The jab is not a silver bullet!

I don't think that the government and other commentators do themselves any good when they say we need to keep on with restrictions for "the foreseeable future" or for a "wee while yet". What's the "forseeable future"? A month? A year? Forever?

BigBertha1 you just posted that we need to do this until the "distant future". Does that mean lockdown forever or does it maybe mean wearing a mask if you've got a cold?

The uncertainty about all this is bound to lead to people being confused.

We all need to be patient and carry on with the restrictions even after having the vaccine. If everyone does this until a good proportion of the population has been vaccinated then brighter days could be ahead.
If people start meeting up with others again we may be in lockdown for a much longer time.

Alegrias I think they say forseeable future because that is exactly what they mean. Nobody has any idea how long precautions will need to stay in place.

I heard an interview this morning on the radio with a scientist in charge of epidemiology research. He said that it might be that masks become a very ordinary part of life in the future. He cited the Chinese (yes, I know they started it!) who have continued wearing masks years after the SARS epidemic made them a requirement. As a result, their numbers of Covid victims, as in other Far Eastern countries where mask-wearing is normal, are lower than in Europe.

it has been made quite clear that after having the vaccine you must continue with the precautions to keep safe.

The "forseeable future"? will be until we are told otherwise, of course.

I know that nobody can define how long we have to keep on with the restrictions. But when they say there will be restrictions for the foreseeable future, the optimist will think that means masks when you have a cold, and the pessimist will think we're going to be in lockdown forever more. I have a look at Mumsnet sometimes and there are posters on there who think this is going to be our lives forever. I don't think its good for anybody's mental health. But I don't know what the answer is.

It's true that nobody can give a definitive answer to "how long" but I do think not being able to give any indication facilitates a "might as well give up" sort of mentality. I for one don't want to live out my days never hugging my grandchildren and children again. I'm happy to adopt mask wearing if I'm ill with a cold or the like, help to stop the spread. I'd imagine mask wearing (besides lockdowns) has been a contributor to the drastically reduced flu numbers this year. We have to be sensible and not rush things, but equally we do need to have confidence there will be a "normal" life again. I was reading that children are self-harming as young as 10, what price their mental health!

Rosie51 totally agree with your comments although not obvious on GN but people are getting restless and need a future to look forward to.
Some may be happy to be locked down for an indefinite period but it's not sustainable and life must eventually resume. We have to live with covid but cannot stay in hiding forever.

I had mine a week ago , I was given a leaflet saying that we still need to take the same precautions
Mask , hand wash and social distancing

At last - I've had my invite and booked myself in. I know we have to wait two weeks for it to take effect.

Still, it's a weight off my mind to know that I should be safer by March - brilliant!

Hetty I was told by my GP tonight, that it takes three weeks.

I was told that when I had mine, too.

Glad to hear you've been "done", Marydoll

When case numbers went down in the summer we were told we still have to have restrictions.
For months we have been looking forward to having a vaccine so that we could get out of this mess. Now we have vaccine but we are told we still have to have restrictions.
We are told we have to prevent ourselves from getting ill so that the hospitals aren't overwhelmed. But when hospital numbers come down we still have to have restrictions.

Does no-one else see a pattern emerging and realise:

THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO LET US OUT.

Well at least you are being told something. Our government here in Australia has told us nothing and we haven’t even got the vaccine yet. Very frustrating to say the least. It is starting to spread again because they are letting infected people through the airports and the hotel quarantine system isn’t adequate.

There's nothing to gain by letting up on restrictions too soon.

It's been so long because of easing restrictions too soon, not enforcing quarantine, allowing pubs to open... it just prolongs it, ultimately.

nanna8 if your super strict system doesn’t work, we’ve got no chance!

I've been volunteering at a Vaccination hub and I'm totally aghast at the attitude of some people. On several occasions I've witnessed men and women remove their masks almost immediately after having the vaccine and whilst still in the building saying " thank heavens for that, back to normal now"! Seriously, how stupid can some people be? This is NOT a quick fix, we still have to socially distance and wear a face covering! But it has been said before, you can't educate stupid!

Fines and social disapproval seem to work on the whole here but some states are freer than others. I am in the fiercest state as regards lockdowns (Victoria) but I really don’t recommend it. It has been incredibly nasty.

Cannot believe there are still people on this planet who do not know of the vaccine kick in policies. We are bombarded with this information. Some may choose to ignore it, unfortunately. These people are always with us but we have to tread our own path of self preservation. My go to guru is Dr Chris Smith. He gave a very interesting pointer recently regarding the importance of fresh air, not using aerosols and closing toilet seat before flushing as being way more important than hand washing and surface wiping down. No, not that the latter are unimportant but way down the pecking list by comparison. Interesting how we all opt for different 'specialists' to put our trust in. Guess some just resonate more than others.

I have just heard Boris Johnson refer to the vaccine as an immunity!!
Johnson is a massive hindrance to the UK's covid awareness.

Surely, once the majority of people have been vaccinated we will be able to be much more normal or else there's no real point to doing it.

If we might catch the illness but not be seriously ill, then its dangerousness has been downgraded and we can be less terrified and less cautious.

I certainly won't be flinging my mask aside and rushing into socialising but I will be expecting a bit more normality in the coming months.

They are never going to let us out

What rubbish! Do you really think the government want us to stay like this forever? Of course not! I’m sure they want things back to normal as soon as possible, but it will take time, even with the vaccine.

Obviously they are waiting for infection rates to reduce but I did think this morning that apart from health care workers most of the population that is in general out and about working are not yet vaccinated

And why do you surmise ‘they’re never going to let us out’ GrannyRose13?

rosie1959

Obviously they are waiting for infection rates to reduce but I did think this morning that apart from health care workers most of the population that is in general out and about working are not yet vaccinated

I think equally important is that they are expecting the hospitalisation and death rates to reduce. The quickest way to do that is to protect those who are most likely to die or get serious illness, and that is the older and clinically vulnerable.

Alegrias1 yes of course this is important too I did notice on a news briefing last week that there were many hospital admissions in the groups 50 to 69 so obviously the quicker they get on with cohort 5 to 9 the better