Collins is calling for an “immediate roll-out for children in south Auckland, Māori and Pasifika children”, as soon as the paediatric formulation becomes available.
“It’s what we failed to do in the general [Covid] vaccine roll-out,” he said.
Collins repeatedly called for South Auckland to be first in the vaccine queue for the general roll-out.
….Collins’ views are shared by health researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui.
Taonui said: “It is absolute priority that Māori and Pasifika is front and centre” of the paediatric Covid vaccine roll-out.
“Starting in Manukau and everywhere else as well.”….
A lot is resting on this tragic case of a Maori child's death in South Auckland. In my opinion, the government would be terribly remiss if it didn't take seriously councillor Efeso Collins' and health researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui' call for the government to prioritise the children of South Auckland for the childhood vaccine roll out.
A lot is hanging on the results surrounding this terribly sad death.
Every death of child is tragic, especially if it is determined it was preventable.
The outcome of the final determination of this child's cause of death may impact government health policy.
If the child's cause of death was by covid. The question is how many Maori* children's deaths are acceptable.
I would say that one, is one is too many.
*Maori being identified as particularly vulnerable to death and illness due to covid-19.
Not convinced this is a good idea. The vaccine rollout will depend on the uptake for this age group. Thats already likely to be lower than 90% of older age groups due to parental hesitancy. But if the govt has wrong preconceptions about where the uptake will be then this can only result in vaccines being available where they are not being used. Uptake should actually be driving how many doses are delivered and where.
It would also seem to be a loss politically if the government is needing to prioritise vaccines to some places over others.
Hows it expected to save lives? Are we expecting to have a shortfall of pedeatric vaccines? Or will South Auckland be particularly keen for their young ones to be vaccinated.
Older prioratisation concept was about slightly younger categories for Maori, which could have made sense, but 5 to 11 is the age category left.
And I'm leaving out the tricky bit, the pedeatric vaccination program may be about public health more than direct benefits to children. This is similar to the MMR vaccine in NZ. AFAIK the studies show only slight benefit for childhood vaccination at best.
….It would also seem to be a loss politically if the government is needing to prioritise vaccines to some places over others.
After hearing the testimony of Maori health professionals, data experts and health providers, the Waitangi Tribunal has ruled that by not prioritising vulnerable communities, the vaccine roll-out violated the principals of the Treaty for “political convenience”. The Tribunal also ruled that the government needed to publicly defend this position against any ‘backlash’.
Will the government heed the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal?
NZer, Should "a loss politically for the government to prioritise vaccines to some places over others" be balanced against preventing uneccesary illness and possibly deaths, in vulnerable communities?
Or, NZer, do you think the government should prioritise avoiding 'political loss/public backlash'?
The Tribunal ruled that the government had an ethical and moral duty to defend these choices against unreasonable public backlash. (political loss).
NZer, do you disagree with the Tribunal that, that would be the couragous moral and ethical thing for the government to do?
Government breached treaty principles in Covid-19 response, Waitangi Tribunal finds
Maxine Jacobs05:00, Dec 21 2021
The Government breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi for “political convenience” in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Waitangi Tribunal has found.
On Tuesday, the Tribunal released Haumaru: the Covid-19 Priority Report, finding the Government’s Covid-19 response had breached Treaty principals such as active protection, equity, partnership and tino rangatiratanga…..
The Whanganui DHB prioritised Māori health providers. They were the first to offer vaccines to the group 2 cohort outside of the workplace – at risk Māori, older Māori being cared for by whānau, and anyone over 12 in their household. Outreach services vaccinated in remote and rural Māori communities. When group 3 vaccinations began Māori and PI folk over 50 and anyone 12 and older in their household were included.
So when the vaccines are delivered they need to be administered to 5 to 11 year olds, with parental permission. How (other than where appointments indicate) should these be made available?
So obviously the Waitangi tribunal has some opinions that prioritising differently (by slightly younger maori categories?) could have been better than the existing policy of accepting whole families, rather than sticking to age categories.
But there is apparently an obvious way to improve outcomes here with some alternative prioratisation of pediatric vaccination, and its going to save lives, and some of us don't know what that life saving prioratisation looks like. Do share, don't keep us in the dark.
Kāinga Ora need to kick these people out. Losing their state house is the only consequence they will understand. You can issue them as many warnings as you like but they are not going to change.
There is an interactive tool in the linked article allowing you to enter age, and it shows deaths per 100k of vaccinated and un vaccinated. (You need to scroll down away)
The public service had a historical problem of promoting the wrong people to management, according to Victoria University School of Management senior lecturer Geoff Plimmer. Do we have credible evidence that this behaviour has ceased? I thought not.
David Lillis has used the Official Information Act (OIA) to reveal 34 non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) over a decade from Treasury amounting to more than $813,000 and a single payment by the Public Service Commission of $268,000. Dr Lillis, a statistician and retired public servant, in remission despite an earlier terminal cancer diagnosis, sampled just some government agencies to see how rife the issue was.
The Ministry of Education had 62 agreements since 2016, resulting in payments in excess of $500,000. However, it denied its agreements were NDAs despite earlier interpreting the request for NDA details as records of settlement.
Well obviously the ministry would seek to have it both ways. Public service thought.
There was no way of knowing the backstory of each payment but he was driven by bullying that he said he saw first hand during his time at multiple public and private workplaces, then heard more than 50 similar tales since becoming an advocate.
Guerilla warfare between whistleblowers & managers seems to have become endemic. I presume that's due to the sense of entitlement bred into management ethos. Persistence of neo-colonialist attitudes breeds toxicity into the stew.
“Media shaming” got the public service to take action but, Plimmer warned, “the battle isn’t over yet”.
Performance management could be poor in public organisations meaning that, instead of dismissing underperforming staff, they “throw them out by breaking their spirit”.
Over the past couple of weeks there have been dire predictions from opposition leaders (Luxon, Seymour) about chaos on the roads in Northland. Supported by several crystal ball gazers commenting on here: we were in for hours of delays if we're lucky, race riots if we're not.
Reality update … sorry to disappoint. Not happening. Not even close.
Police also thanked the Te Tai Tokerau Border Control for their assistance in running the checkpoints. “The support of our partners has been extremely helpful in helping to keep our communities safe and we are grateful for their ongoing support.”
Harawira said, however, “we’ve had to stand down about half of our people” from helping to provide that protection following the vetting process.
“That’s really killed us,” he told Morning Report on Wednesday.
“Our people, over the last 18-20 months, have included bus drivers, gang members, doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers – all sorts of people. Now, all of a sudden at the last minute, it got dropped on us that everyone had to be vetted.”
