Dana Lewis' Back Story News Letter
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ANOTHER NEW VACCINE
Good morning every one and welcome to Back Story with Dana Lewis news letter. Short and sweet today. We have a new vaccine approved in The UK and we need it.
Read on…
Oxford AstraZeneca
Ok after a bumpy start and delayed approval Oxford Astra Zeneca will roll out a vaccine as early as Monday in The UK. This one doesn’t need super cold refrigeration. It still needs two doses. It comes as hospitals are being crushed by a winter wave of Covid-19 here. On Back Story with Dana Lewis podcast tomorrow I will publish 2 interviews with epidemiologists who say this virus remains airborne and increasingly easy to catch. We will talk about the new strain, and how we are in a race against time to vaccinate before the virus becomes virus resistant. It is changing all the time. One health professional interviewed on British TV this morning almost started laughing when he was asked about comments by British health Min. Matt Hancock that “things will be back to normal by this spring” because of the vaccine. No they will not be. But we could start to see an end to the hospital crisis. Also…this vaccine is easier to administer to the most vulnerable in hospitals because it is easier to store.
NOTE - I think people want to see original source reporting. So I will begin to include a few links on subjects I read and write about. So you understand the origins on some of the info. In this story I watched the Health Min. on 2 different British networks BBC and ITV. And read BBC, Guardian, and others. The Guardian is a solid news source. Have a read. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/30/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-approved-by-uk-regulator
TO RETURN TO SCHOOL OR NOT?
My kids will not be going back to London schools next week. We have been notified though they are to show up for a vaccine test. And then return to school a week later. I’m glad the kids will get tested. But, obviously there is growing belief the new covid-19 variant spreads much faster (70% faster by estimates) and spreads easily amongst kids. The variant is being found world wide now. Canada, U.S., etc.
The U.S. Colorado outbreak is mysterious because the men did not travel abroad and it’s uncertain where they got the variant.
Would you vaccinate your kids? I honestly can’t answer that question myself yet. Would I take it? Probably yes. Probably soon.
WHILE TRUMP GOLFS…
President elect Joe Biden has come out to criticize vaccine distribution by The Trump Admin.
He warned that if the current pace of administering vaccines under President Trump continued, “it’s going to take years, not months,” to vaccinate the nation. Biden is getting his team to have a better plan. But years not months? That’s devastating health and economic news. We are so far away from calling it a day on Covid-19.
New York Times has a good write through: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/us/politics/biden-coronavirus-vaccines.html
BREXIT DEADLINE LOOMS
The European Union (future relationship) bill needs to become law before the post-Brexit transition ends tomorrow night. It will be passed by the Boris Johnson Conservative majority. Interesting…Northern Ireland will oppose. It’s only political theatre. Northern Ireland’s assembly is to hold a special session on Wednesday to heap scorn on – the Brexit deal believing trade with N. Ireland and the rest of the UK will be complicated. And what’s not expected to be complicated about Britain’s departure from the UK? Trade forms and checks and red tape and things like British fresh sausage exports will be banned! Frozen is ok. We are just beginning to hear about many things like sausages that will be hit hard by Brexit. But this debate was never rooted in economic prosperity. It was Brexit populism built on fear of immigration and nationalism that one former David Cameron MP who was involved in the referendum terms “a shameful moment in British History”. (Anna Soubry ex MP)
You can listen to Anna Soubry on our podcast if you like. She is fiery and explains how and why The Brexit referendum was every held. Oooops they never thought it would be approved by voters. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/6896642
RUSSIA FOREIGN AGENT LAW
‘They are everywhere”… those foreign agents in Russia. Maybe because Russia and President Putin considers any opposition “foreign”, and that includes journo’s, political activists, bloggers, and more.
President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill allowing any politically active, foreign-funded individual or organization to be labeled a “foreign agent.”
It’s an effort to stamp out critical voices. What else would you expect from an ex KGB agent who has no love for democracy.
The Moscow Times has a good summary: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/12/30/putin-signs-controversial-foreign-agent-law-expansion-a72524
Which reminds us of that saying - “Just because you are paranoid it doesn’t mean you are not being followed”. The Kremlin is paranoid. And yes they are doing the following. Ask Alexei Navalny!
Have a good New Years everyone! Share this newsletter if you like it.