings by a significant amount. Ex Chancellor Rishi Sunak said this week that the Govt when considering lockdowns gave too much power to scientists and was not honest about potential downsides - another daft statement made to enhance his leadership hopes with Tory members.