I am one of the people who certainly predicted chaos. That is because the iwi had stated categorically that every car would be stopped and it seemed that it was iwi, not the police who were calling the shots. As it transpired, a decision by the police to vet the iwi volunteers reduced the volunteer group by a significant percentage, leaving the police totally in control. I drove through the checkpoint on Thursday and was waved through by the police, as were the vast majority of cars heading North, and so there was no backlog. So … well done to the police for the application of common sense.
Well I'm happy that the unvetted were kicked out, that gang members weren't taking number plates and finding out where people were going and when they'll be back, that there won't be long delays, that groups can't suddenly decide to take over core government responsibilites
Harawira said, however, “we’ve had to stand down about half of our people” from helping to provide that protection following the vetting process.
“That’s really killed us,” he told Morning Report on Wednesday.
“Our people, over the last 18-20 months, have included bus drivers, gang members, doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers – all sorts of people. Now, all of a sudden at the last minute, it got dropped on us that everyone had to be vetted.”
Yes I'm going to out on a limb and suggest that some of the people stood down may have been gang members
I prefer to not to be stopped by criminals, current or ex. Nothing more or less. If you wish to surmise, have at it, im not interested in your opinion.
Activist and former Māori Party MP Hone Harawira has lashed out at New Zealand Police over the handling of Northland Covid-19 checkpoints, characterising law enforcement's decision to vet volunteers as "racist to the core".
Iwi-led Tai Tokerau Border Control has been working alongside police since Wednesday, when Auckland's border opened after nearly four months of lockdown to travellers with proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a recent negative test.
Police have characterised co-operation with the volunteers as positive and "extremely helpful". Speaking to NewstalkZB today, Tai Tokerau Border Control regional co-ordinator Reuben Taipari seemed to agree, describing the endeavour over the past week as successful.
But in a blistering statement released to media Monday afternoon, Harawira focussed on what he said was a decision by police to "blindspot" the Northland volunteers at the last minute.
…
Harawira said that while police and iwi seem to have made strides working together over the past 20 months of the pandemic, it was "gutting" to realise with about 20 minutes notice before the checkpoint opened that the majority of volunteers had been rejected by police because they had not passed a vetting process.
Responding to the critique, Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill noted that there was a short timeframe to establish a vetting process but that it was vital to the endeavour. "The Covid-19 Public Health Response Act required all of those working on the checkpoint line alongside police to be vetted," he said. "Those who did not pass vetting were able to work as TBC volunteers in other support roles and were not interacting with the public."
Police have declined to comment on the vetting process further, citing privacy concerns.
But
Reuben Taipari, the Tai Tokerau Border Control regional co-ordinator, also spoke positively today about what the partnership achieved.
"I'm satisfied. We surpassed our expectations," he told Newstalk ZB. "We conducted a checkpoint that was safe, and 99 per cent of our community and all of the visitors that travelled through our checkpoint were very positive."
I bet the police hierarchy blindsided him! It would have been elementary courtesy to inform him of the vetting in advance. Instead he got informed "with about 20 minutes notice before the checkpoint opened that the majority of volunteers had been rejected by police because they had not passed a vetting process."
Important for the cops to send the message to the heartland that they retain power & control over the restless natives. Otherwise folks would get the silly idea that there's some kind of racial partnership going on… 🙄
I agree. Vetting is basic practice now. That said, there is likely to be bias in the practice and differing views of what is fair and appropriate. Hone will be more sensitive to the details of that than most of us here are. If Hone hadn't considered the requirement, or the police hadn't made their needs known in a timely manner, anguish would have resulted.
Responding to the critique, Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill noted that there was a short timeframe to establish a vetting process but that it was vital to the endeavour.
The Covid-19 Public Health Response Act required all of those working on the checkpoint line alongside police to be vetted,” he said. “Those who did not pass vetting were able to work as TBC volunteers in other support roles and were not interacting with the public.”
Hone’s familiar enuf with the rules & regs to know he can accuse the police of racism for any who failed the vetting process because they are not allowed to disclose the reasons any were. Although I think it would behove the fuzz to give a summary of reasons why some people were declined authorisation without identifying individuals. If Hone & Reuben & other iwi members were staffing the checkpoints that indicates racism wasn’t the problem.
I have it on good authority from a Māori friend up North that Hone quietly does a lot of sterling community work for his community up there – both Māori & Pākehā – and I have no reason to doubt that. But he also gives me the impression that he’s always too ready to play the race card, which he knows the media will breathlessly rush to report, merely as a way to keep his profile high, especially among Māori.
Even his fellow Ngāpuhi activist David Rankin once said Harawira was “playing the race card every time he wants to ‘create a smoke screen for other issues'”.
He’s fired off plenty of ill-tempered racial slurs against Pākehā in his time He’s even famously accepted that he’s prejudiced. When he so quickly accuses others of racism, I think Hone’s often just projecting, or he’s just peed off at not getting his own way.
I’ll go with David Rankin, who has much experience of Hone, & with Reuben Taipari, who hasn’t reported any “racism” by police.
The wind has been ramping up in North Welly all day & there’s now a howling Norwesterly gale blowing & rattling the windows & doors. I’ll be interested to see what the damage is & what the highest velocity recorded was tomorrow. Because of its topography, Wellington city will be getting even harder hit than we are, from past experience.
Time for me to make snack – a freshly-baked cheese roll with canola/butter blend, sliced roast pork, fresh coleslaw, sliced tomato & a cheese slice.
Actually your buying into media fiction. Hone said the police only completed vetting about 20 minutes in advance, but the vetting info would have been handed over to police days to a week prior to that.
Well with most organisations that would be when he instructs them to do something illegal. So far this seems to be working very legally however.
I don't think I understand the question because my impression is these checkpoints have been well run, but not every volunteer was allowed to help, not that they have done anything dodgy.
As the bird bot pointed out above, it’s illegal to not be vetted and working on the checkpoint, according to the law passed by majority labour government
It is a question of when, not if, the New Zealand Government mandates a ‘booster’ shot for My Vaccine Pass holders. The rollout will need to be accelerated. If history predicts future behaviour, this won’t happen until Omicron has seeded itself in the community.
The gist so far seems to be that omicron spreads faster than delta but consequent illness isn't so much of a threat. So from a public health perspective, authorities will need to focus on the percentage likely to end up in hospital – most of whom due to aggravation or compounding of effects from existing medical conditions, I suspect.
Ardern told Associated Press last year: “I remember my chief science adviser bringing me a graph that showed me what flattening the curve would look like for New Zealand. And where our hospital and health capacity was. And the curve wasn’t sitting under that line. So, we knew that flattening the curve wasn’t sufficient for us.”
According to the Government’s epidemiological modelling, the mitigation strategy would have resulted in a peak of nearly half-a-million symptomatic cases. It was projected that 27,000 would die in this scenario. That was unconscionable to Ardern and most New Zealanders. Anything that could be done, would be done. That was the genesis of our ‘world-leading’ response to COVID-19.
