mint

[quote user="pomme"]Countries use different ways of deciding whether deaths are caused by Covid. The UK figures within 28 days of a positive test will include a lot of non-Covid deaths whereas I think France still only counts hospital deaths? For those countries that keep them, excess mortality is possibly a better measure. A good analysis of the issues in the calculations and figures for many countries (but not India) https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid A search for covid excess deaths "india" will give various articles on figures for India[/quote] No pomme, France counts hospital deaths and then add deaths in other settings.  Eg, from memory, the recent total death toll is in the region of 104 000 of which hospital deaths are around 78 000.  The "headline" figures are usually both numbers added together already.

Now the Danish government has said they will no longer use the Johnson vaccine (they have already said some time ago that they will not use AZ). Lucky Danes, they have only had a "handful" of deaths compared to us and so they have the luxury of choice. I think for the rest of us, we have to use what's available within reason and after balancing risks and benefits.  I think it's fair enough not to give AZ to younger people as they are the ones more prone to blood clots.  And no, I genuinely do NOT believe that Europe has reservations about AZ simply because "they" don't like the British.  Thank heavens governments do not have the childish and simplistic mentality that some individuals harbour[:D]

The one good thing I have heard on this topic is that some places are giving spare shots left over (or from les RVs non honorés) to anyone over 18 who either pre book as wanting shots or turn up after 16.00.  And I did see on TV young people who have come forward.  What upset me a lot was the mere thought of shots being thrown away. Numbers are indeed still crazily high and don't forget that in May, there are no fewer than 4 jours feriés!  Depite what Macron said about vaccination going on no matter if it's Sunday or a jour ferié, I see from the stats that things slowed down markedly this last weekend.  So I have no great hope about the "rhythm" being continued. OTOH, the déconfinement is going to be in stages and, as explained, the brakes can be put on if the stats justify.  There are indeed more centres being opened all the time and more vaccine deliveries are due.  We are all, of course, impotent so there is nothing to be done except sit tight and hope.  I don't feel I myself can speculate on the numbers to come in the summer. 

Purely based on the millions and millions worldwide who have had both Pfizer and AZ, the probability is that there will be a number of people with adverse reactions....as they say, it's a numbers thing...smile! Also don't forget that many, many instructions have changed from the authorities in all countries because knowledge about the virus has changed and has grown.  When it first burst in on the scene, we didn't know anything much about it, we had no known "cure" or even proven treatment and certainly no vaccine.  Now less than 2 years later, we are dealing with those things and filling in the gaps in our ignorance.  To me all this seems a wonderful, unbelievable and fantastic result and I am in total awe of all that the scientists, researches, doctors, others and yes governments even have been able to do for us. To my mind, it seems therefore logical that instructions could well change, for example, don't have AZ but have Pfizer or vice versa.  It's also understandable that professional opinions eg between pharmacists, doctors, scientists and even the lay opinions of the man or woman in the street can differ.  All to be expected and nothing to get overly excited about. As many have pointed out, it's better to have any vaccine than none and it's better have it sooner rather than later. Sermon over....no emoticons but the tongue sticking out one will do here...

Judith, I am so very happy for you.  As I was in a similar situation with being unable to get a vax for my OH, I know how the frustration feels and what a relief it is when the deed is done!  Really happy...for you both.....

[quote user="idun"]I have no idea why they don't take just anyone who wants it then. My son would LOVE to have his, and yet he cannot, even the stock at work in the medical centre cannot be touched by 'younger' folk, even though older ones are not going in to get it. I have been keeping my eye on the figures in France, they are truly terrible at the moment for no good reason. Just why is the infection rate currently so high? What is going on? How are  the people you are all seeing behaving? [/quote] Id, what I have heard several commentators say on TV is that, if they opened the vaccination programme to younger people, many of the older and more vulnerable plus people like teachers may then not be able to get vaccinated. They say it is right to stick to the programme and that it makes sense to protect the most vulnerable first to avoid deaths and hospitalisations.  EXCEPT, they are neither avoiding deaths (well over 300 yesterday) nor hospitalisations (just under 30 000)[6] I think it was a fundamental mistake to make people ring in or book on-line instead of having either the CPAM or the MTs to contact people and invite them to come.  That's what the UK do, people wait to be called.  Other than in unusual circumstances, people do not have to proactively ask for the RVs.  You know what people are like, if you want them to do something, it's more effective to make it easy for them to comply. Also the programme can be rolled out in a controlled manner because the health authorities are the instigators.  Generally speaking, left to themselves, people tend to take the line of least resistance and do nothing.

