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The HfP chat thread – Monday 28th June

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Comments (507)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Rob says:
    28 Jun28 June 07:55

    Yes, unfortunately.

  • mike says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:18

    When will the red/amber/green ranking of countries end? July 19?

    • Harry T says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:27

      We should be so lucky. No one knows but I suspect the confusing and whimsical classification system will continue for the foreseeable future.

      • meta says:
        28 Jun28 June 08:38

        Probably until everyone in the world has been offered vaccine, but progressively we might move towards mainly a red list.

    • Chris Heyes says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:47

      probably 2022/2023 ?

    • Anna says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:13

      And whether we will be allowed into these countries without quarantine is a whole other issue!

    • Andrew says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:55

      Basically travel for the remainder of our lifetimes will be more complicated than it was before.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:09

        Unless you’re 85 I don’t think so.

        • Jake says:
          28 Jun28 June 15:16

          @TG You ‘didn’t think’ a vaccine would be available until at least late 2021, so I’ll take it with a pinch of salt.

      • Lord Doncaster says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:28

        I don’t think this will be an issue for years and years. Even Singapore is preparing to “live with covid” and has plans to abandon quarantine and entry restrictions

  • Lottie says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:28

    I wondered if it’s possible for anyone that’s travelled recently to put my mind at rest on my testing strategy as I’m stressing as It’s down to me to get it right! We are going to Malta, with a child under 12.
    From UK – adults all fully vaccinated – waiting for confirmation that we still need a PCR test before travel . Our son definitely does. Express test at Gatwick £60
    Arriving UK – all of us need a antigen test. Take it in our suitcase from Qured £39
    Day 2 – all to have Randox test £48.00
    Total £147 each less the BA discounts.
    Does this sound right? Sorry for the long post and thank you!

  • Rhys says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:51

    I’ll be in Mallorca for the next four days and Ibiza for two after that. Anyone have any recommendations for activities, restaurants, etc?

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:01

      Hire a jetski and go around the Island, looks like great fun. Think there is also a Tourist submarine, covid permitting, which might be fun…

    • Yuff says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:07

      Are you staying around Palma?
      Rob knows where I am if you are near me, I mentioned it to him when we had a drink at the Domes of Elounda at October half term, he got the good weather 😀😀😀

    • James says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:21

      Go to menorca as well :p

    • EDT says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:37

      On Ibiza, the restaurants Cas Pages and La Paloma are well worth a visit.

    • Pete M says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:41

      We really enjoyed the electric wooden train to Soller from Palma and the tram onwards to Port de Soller a few weeks back. It’s a whole day affair, but both towns are super lovely: http://trendesoller.com/en/

    • Simon says:
      28 Jun28 June 10:36

      Bar Abaco in the centre of Palma is great for a few drinks. Last time I was there rose petals were falling from the ceiling and an opera singer was in full swing. Forn de Sant Joan is a 10 second walk from there for a very good meal. Marc Fosh is an Englishman with 1 michelin star if you fancy a tasting menu blowout…. A day at Puro Beach club to recover can also hit the spot.

    • Tazzy says:
      28 Jun28 June 11:46

      Marc Fosh in palma. Also kurbota and vandal in palma excellent

    • jj says:
      28 Jun28 June 13:13

      Hire a bike. There’s a reason that Mallorca is the biggest cycling destination in Europe.

      It’s probably too hot to appreciate the mountain roads or the famous descent to Sa Calobra. So pootle gently through the lanes in the pancake-flat south past poppy fields, olive groves, citrus plantations and ancient woodland. Stop for beer and tapas in some of the beautiful historic towns like Petra, Arts, Felanatix or Pollensa (not to be confused with the seaside resort). If you’re fairly fit, cycle up to any one of the half-dozen mountain-top.monasteries to take in the view.

    • Patrycja says:
      28 Jun28 June 17:29

      I’m going to Ibiza on Sunday 🥳

      Here’s restaurant recommendations from my Spanish friend who goes to Ibiza a lot: S’escalinata, Can Terra Ibiza, Bide bide, Restaurante Sa Nansa, La cava

    • Rhys says:
      28 Jun28 June 18:29

      Thanks for all the recommendations!

    • @mkcol says:
      28 Jun28 June 22:37

      Pop to Formentera if you have the time. Gorgeous wee island.