Josh Van Veenhas a Masters in Politics from the University of Auckland & is a refugee from NZFirst.
After the strange death of elimination, we turned to another chimera. If it wasn’t possible to eradicate the virus, then New Zealand was going to be the most vaccinated country in the world. An ambitious 90 percent double-dose target was set for the eligible population under each of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs). But the goal was really to convince every single New Zealander of their moral obligation to be vaccinated.
However, science failed to persuade a significant minority. Having backed itself into a corner, the Government had no choice but to use hard power. Vaccines were mandated for a large proportion of the workforce (“no jab, no job”). It was assumed that ‘anti-vaxxers’ would make a rational calculation to get vaccinated rather than lose their incomes. That was a heroic assumption. For those who distrust the system, the mandates were confirmation of a hidden agenda.
Divide & rule is traditional, inherited from empire. Can't really blame Labour for defaulting to it – but he's having a go.
Ardern is hopelessly conflicted between our demands for security and freedom. Sooner or later, pressure to reopen the border will become insurmountable… Ardern will find it increasingly difficult to rationalise her belief that New Zealand ‘leads the world’. Yet the Prime Minister’s self-image depends on this fragile myth. For peace of mind, she may choose to leave office rather than confront the bleak reality.
Or she may view the divide between security & freedom as a path that may be walked with balance & poise. Like the one along a high-wire. A challenge to be finessed. Still, he makes a valid point. Things could get too difficult for her & resignation to prioritise motherhood could open up less onerous career options for the future for her as well.
The neoliberal right wing pundit class reminds me of the parable of the tribe which had an idol sitting high on an altar. They had been taught, and come to believe, that the idol was permanent, immovable and they had to worship it, because the idol was the embodiment of all immutable truth. Then one day there was a loud rumbling, and the permanent and immovable idol fell of it's altar and hit the ground with a gigantic crack. There was a terrible silence. The tribe shuffled their feet and looked at one another and didn't know what to think. Eventually, some members of the tribe, embarrased and baffled, picked up the cracked idol and put it back on the altar, and they all went back to worshipping it because they couldn't think what else to do.
The idol is of course the heartless class war of right wing neoliberal managerialism as represented by John Key's National. The loud rumbling covid. 2020 was the period of silence, as the Labour government managed covid adroitly and in the interests of everyone in the country. 2021 was the year the right wing pundits put the cracked idol back up on the altar, because they didn't know what else to do when their particular set of class, race and economic assumptions which they had elevated to fundametal principles of reality turned out to be merely a description of the way the economy and society had been run for a number of years.
A great analogy, especially after hearing just two minutes of Chris's half-hour ramble with Kerre through the sunny uplands of focus and success going forward. Seeing made it even more challenging, he speaks as fast with similar patterns as his script prompt person.
If it's hard for an individual to change their mind and admit failure, it's almost impossible for a group to do this without falling apart.
I was on the board of a foundation that was charged with giving out money for a cause, and I found it very disillusioning because what I learned was that no matter what the foundation did, they would declare victory. Every project was victorious. Every project was a success. There was a lot of back slapping. There were a lot of high-sounding mission statements and vision statements, a lot of congratulations, a lot of nice dinners—but nothing ever got done.
The gist so far seems to be that omicron spreads faster than delta but consequent illness isn't so much of a threat. So from a public health perspective, authorities will need to focus on the percentage likely to end up in hospital – most of whom due to aggravation or compounding of effects from existing medical conditions, I suspect.
If omicron turns out to be less lethal and disabling, there is still the issue of how fast it spreads. Fast spread means more cases, means more pressure on the health system and potentially more deaths if we reach over flow.
Fast spread means more cases, means more pressure on the health system and potentially more deaths if we reach over flow.
Yes that was the same reason for the original 'flatten the curve' logic that justified the first lockdowns in 2020. It was a valid reasoning then, and would seem to apply to Omicron now.
But leaping from this to 'eliminating Omicron' is not so reasonable. Given COVID in one form or another is now endemic globally, and NZ is about as vaccinated as it's ever going to get (booster shots aside) – the only reason for continued control measures now is to buy time to gain a more certain understanding of Omicron and for Delta to be eliminated everywhere else.
Then we will have reached another decision point that will be an interesting political test.
This case didn't mean that Omicron would get into the community, he said.
"It's by no means inevitable and we'll continue to do everything we can to make sure we keep Omicron either out of the country or at the border if it does come on a flight."
High vaccination rates, testing, contract tracing and isolation on top of other measures New Zealand had in place would continue to serve us well, he said.
"Christmas is supposed to be a time to celebrate with family and loved ones, however, because of the actions of one selfish person, that won’t be the case for many," Loverboy said in a statement.
"We have to close our doors for the busiest week of the year and 'will be opening presents in isolation' …
"We will be seeking justice."
It'll be interesting to follow this story. Exactly what do they mean by "justice?"
"…but obviously unvaccinated people are more likely to get covid in the first place, so have an increased risk of long covid."
What!? Bar a short window measured in some weeks, and as borne out in the scientific literature, vaccinated people are as likely to contract and transmit Covid as the next person. They're probability of getting severely ill or dying is reduced, but of course, contracting the virus is a pre-requisite for that protection kicking in. If protection against infection is the claim, then any potential to suffer less severe symptoms is a moot point..
Ask yourself – why would vaccinated people be urged to get booster shots if vaccinated people were less likely to contract Covid? And why is the interval for receiving those boosters being dropped from six months to three months?
Also, why are people who have not submitted to an m-RNA injection being excluded from society if vaccination confers immunity?
Anyway. My brother in law was double vaccinated and contracted long covid. It's taken him some months to shake off constant tiredness. My sister, who was also double vaccinated got infected too, but for her it was a straight forward matter of letting the infection run its course. My nephew landed somewhere inbetween those two scenarios – ie, he took longer to shake it than his mum did.
Point being that Covid is endemic and everyone is going to catch it just like everyone catches the more common coronaviruses.
If nastier future variants are the concern, then we really, really shouldn't be administering a leaky vaccine on a universal basis. As per Marek's virus, the vaccinated environment is one that pushes the evolution of the virus in different (and potentially very dangerous) ways compared to if the general environment isn't ramped up.
Anyway. Our future freedom is about to down the tubes regardless (or “unless” as the Lorax might say), not because of what Covid does, but because governments are using it as an excuse to lock us into a surveillance state that doles out and takes away access to society via systems of social credit ( ie – the vaccine passport being but step one) driven by widespread and intrusive surveillance sitting on everyday electronic gizmos like personal cell phones.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I'm not willing to let my post on a very serious topic be derailed by another set of round and round, 'choose your own scientist' arguments.
I'm also not willing for people to use my posts to run their own off-topic arguments. There are lots of other places to have those debates.
To give one example,
Ask yourself – why would vaccinated people be urged to get booster shots if vaccinated people were less likely to contract Covid?