Lori, did you get my PM? 

Farmers would be the crème de la crème. I do regularly talk with a man of indeterminate age though he told me he was 65 on the days when I pass his ..er...little abode on my walks. His nickname is M. Bouboule because, yes you guessed it, he is as broad as he is tall! But he is a genial sort of chap all right; always all smiles and ready to exchange pleasantries.

Chance would be a fine thing but, a quick survey of all the "possibles" in our village has no sort of appeal.

Ah, but minimum purchase is 36 euros! I believe that magnets will do the job.  I have found some little ones, only 8mm diameter, smaller than a 1 cent coin, so should be nice and discrete and no further sewing once the shortening is done. Thanks for your suggestions, guys[:)]

Thanks cajal but I need a minimum of 12 metres and maybe a bit more as there will be gathers. The curtains are only cheapo things bought at a sale so, what with having to pay someone to shorten them, I don't want to pay over 20 euros for weights.

OK answered my own question but posting answer here in case someone else is also looking. Fil de plomb or bande de plomb pour rideaux will do but IMHO they are expensive.  I have found some small magnets that should save me some dosh as someone will have to turn up the curtains for me (no sewing machine and will take me about 15 years to do them by hand) and the person cannot claim that they will be a lot more fiddly and more work and therefore will have to charge me more.

where do you buy them?  I mean those metal weights that you put in the hem to get the curtain to hang nicely? I bought some lace curtains on leboncoin years ago and they had a lead "fil" in the hem.  They were really good-looking up on the veranda windows.  However, they are getting a bit old now and look grubby so I have bought new voile ones that need shortening and so I would like to have some weights put on the bottom. If I can't get any, I think I might just have to remove the lead "wire" from the old curtains and have them put in the new ones.  But I would like to keep the old curtains intact in case someone would like them.

Thank you, Robson, for asking the question and even more for providing the answer[:D] For the first time ever, I am going to use the "standard" rate.  Fed up of getting historic bank rates on the actual dates of receipt of money and, like chessfou2, I have 60 transactions all on different days every month. It was worth doing in the past when there could be wide fluctuations, nowadays, it chugs along more or less the same. Ultra quick calcs this year and and saving of frustration, checking all the sums....plus, I am a real duffer with les chiffres [8-)] and it's not been unknown for me to add up a column of figures 5 times and get 5 different answers!

The numbers of new infections, hospitalisations, rèa bed occupany, deaths are all scarily high, simply horrible[6] So what's been in the news and what is the government discusing?  The desirability of life getting "back to normal" next month!!!!  Don't believe me?  Just try some of the news media! I despair, I really do, how can they possibly even think such a thing, never mind talk about it openly as a real possibility? The pandemic isn't going away.  If it were a fire you could say that people in authority are throwing extra fuel at it and using bellows to fan the flames[:@] I know I am at my most misery guts mode but, if anyone has anything contrary to say and good news to bring, I challenge you to tell me what it is ( gauntlet thrown down)

Oh my goodness, Lori, I am shocked, horrified at the picture you paint.  I can see it in my head, the way you have described it.  Absolutely dreadful and you are right to think of moving as far away from your area as possible..... Good luck with the house hunt, hope you get away in as short a time as possible!

If you look at a map of France, you will see that France is divided neatly into 2 halves with the Eastern half coloured red with the highest numbers and the West in blue and relatively "saved" from cases. Yesterday, for the first time in over a year, we went to our local outdoor market, me having established from French friends and neighbours that there aren't many stalls and not many people. Indeed it was all comparatively quiet with only food stalls.  The vast majority of customers and traders were wearing masks.  No cafés open so nowhere for people to get drinks and sit around as usually happens. Our vaccination programme not bad either with 21.22% having had at least one dose.  You can imagine I wasn't too happy to hear someone on TV news about les vacances des Pâques recommending that they go to the Dordogne[6]  Our infection figures aren't great, the incidence being 233 or so, admittedly below the national average but very high compared to earlier in the year. Our hospitals are alas very well occupied with beds in short supply. I myself have been nastily impacted by the unavailability of hospital beds and I am left frustrated and depressed.  At the moment, I am unable to see any very great improvement.

