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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The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
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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.
Parlour game lol
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.