Booster shots are recommended because vaccine protection wanes over time. Someone doubled vaxxed two weeks ago has less chance of contracting covid than someone who is unvaxxed. This is not rocket science to understand.
I will edit my post with a reference for the claim about protection, but it's still not an invitation to go off on tangents. I will also post that there.
You are welcome to comment again under my post on the topic of long covid and the precautionary principle. I will expect claims of fact to be referenced with a quote that explains the claims and a link.
Okay Weka. You agreed with all of the points I made insofar they were pertinent to obviously (if unintentionally) misleading claims you made in your post – so much so that you've corrected your post. And yet …
don't actually know what you are saying there, and tbh I can't be bothered with that kind of convoluted way of debating.
I believe that covid vaccines lessen one's chance of getting covid. I will find a link supporting that when I have the time.
You apparently don't believe that, and instead believe that vaccines provide no protection against contracting covid. You can believe whatever you like, but you can't come into my post, assert that with no reference, and then use that as a starting point to run whatever lines you were trying to run. That's part of why I moved the comment.
This seems to be where the 'state of the art' is in denying vaccine protection. Basically people who become infected with covid and people who fight it off can test positive on a PCR test (these are sensitive, not diagnostic). As a result studies identify the symptomatic subjects and PCR test those to measure effectiveness. But this means the studies can't identify the rate of subjects expecting PCR test failures in the wild, which is called no evidence of protection by some.
People with unsymptomatic covid are often not measured by the trials. This is reasonable as these are not the statistics of interest to the trials. But it does give a way for simplistic arguments to be made of the form 'vaccines provide no protection', and yes some further studies refute that as well.
As a side narrative there is the one about PCR test false positives, where the argument is made that PCR tests are not 'diagnostic' so can't tell if someone is infected if they test positive. Of course diagnostic here mean a PCR test can't tell if somebody is (or may get) sick from covid, because unsymptomatic people will have a positive PCR. I no longer consider this 'state of the art' however as it doesn't seem to have convinced many that the positive test numbers are a fiction.
But it does give a way for simplistic arguments to be made of the form 'vaccines provide no protection'
this is the bit I don't get. Can you explain the gap, what's the reasoning that connects asymptomatic aren't in trials and vaccines don't provide protection?
Theres not much to get. What your likely not observing is that the argument doesn't make sense. This does not however mean some won't fall for it.
A more sophisticated way it can be presented is that vaccine trials don't measure how much a subject will be protected from positive PCR tests, and (sometimes unsaid) this is because it offers no protection.
I've heard the similar argument against masks. So apparently because mask use is not as effective, as say a biohazard suit could be, they don't even reduce transmission.
I wonder if there are any other things where people need full perfect categorisation or the categories are considered meaningless.
I've heard the similar argument against masks. So apparently because mask use is not as effective, as say a biohazard suit could be, they don't even reduce transmission.
oh yeah, I've heard that one with vaccines a fair bit too. Reducing risk rather than absolute prevention is somehow now useful.
I picked that it didn't make sense, lol, but just wasn't sure if I was missing something.
A more sophisticated way it can be presented is that vaccine trials don't measure how much a subject will be protected from positive PCR tests, and (sometimes unsaid) this is because it offers no protection.
As an aside, will the vaccine theoretically protect people from asymptomatic covid? I'm not quite sure what the threshold is for 'infection'. Is it by definition the presence of symptoms, or does it include anyone who has covid antibodies or the virus on their nasal cavity?
Some studies in your covid wiki link above support reduced asymptomatic infection also. The standard there is a failed regular PCR test which means some virus in the nasal cavity. This could still happen with the subject having an immediate immune response and beating back the virus. I believe covid antibodies indicate more infected again and symptoms more again so the PCR is the most sensitive test.
Most of the vaccine studies only consider symptoms followed by a positive PCR test as covid positive.
You apparently don't believe that, and instead believe that vaccines provide no protection against contracting covid.
Nope. I haven't ever said that, and beneath your post (in that same comment you shifted) I wrote "Bar a short window measured in some weeks, and as borne out in the scientific literature, vaccinated people are as likely to…" (And I've linked peer reviewed studies illustrating that point for you before. I guess you don't bother to read links people provide?).
I don't read all your comments, that's right. How would I know what you've linked to before.
I still don't know what you are on about and you seem unwilling to clarify, so another good reason to have shifted the conversation here. I'm sure you think you are making sense, but I don't understand what you are meaning if you are not saying that apart from a few weeks the vaccine doesn't lessen the risk contracting covid.
My view is that it does provide more protection than not being vaccinated and I posted links above.
Two things Red. One is I'm reluctant to let people use links in lieu of explanations. People can get away with that more on OM, but I put a lot of effort into that post, it's a long read and I'm not into sound bite responses that require readers to do even more work. If you have a point please make it in the clear.
Two, I can't see the relevance of your links to either the post or Dennis' comment. I'm not willing for that post to become a free ranging covid debate.
The obvious relevance is that there is solid evidence that Vitamin D is highly connected to both COVID and MS. I scarcely thought it necessary to insult our readers intelligence by spelling this out.
And given the remarkable crossover between MS symptoms and Long COVID I’m claiming this is entirely relevant to your post.
seems kind of abstract tbh. If you have some evidence of the role of Vit D in long covid, please post it there. But the point of the post is that there is so much we just don't know yet and we should be using the precautionary principle because of that (not for instance assuming that herd immunity will protect us from long covid, or that vit D will).
"The World Health Organisation has actually come out now with a clinical case definition for long Covid and it's virtually identical for what is accepted for ME/CFS."
I added two formal references that pointed to the Vitamin D signal that both COVID and MS appear to share in common. I'm frankly surprised you find this potential connection 'too abstract'.
Summary: This review shows that there are neuroimmune similarities between MS and ME/CFS. This further substantiates the view that ME/CFS is a neuroimmune illness and that patients with MS are immunologically primed to develop symptoms of ME/CFS.
Couldn't detect relevance of the first, but did so for the second – the question then becomes how much measurable improvement of immune system function correlates with levels of supplementary Vit D intake. Seems a worthy task for public health scientists to investigate…
With over 99% of ballots counted, Boric, 35, who leads a broad leftist coalition, had 55.86% of the vote, compared with 44.14% for far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast, who conceded defeat. “I just spoke to @gabrielboric and congratulated him on his great success,” Kast said on Twitter. “From today he is the elected President of Chile and he deserves all our respect and constructive collaboration. Chile is always first.”
Excellent role model for right wing political leaders! Kast had been framed as a Pinochet clone. Clearly more to the guy than that. Real fascists never concede common ground – because they are incapable of discerning it.
I hope Mr Boric is paying attention to Peru, where the President elected with a similar Marxist-Leninist Party platform walked most of it back pretty quickly.
They are both promising to regulate massive oil and gas companies, both promising massive social reform.
