Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Interesting discussion and obviously a really tough challenge for policy-makers.
Have to say, despite the frustrations I share towards those who refuse the vaccine, I agree with rxdav that there has to be a line somewhere towards what can be made mandatory. mandating face masks - fine (by my standards). Injections - less fine (probably by anyone’s standards, and not currently allowable in UK law/policy).
The best legal answer surely has to be to make injections freely available to all, promote the benefits, ‘nudge’ people to get them, and work hard to shut down the spreading of misinformation about vaccines. Obviously we’re doing the first two things pretty well in the UK, and the mainstream media are all clearly on-message. It’s that last part where I think more work needs to be done, especially through social media channels, and getting trusted pro-vaccination voices into communities where there is a low vaccine uptake. But it’s not easy.
If there is legislation to be made around vaccination, I think rather than mandating it, it should be around strengthening powers against misinformation.
Roughly 25% of critical care beds in England are occupied by Covid patients and 75% of those have not been vaccinated, according to the latest data up to July this year. Apart from anything else thats quite a financial cost on the NHS and thus every tax payer. Given a choice most, I suspect, would prefer to accept the consequences of their own decisions rather than being mandated. One consequence could be financial, as it seems those preferring not to be vaccinated are placing a rather unfair burden on the rest of society, which seems to be a cause of growing resentment.
Mandatory vaccinations aren’t necessary. All that is necessary is that if you refuse to have a vaccine you waive the right to use the nhs for Covid or any Covid related illness
@ Bella 6543: Whilst highly unscientific and unrepresentative I suggest you look at our respective comments and their current 'likes' - 15/17 as I type. Now that is what I'm talking about when I suggest that a policy of mandatory vaccination would be divisive. If it were only divisive I could live with that (although I'd rather not after living through Brexit) - but I am in no doubt whatsoever that it's a policy that if implemented would ultimately result in violent inner city riots (which we've seen here before - so let's not pretend it can't happen). It would act as a focus and calling call for all sorts of dangerous elements in society - as well as those who would resist it for genuinely held beliefs of personal choice and freedom. I'm not taking either side here, just ensuring that when folks talk of 'mandatory vaccination' they are clear about the likely serious violent ramifications of such a policy and even more significantly, the license you would be giving to this corrupt government and the inherent potential implications for democracy - and I don't think this is hyperbole.
I respect your view - but it's a very dangerous one.
Dont think any Government anywhere should introduce Mandatory Vacination but having folk with cancer die because hospitals are clogged with unvaccinated individuals is not acceptable either so sadly the solution has to be ban hospitalisation of the unvaccinated, except for those who have not been vaccinated on medical grounds of course. Treatment at home with antivirals and the like for the unvaccinted should of course be supported. Would need communication of this well in advance of enacting.
Bella….
If 99% of people survive covid, then why, when they don’t stop the spread, should vaccines be mandatory? After all, and I don’t want to sound hippy trippy maaaan, but it’s our body, why should we be mandated to have something injected into it if we don’t want to? I’ll tell you where all this is heading, as already pointed out, to a violent revolt.
Bella i fear there has already been a death sentence given to hundreds of thousands of cancer patients.
We now have to learn to live with covid and not with restrictions
Sorry guys, but really could not disagree more - although I understand your rationale. I've been whinging earlier about the roller coaster of rule changes for travel by our inept government - but I follow the rules and am fully vaccinated X 3 (so don't even try to go down the anti-vaxxer route!). However, to try and introduce mandatory vaccination is the thin end of a very, very fat wedge - particularly with a government that most folks wouldn't even trust to clean their car. If Bojo told me the grass was green I'd look out the window to check! Consequently, for a significant cohort (mainly the young - but many others), any scientist who shares a platform with any politician is tarnished by such association - and consequently so is their advice. That's why many government scientists are perceived as untrustworthy - like it or not.
There is still a significant percentage of UK population unvaccinated (including my son - a bright guy educated to Masters level - he's no fool but just will not trust the establishment in any shape or form - and who can blame him for that with our current blatantly corrupt government?). Furthermore, I think that such a policy would make Brexit look like a walk in the park in respect of the divisiveness it would cause within the population. If you want to see blood on the streets (and I mean that quite literally), burning buildings and general mayhem then crack on. I suggest you look at the Netherlands - a nation normally cited for their easy going peaceful attitude if you want a very recent and nearby example of what can and will happen if a large minority of the population (mainly young and of 'fighting age') feel backed into a corner and threatened.
Such a policy would have ramifications way beyond Covid - to regard mandatory vaccination as a 'cure' for the current pandemic is dangerously myopic - to put it mildly.
@Bella6532
Could not agree more.
I, and many friends, have been saying the same thing for months.
Now is the time for mandatory vaccination and mask wearing everywhere except in your own home. No ifs, no buts...
How can we justify treating a few Covid cases and allowing hundreds of thousands of cancer patients potentially being dealt a death sentence.
Is this a 2nd chance for Avacta? It is a bitter sweet moment I feel... great news for me as an underwater Avacta shareholder, but really terrible news for life getting back to normal. Make no mistake, this new variant will be sufficient to tip things over the edge for the NHS, meaning you can guarantee that greater restrictions (lock down) are coming. The gov will need to throw everything at this so expect another massive increase in testing volumes and dare I say, sovereign testing could be back at centre of gov policy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/04/uks-progress-on-covid-now-squandered-warns-top-scientist
“The longer this virus continues to spread in largely unvaccinated populations globally, the more likely it is that a variant that can overcome our vaccines and treatments will emerge,” he writes. “If that happens, we could be close to square one.
The emergence of the Omicron variant shows that the world is “closer to the start of the pandemic than the end”, one of Britain’s most senior scientific figures has warned, as he lamented a lack of political leadership over Covid.