Didn't feel a thing with the first dose, not when it went in and not afterwards. Second dose last Wednesday and it was painful going in and even more painful afterwards.  Really very sore for a couple of days and I have felt tired.  But not sure if the tiredness was due to the injection or just because I am getting depressed and fed-up. Good luck for next week and don't hesitate to have a VSL if you don't feel up to the drive[:)]

This is for Judith and others in a similar position.  Could this site help?  I am linking to my département but, of course, you just fill in your own when registering.  Worth a try? [url]https://vitemadose.covidtracker.fr/#dep-24[/url]

Admittedly it's 4 years ago and I don't know whether Brexit has made any difference. I used my UK bank account to transfer the money into my French bank account via Currency Fair.  from thereon, after paying the deposit by French credit card, I paid the rest by going to my French bank and asking for a payment to be made directly to the car company.  Had to pay a few euros for this and had to provide the car company's bank details which were taken as proof that the money was for the purchase. The car was quite a bit in excess of 15k. Hope that helps, Wools and, if you do buy from the company I recommended, they'd advise you on the process.  Job done, even had the car delivered to my door[:)]

Chessie, swallows, yes, they are here and the cuckoo's been here for a few weeks now.  I LOVE the cuckoo though I know it's not a nice or welcome bird if you yourself are a bird! Every year, I tell myself I must have some money in my pocket in case I hear a cuckoo but I never do have money when I am out and about walking.  I am, of course, referring to the French belief that if you have money on you when you hear the first cuckoo, then you will have money for the rest of the year.  Maybe if I paid more attention and made sure to carry some cash, my financial state might well improve?[:D]

I hear so much about the difference in price between the AZ and the Pfizer or the Moderna.  Well, that's because the vaccines are different (who'd have guessed) and are made and work in different ways.  The French call the Pfizer and the Moderna ARN messengers and the AZ and J&J virus vecteurs. If you want to understand the differences more, here is an explanation: [url]https://www.industriepharma.fr/coronavirus-tout-comprendre-sur-les-differents-vaccins-en-developpement,109871[/url] The Pfizer required a completely innovative process of manufacture and new "machinery" and expertise to make and the AZ scientists used and adapted existing manufacturing processes (also imaginative and innovatory). I am not talking about the politics here and I am certainly not qualified to say which type of vaccine is better.  Just that it's unfair to bang on about the difference in price, etc etc without going into it a little more in detail. I have read that the Pfizer one is also made and distributed without profit and Pfizer itself has said they would never do this again as the vax has cost them billions.  I am not too bothered about people making money because after all, without money very little can be done for anybody.  Poorer countries than western economies would understand this totally.  I think that for some of the poorest peoples in the world, a full tummy is more of an everyday reality than what sort of jab they get in their arms, if any. Edit:  sorry, my link was not clickable, an oversight on my part, have now made it "live"

It's a great place IF you like lots of rain and lots of beer.  And do be careful about when and to whom you speak French!

Judith, I have just found this article in the sudouest which might cheer you up a bit regarding vaccination for your OH: [url]https://www.sudouest.fr/sante/vaccins-anti-covid-en-france-sept-millions-de-doses-en-plus-des-ce-mois-d-avril-2153616.php[/url]

Judith, I too am really sorry you still haven't managed to get a jab for your OH. I thought you said he only wanted to go to the doctor's?  Well then, doctors, pharmaciens are less pressured than the centres. Please do keep trying the centres.  That's what I did and, un bon jour, I found 2 slots (found them on the same day but for different days for OH and me) and grabbed them pdq.  Don't give up, there are slots suddenly vacant, cancellations, other illnesses, got other jabs elsewhere and couldn't be bothered to cancel, whatever. I know I am not in your area and it's only going to be anecdotal but all the people I know have had at least their first jabs.  I also know some who don't want them, of course, but people who do want them are getting them.  Don't give up!