The cute line from Mr Boric in his campaign was: “Chile was the birthplace of neoliberalism in South America and it will be its grave.”
At 35 it reminded me a lot of the reformist promise of Jacinda Ardern in 2017.
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New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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An Auckland Pacifica politician and a Maori health researcher say the Childhood vaccine roll-out, must prioritise South Auckland
A lot is resting on this tragic case of a Maori child's death in South Auckland. In my opinion, the government would be terribly remiss if it didn't take seriously councillor Efeso Collins' and health researcher Dr Rawiri Taonui' call for the government to prioritise the children of South Auckland for the childhood vaccine roll out.
Not convinced this is a good idea. The vaccine rollout will depend on the uptake for this age group. Thats already likely to be lower than 90% of older age groups due to parental hesitancy. But if the govt has wrong preconceptions about where the uptake will be then this can only result in vaccines being available where they are not being used. Uptake should actually be driving how many doses are delivered and where.
It would also seem to be a loss politically if the government is needing to prioritise vaccines to some places over others.
I would've thought prioritising South Auckland would save lives. But I guess if the political loss is too great…
Hows it expected to save lives? Are we expecting to have a shortfall of pedeatric vaccines? Or will South Auckland be particularly keen for their young ones to be vaccinated.
Older prioratisation concept was about slightly younger categories for Maori, which could have made sense, but 5 to 11 is the age category left.
And I'm leaving out the tricky bit, the pedeatric vaccination program may be about public health more than direct benefits to children. This is similar to the MMR vaccine in NZ. AFAIK the studies show only slight benefit for childhood vaccination at best.
Waitangi Tribunal rules that vaccine roll out inequitable. ("breached equity")
After hearing the testimony of Maori health professionals, data experts and health providers, the Waitangi Tribunal has ruled that by not prioritising vulnerable communities, the vaccine roll-out violated the principals of the Treaty for “political convenience”. The Tribunal also ruled that the government needed to publicly defend this position against any ‘backlash’.
Will the government heed the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal?
NZer, Should "a loss politically for the government to prioritise vaccines to some places over others" be balanced against preventing uneccesary illness and possibly deaths, in vulnerable communities?
Or, NZer, do you think the government should prioritise avoiding 'political loss/public backlash'?
The Tribunal ruled that the government had an ethical and moral duty to defend these choices against unreasonable public backlash. (political loss).
NZer, do you disagree with the Tribunal that, that would be the couragous moral and ethical thing for the government to do?
The Whanganui DHB prioritised Māori health providers. They were the first to offer vaccines to the group 2 cohort outside of the workplace – at risk Māori, older Māori being cared for by whānau, and anyone over 12 in their household. Outreach services vaccinated in remote and rural Māori communities. When group 3 vaccinations began Māori and PI folk over 50 and anyone 12 and older in their household were included.
This twit knew this.
https://twitter.com/whaeadeb/status/1469597110815182849
On the same thread
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHBsZqAVIAQFpRu?format=jpg&name=medium
So when the vaccines are delivered they need to be administered to 5 to 11 year olds, with parental permission. How (other than where appointments indicate) should these be made available?
So obviously the Waitangi tribunal has some opinions that prioritising differently (by slightly younger maori categories?) could have been better than the existing policy of accepting whole families, rather than sticking to age categories.
But there is apparently an obvious way to improve outcomes here with some alternative prioratisation of pediatric vaccination, and its going to save lives, and some of us don't know what that life saving prioratisation looks like. Do share, don't keep us in the dark.
Kāinga Ora need to kick these people out. Losing their state house is the only consequence they will understand. You can issue them as many warnings as you like but they are not going to change.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ex-skinhead-white-supremacist-in-state-house-terrorising-christchurch-neighbours/YHFAOCMQSF3FVT5A4EZKVEDRDE/
Damn straight, as my son would say.
There is an interactive tool in the linked article allowing you to enter age, and it shows deaths per 100k of vaccinated and un vaccinated. (You need to scroll down away)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/127300075/covid19-nz-the-prochoice-argument-against-vaccines-explained
eg
Per 100k
Age Unvac Vac
20-24,
Unvac 10
Vac .6
50-54
unvac 290
vac 17.4
70-74
Unv 4000
vac 240
Sorry abt the layout.
and I cant find a link to the table.
The public service had a historical problem of promoting the wrong people to management, according to Victoria University School of Management senior lecturer Geoff Plimmer. Do we have credible evidence that this behaviour has ceased? I thought not.
Well obviously the ministry would seek to have it both ways. Public service thought.
Guerilla warfare between whistleblowers & managers seems to have become endemic. I presume that's due to the sense of entitlement bred into management ethos. Persistence of neo-colonialist attitudes breeds toxicity into the stew.
Over the past couple of weeks there have been dire predictions from opposition leaders (Luxon, Seymour) about chaos on the roads in Northland. Supported by several crystal ball gazers commenting on here: we were in for hours of delays if we're lucky, race riots if we're not.
Reality update … sorry to disappoint. Not happening. Not even close.
Sensible people in behaving sensibly shock!
Police also thanked the Te Tai Tokerau Border Control for their assistance in running the checkpoints. “The support of our partners has been extremely helpful in helping to keep our communities safe and we are grateful for their ongoing support.”
Spoilsports!
Once again, the doom prophets of the right have been proved wrong.
When will we stop giving them air/print/blog time?
Rhetorical question. While we have a Murdock type media.
This probably helped:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/upset-hone-harawira-claims-police-vetted-iwi-led-checkpoint-group-members.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Harawira said, however, “we’ve had to stand down about half of our people” from helping to provide that protection following the vetting process.
“That’s really killed us,” he told Morning Report on Wednesday.
“Our people, over the last 18-20 months, have included bus drivers, gang members, doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers – all sorts of people. Now, all of a sudden at the last minute, it got dropped on us that everyone had to be vetted.”
Absolutely.
I am one of the people who certainly predicted chaos. That is because the iwi had stated categorically that every car would be stopped and it seemed that it was iwi, not the police who were calling the shots. As it transpired, a decision by the police to vet the iwi volunteers reduced the volunteer group by a significant percentage, leaving the police totally in control. I drove through the checkpoint on Thursday and was waved through by the police, as were the vast majority of cars heading North, and so there was no backlog. So … well done to the police for the application of common sense.
Yip and every one is happy, except pucky ,Jimmy, and of course national themed prefer chaos so they can score petty points.
Hone Harawira’s not happy – see below.
Is he ever!!
Well I'm happy that the unvetted were kicked out, that gang members weren't taking number plates and finding out where people were going and when they'll be back, that there won't be long delays, that groups can't suddenly decide to take over core government responsibilites
So yeah pretty happy
Were gang members "kicked out", Pucky?
You'll have some factual information to share with us, surely?
Do you enjoy being obtuse for the sake of it?
Harawira said, however, “we’ve had to stand down about half of our people” from helping to provide that protection following the vetting process.
“That’s really killed us,” he told Morning Report on Wednesday.
“Our people, over the last 18-20 months, have included bus drivers, gang members, doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers – all sorts of people. Now, all of a sudden at the last minute, it got dropped on us that everyone had to be vetted.”
Yes I'm going to out on a limb and suggest that some of the people stood down may have been gang members
Some may have, been, yes.
Your gang-member fears are somewhat inflated, but nevertheless, it's good that you're pretty happy.
Hone isn't. He cries "racism" and I don't doubt he's right.
If what he says is true then near half his people failed (or wouldn't pass) the police vetting, doesn't that bother you in the slightest?
'Hone isn't. He cries "racism" and I don't doubt he's right.'
I doubt it very much.
Whenever an activist cries racism then theres a pretty good chance it isn't racism.
Crying racism is, fortunately, starting to lose its power because it isn't being used to point out racism but instead its used for other reasons
Same experience, i guess once the criminals , ex criminals , and the racist harawira were weeded out, things went smoothly, same on my return trip
Wow!
A confluence of Hone-haters!
Choice!
I don’t think Hone was weeded out? Haven’t heard specifically that he was.
True enough Gezza, I dont know that either, my mistake.
Should "ex criminals" be "weeded out"?
If so, why?
They're "ex".
That is, no longer.
I prefer not to be stopped by criminals current or ex.
Not the forgiving type then?
I prefer to not to be stopped by criminals, current or ex. Nothing more or less. If you wish to surmise, have at it, im not interested in your opinion.
But
More…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-variant-northland-checkpoint-advocate-hone-harawira-lashes-out-at-nz-police/44AHRGX6URSB3TM3MD2RQOOZAQ/
Well, it's Hone isn't it? Pretty typical for him to complain loudly to the media and keep his public profile high.
I bet the police hierarchy blindsided him! It would have been elementary courtesy to inform him of the vetting in advance. Instead he got informed "with about 20 minutes notice before the checkpoint opened that the majority of volunteers had been rejected by police because they had not passed a vetting process."
Important for the cops to send the message to the heartland that they retain power & control over the restless natives. Otherwise folks would get the silly idea that there's some kind of racial partnership going on… 🙄
"folks would get the silly idea that there's some kind of racial partnership going on"
Elegantly-put, Dennis.
Ah yes, just anyone can man checkpoints with the power to stop the public and check their private data.
Would have thought that it was elementary of hone with all his work in community groups to understand the law and the expectations around volunteers
I agree. Vetting is basic practice now. That said, there is likely to be bias in the practice and differing views of what is fair and appropriate. Hone will be more sensitive to the details of that than most of us here are. If Hone hadn't considered the requirement, or the police hadn't made their needs known in a timely manner, anguish would have resulted.
Never-the-less, it all seems to be working well.
The removal of fixed checkpoints altogether is working very well from what I hear
Responding to the critique, Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill noted that there was a short timeframe to establish a vetting process but that it was vital to the endeavour.
The Covid-19 Public Health Response Act required all of those working on the checkpoint line alongside police to be vetted,” he said. “Those who did not pass vetting were able to work as TBC volunteers in other support roles and were not interacting with the public.”
Police commander seems to have assumed Hone was familiar with the act, and didn't bother explaining the requirements to him.
Yeah, because, it's extremely unlikely there's be any sort of miscommunication between the police and Maori over an issue like this…
…so there was no need to take extra care… right?
Hone’s familiar enuf with the rules & regs to know he can accuse the police of racism for any who failed the vetting process because they are not allowed to disclose the reasons any were. Although I think it would behove the fuzz to give a summary of reasons why some people were declined authorisation without identifying individuals. If Hone & Reuben & other iwi members were staffing the checkpoints that indicates racism wasn’t the problem.
I have it on good authority from a Māori friend up North that Hone quietly does a lot of sterling community work for his community up there – both Māori & Pākehā – and I have no reason to doubt that. But he also gives me the impression that he’s always too ready to play the race card, which he knows the media will breathlessly rush to report, merely as a way to keep his profile high, especially among Māori.
Hone calls out racism confidently, because he knows exactly what it is and recognises it immediately he sees it.
Those of us less exposed to racism, and less aware of it's qualities, often can't see it very well.
Even his fellow Ngāpuhi activist David Rankin once said Harawira was “playing the race card every time he wants to ‘create a smoke screen for other issues'”.
He’s fired off plenty of ill-tempered racial slurs against Pākehā in his time He’s even famously accepted that he’s prejudiced. When he so quickly accuses others of racism, I think Hone’s often just projecting, or he’s just peed off at not getting his own way.
"Prejudiced" and "racist" are not the same thing.
Hone owns to being prejudiced, but cannot be racist 🙂
In any case, I accept his views on these issues, given his long, detailed and intense involvement in them.
Uh huh.
I’ll go with David Rankin, who has much experience of Hone, & with Reuben Taipari, who hasn’t reported any “racism” by police.
The wind has been ramping up in North Welly all day & there’s now a howling Norwesterly gale blowing & rattling the windows & doors. I’ll be interested to see what the damage is & what the highest velocity recorded was tomorrow. Because of its topography, Wellington city will be getting even harder hit than we are, from past experience.
Time for me to make snack – a freshly-baked cheese roll with canola/butter blend, sliced roast pork, fresh coleslaw, sliced tomato & a cheese slice.
Toodles 👋🏼
Just for my own edification, what is the point where hone needs to take responsibility for his workforce and the laws around their operation?
Actually your buying into media fiction. Hone said the police only completed vetting about 20 minutes in advance, but the vetting info would have been handed over to police days to a week prior to that.
Humour me please.
at what point is hone responsible for his workforce?
Well with most organisations that would be when he instructs them to do something illegal. So far this seems to be working very legally however.
I don't think I understand the question because my impression is these checkpoints have been well run, but not every volunteer was allowed to help, not that they have done anything dodgy.
Instructs them to do something illegal…..
that’s not really how employer culpability works, even for volunteer and not for profit orgs.
as for the checkpoints working well? Well for 5 days until the 24hr annoyance kicked in
You think Hone should be held responsible for them not doing anything illegal?
As the bird bot pointed out above, it’s illegal to not be vetted and working on the checkpoint, according to the law passed by majority labour government
Didn't they follow that? I thought that was why they all needed to be vetted?
The gist so far seems to be that omicron spreads faster than delta but consequent illness isn't so much of a threat. So from a public health perspective, authorities will need to focus on the percentage likely to end up in hospital – most of whom due to aggravation or compounding of effects from existing medical conditions, I suspect.
Josh Van Veen has a Masters in Politics from the University of Auckland & is a refugee from NZFirst.
Divide & rule is traditional, inherited from empire. Can't really blame Labour for defaulting to it – but he's having a go.
Or she may view the divide between security & freedom as a path that may be walked with balance & poise. Like the one along a high-wire. A challenge to be finessed. Still, he makes a valid point. Things could get too difficult for her & resignation to prioritise motherhood could open up less onerous career options for the future for her as well.
Somebody totally irrelevant speculates pointlessly.
Promulgating the "Ardern will quit" myth is a popular parlour game among those who have misunderstood Ardern for 4 years, contrary to all evidence.
The neoliberal right wing pundit class reminds me of the parable of the tribe which had an idol sitting high on an altar. They had been taught, and come to believe, that the idol was permanent, immovable and they had to worship it, because the idol was the embodiment of all immutable truth. Then one day there was a loud rumbling, and the permanent and immovable idol fell of it's altar and hit the ground with a gigantic crack. There was a terrible silence. The tribe shuffled their feet and looked at one another and didn't know what to think. Eventually, some members of the tribe, embarrased and baffled, picked up the cracked idol and put it back on the altar, and they all went back to worshipping it because they couldn't think what else to do.
The idol is of course the heartless class war of right wing neoliberal managerialism as represented by John Key's National. The loud rumbling covid. 2020 was the period of silence, as the Labour government managed covid adroitly and in the interests of everyone in the country. 2021 was the year the right wing pundits put the cracked idol back up on the altar, because they didn't know what else to do when their particular set of class, race and economic assumptions which they had elevated to fundametal principles of reality turned out to be merely a description of the way the economy and society had been run for a number of years.
I like the story!! Human nature in a nutshell.
good one sanctuary. you and observer are voices of reason amongst the static.
A great analogy, especially after hearing just two minutes of Chris's half-hour ramble with Kerre through the sunny uplands of focus and success going forward. Seeing made it even more challenging, he speaks as fast with similar patterns as his script prompt person.
If it's hard for an individual to change their mind and admit failure, it's almost impossible for a group to do this without falling apart.
https://nav.al/failure
Sounds like the government.
Show me one back slapping incident Gypsy… just one.
This was the part my comment related to:
There were a lot of high-sounding mission statements and vision statements, a lot of congratulations, a lot of nice dinners—but nothing ever got done.
I can give you plenty of examples if you like. The greatest disappointment about this government is what it could have achieved and hasn't.
If omicron turns out to be less lethal and disabling, there is still the issue of how fast it spreads. Fast spread means more cases, means more pressure on the health system and potentially more deaths if we reach over flow.
Fast spread means more cases, means more pressure on the health system and potentially more deaths if we reach over flow.
Yes that was the same reason for the original 'flatten the curve' logic that justified the first lockdowns in 2020. It was a valid reasoning then, and would seem to apply to Omicron now.
But leaping from this to 'eliminating Omicron' is not so reasonable. Given COVID in one form or another is now endemic globally, and NZ is about as vaccinated as it's ever going to get (booster shots aside) – the only reason for continued control measures now is to buy time to gain a more certain understanding of Omicron and for Delta to be eliminated everywhere else.
Then we will have reached another decision point that will be an interesting political test.
is anyone talking about eliminating omicron?
I'd rather eliminate the Necronomicon if we can
Make what you will of this from Bloomfield:
The Director General of Health could hardly be expected to express any other opinion….and no one really expects him to.
Indeed he would be widely castigated should he say anything other.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300482084/hundreds-face-christmas-in-quarantine-in-south-australia-after-teen-with-covid19-parties-at-club
"Christmas is supposed to be a time to celebrate with family and loved ones, however, because of the actions of one selfish person, that won’t be the case for many," Loverboy said in a statement.
"We have to close our doors for the busiest week of the year and 'will be opening presents in isolation' …
"We will be seeking justice."
It'll be interesting to follow this story. Exactly what do they mean by "justice?"
I suspect what they can do is…absolutely nothing.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/marokopa-family-missing-again-tom-phillips-and-his-children-havent-been-seen-for-a-week/FJCUY5RR5MG7NTVX6Z4L6NHWZU/
What is going on here?
Well I hope for the kids sake they do not get in to serious difficulties, as I assume they will be hesitant to launch helicopters and search parties.
Is the father the "full quid" as they say?
Untreated mental illness maybe?
Then it needs to be sorted, especially after the first episode, and he should be allowed only closely supervised access to the kids.
Somethings definately up
I'll bugger off with the kids again and that'll really worry her, again. Maybe?
Looks like mental health issues,pressures of life.
Last time everyone came out good.
We just need a bad weather event which have been happening to make it a disaster.
This is no good for anyone, what powers do the authorities have to step in situations like this?
Not often I totally agree with Chris Trotter.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-longest-year.html
Man shouts at cloud.
He's made good points about the medias behaviour that nothing will be done about.
+100
"…but obviously unvaccinated people are more likely to get covid in the first place, so have an increased risk of long covid."
What!? Bar a short window measured in some weeks, and as borne out in the scientific literature, vaccinated people are as likely to contract and transmit Covid as the next person. They're probability of getting severely ill or dying is reduced, but of course, contracting the virus is a pre-requisite for that protection kicking in. If protection against infection is the claim, then any potential to suffer less severe symptoms is a moot point..
Ask yourself – why would vaccinated people be urged to get booster shots if vaccinated people were less likely to contract Covid? And why is the interval for receiving those boosters being dropped from six months to three months?
Also, why are people who have not submitted to an m-RNA injection being excluded from society if vaccination confers immunity?
Anyway. My brother in law was double vaccinated and contracted long covid. It's taken him some months to shake off constant tiredness. My sister, who was also double vaccinated got infected too, but for her it was a straight forward matter of letting the infection run its course. My nephew landed somewhere inbetween those two scenarios – ie, he took longer to shake it than his mum did.
Point being that Covid is endemic and everyone is going to catch it just like everyone catches the more common coronaviruses.
If nastier future variants are the concern, then we really, really shouldn't be administering a leaky vaccine on a universal basis. As per Marek's virus, the vaccinated environment is one that pushes the evolution of the virus in different (and potentially very dangerous) ways compared to if the general environment isn't ramped up.
Anyway. Our future freedom is about to down the tubes regardless (or “unless” as the Lorax might say), not because of what Covid does, but because governments are using it as an excuse to lock us into a surveillance state that doles out and takes away access to society via systems of social credit ( ie – the vaccine passport being but step one) driven by widespread and intrusive surveillance sitting on everyday electronic gizmos like personal cell phones.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I'm not willing to let my post on a very serious topic be derailed by another set of round and round, 'choose your own scientist' arguments.
I'm also not willing for people to use my posts to run their own off-topic arguments. There are lots of other places to have those debates.
To give one example,
Booster shots are recommended because vaccine protection wanes over time. Someone doubled vaxxed two weeks ago has less chance of contracting covid than someone who is unvaxxed. This is not rocket science to understand.
I will edit my post with a reference for the claim about protection, but it's still not an invitation to go off on tangents. I will also post that there.
You are welcome to comment again under my post on the topic of long covid and the precautionary principle. I will expect claims of fact to be referenced with a quote that explains the claims and a link.
Okay Weka. You agreed with all of the points I made insofar they were pertinent to obviously (if unintentionally) misleading claims you made in your post – so much so that you've corrected your post. And yet …
Ah well.
don't actually know what you are saying there, and tbh I can't be bothered with that kind of convoluted way of debating.
I believe that covid vaccines lessen one's chance of getting covid. I will find a link supporting that when I have the time.
You apparently don't believe that, and instead believe that vaccines provide no protection against contracting covid. You can believe whatever you like, but you can't come into my post, assert that with no reference, and then use that as a starting point to run whatever lines you were trying to run. That's part of why I moved the comment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine_clinical_research#Effectiveness
One of Wikipedia's references shows declining effectiveness against infection from delta, not that there is protection
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7037e1.htm?s_cid=mm7037e1_w
This seems to be where the 'state of the art' is in denying vaccine protection. Basically people who become infected with covid and people who fight it off can test positive on a PCR test (these are sensitive, not diagnostic). As a result studies identify the symptomatic subjects and PCR test those to measure effectiveness. But this means the studies can't identify the rate of subjects expecting PCR test failures in the wild, which is called no evidence of protection by some.
Not following that.
People with symptomless covid aren’t included in vaccine trials? And?
People with unsymptomatic covid are often not measured by the trials. This is reasonable as these are not the statistics of interest to the trials. But it does give a way for simplistic arguments to be made of the form 'vaccines provide no protection', and yes some further studies refute that as well.
As a side narrative there is the one about PCR test false positives, where the argument is made that PCR tests are not 'diagnostic' so can't tell if someone is infected if they test positive. Of course diagnostic here mean a PCR test can't tell if somebody is (or may get) sick from covid, because unsymptomatic people will have a positive PCR. I no longer consider this 'state of the art' however as it doesn't seem to have convinced many that the positive test numbers are a fiction.
this is the bit I don't get. Can you explain the gap, what's the reasoning that connects asymptomatic aren't in trials and vaccines don't provide protection?
Theres not much to get. What your likely not observing is that the argument doesn't make sense. This does not however mean some won't fall for it.
A more sophisticated way it can be presented is that vaccine trials don't measure how much a subject will be protected from positive PCR tests, and (sometimes unsaid) this is because it offers no protection.
I've heard the similar argument against masks. So apparently because mask use is not as effective, as say a biohazard suit could be, they don't even reduce transmission.
I wonder if there are any other things where people need full perfect categorisation or the categories are considered meaningless.
oh yeah, I've heard that one with vaccines a fair bit too. Reducing risk rather than absolute prevention is somehow now useful.
I picked that it didn't make sense, lol, but just wasn't sure if I was missing something.
As an aside, will the vaccine theoretically protect people from asymptomatic covid? I'm not quite sure what the threshold is for 'infection'. Is it by definition the presence of symptoms, or does it include anyone who has covid antibodies or the virus on their nasal cavity?
Some studies in your covid wiki link above support reduced asymptomatic infection also. The standard there is a failed regular PCR test which means some virus in the nasal cavity. This could still happen with the subject having an immediate immune response and beating back the virus. I believe covid antibodies indicate more infected again and symptoms more again so the PCR is the most sensitive test.
Most of the vaccine studies only consider symptoms followed by a positive PCR test as covid positive.
People misrepresent that as meaning a vaccine does nothing useful.
You apparently don't believe that, and instead believe that vaccines provide no protection against contracting covid.
Nope. I haven't ever said that, and beneath your post (in that same comment you shifted) I wrote "Bar a short window measured in some weeks, and as borne out in the scientific literature, vaccinated people are as likely to…" (And I've linked peer reviewed studies illustrating that point for you before. I guess you don't bother to read links people provide?).
I don't read all your comments, that's right. How would I know what you've linked to before.
I still don't know what you are on about and you seem unwilling to clarify, so another good reason to have shifted the conversation here. I'm sure you think you are making sense, but I don't understand what you are meaning if you are not saying that apart from a few weeks the vaccine doesn't lessen the risk contracting covid.
My view is that it does provide more protection than not being vaccinated and I posted links above.
Oh look:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4727614/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5990512/
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Two things Red. One is I'm reluctant to let people use links in lieu of explanations. People can get away with that more on OM, but I put a lot of effort into that post, it's a long read and I'm not into sound bite responses that require readers to do even more work. If you have a point please make it in the clear.
Two, I can't see the relevance of your links to either the post or Dennis' comment. I'm not willing for that post to become a free ranging covid debate.
The obvious relevance is that there is solid evidence that Vitamin D is highly connected to both COVID and MS. I scarcely thought it necessary to insult our readers intelligence by spelling this out.
And given the remarkable crossover between MS symptoms and Long COVID I’m claiming this is entirely relevant to your post.
seems kind of abstract tbh. If you have some evidence of the role of Vit D in long covid, please post it there. But the point of the post is that there is so much we just don't know yet and we should be using the precautionary principle because of that (not for instance assuming that herd immunity will protect us from long covid, or that vit D will).
Dennis Frank quoted WHO with:
I added two formal references that pointed to the Vitamin D signal that both COVID and MS appear to share in common. I'm frankly surprised you find this potential connection 'too abstract'.
Dennis: doctor in this link says case definitions of LC and ME are almost identical
Red: here are some links saying something about covid and a fourth illness (MS) both having something to do with vit D
Still don’t get it sorry.
The symptoms of ME/CFS and MS are very similar – and although they're categorised as different illnesses, they share a great deal in common.
I don't think they're that similar, but that does explain your thinking better, thanks.
Couldn't detect relevance of the first, but did so for the second – the question then becomes how much measurable improvement of immune system function correlates with levels of supplementary Vit D intake. Seems a worthy task for public health scientists to investigate…
Left win the so called-'Communism vs Fascism' election in Chile.
'We did it!' Chile's Boric seals leftist revival with election win (shorenewsnetwork.com)
Excellent role model for right wing political leaders! Kast had been framed as a Pinochet clone. Clearly more to the guy than that. Real fascists never concede common ground – because they are incapable of discerning it.
Yes agree this is a great win.
I hope Mr Boric is paying attention to Peru, where the President elected with a similar Marxist-Leninist Party platform walked most of it back pretty quickly.
They are both promising to regulate massive oil and gas companies, both promising massive social reform.
The cute line from Mr Boric in his campaign was: “Chile was the birthplace of neoliberalism in South America and it will be its grave.”
At 35 it reminded me a lot of the reformist promise of Jacinda Ardern in 2017.