  • Paul says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:57

    British Airways have spent the weekend cutting their July schedule with Italy particularly badly hit (well for me anyway) but even domestic services have been culled.
    Understandable given the restrictions on coming home but the Italians have also stopped UK nationals entering irrespective of vaccination status until the end of July, similarly understandable.

    All rather depressing.

    • Anna says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:16

      Stopped them entering or just imposed 5 day quarantine?

      • paul says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:21

        Its the same thing if your are a tourist as opposed to VFR or a national.

        But I genuinely don’t blame them, I wouldn’t want the residents of a plague ridden island, that had again lost control of its infection rate, entering my country when I had began to address the issues as well as much of Europe has.

        • Sam G says:
          28 Jun28 June 09:29

          Italy particularly has got their daily rate right down and without traditional links to the delta hot spots should be able to hold off a surge for a good while whilst they carry on vaccinating – only ~30% fully vaccinated, so I can’t blame them. 5 days quarantine is a pretty reasonable measure

        • Anna says:
          28 Jun28 June 09:30

          Obviously they can set what rules they like but it’s been shown many times over the past couple of weeks that the UK figures look worse because of the much higher numbers of tests and gene-sequencing that is done here, and also our counting system which even the WHO has criticised as making the numbers look artificially high. Also EU countries are currently more risk-averse because the vaccine roll-out has been slower. This “plague-ridden island” notion is largely a misconception. UK arrivals to the US have been severely limited for over a year now yet Americans are being warned that the Delta variant is about to become the dominant strain. Time to stop putting down the UK, really. (Also don’t forget a lot of our initial Covid infections originated on skiing holidays in Italy).

          • PerkyPat says:
            28 Jun28 June 10:20

            People arent putting down the UK. They are putting down the fat useless idiot who continued to allow arrivals from India 3 weeks after they should have been on the red list. European governments are just protecting their citizens, which our shower have repeatedly failed to do.

        • Lord Doncaster says:
          28 Jun28 June 10:31

          I often wonder why the people commenting on here who dislike the UK so much continue to live here…

          • PerkyPat says:
            28 Jun28 June 10:48

            Dont hate the UK, hate the PM and his bunch of corrupt acolytes.

          • Aliks says:
            28 Jun28 June 10:55

            You can be the best football fan of your team, and still criticise the manager and the useless centre forward.

          • Rui N. says:
            28 Jun28 June 11:18

            I often wonder how can someone be so silly as to think that just because you don’t like a PM you don’t like the country.

          • David says:
            28 Jun28 June 11:43

            So Lord D, you’d rather like in a communist state where we all have to hail the great leader?
            Joke.

          • Ash says:
            28 Jun28 June 13:55

            They never stop – from not want to be in the same hotel as English to not want to hear English spoken then they are abroad.

            How very liberal of them!!!

          • Magic Mike says:
            28 Jun28 June 19:28

            Europe is going to have a delta variant wave, given the way their citizenry are partying all over the continent. It will just be in a month or so. And given the lower vaccination rates, it’s not going to be pretty.

        • David says:
          28 Jun28 June 11:41

          You’re fighting a losing argument with people like this, Paul. They think they know best (yet really only know what their dubious right-wing sources and prejudices tell them).

          • Rui N. says:
            28 Jun28 June 11:53

            Lord D. might even sometime found out that plenty of people like the UK but don’t like any of its politicians. Amazing!

          • Lord Doncaster says:
            28 Jun28 June 14:40

            I suppose Frau Merkel knew what was best when she put all her eggs in the EU’s vaccine procurement programme too…

    • Zoe says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:55

      My daughter live and works in Zurich (last visit to UK early December for family funeral) looks like her summer plans will need changing, l hope she booked everything refundable.

      • HH says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:12

        Yesterday BA cancelled both sets of Zurich and Basel flights I’d booked for July. My Geneva flights seem to be still running, so hopefully she can find an alternative.

  • Tracey says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:59

    Given this forum has the emphasis on travel and given that some countries are making it difficult for people to enter without being vaccinated, here are a couple of current tips for getting your vaccines ahead of schedule.
    1. The national booking website should be allowing second jab bookings at a 12 week gap for under 40s and an 8 week gap for under 40s. There is a glitch where it is allowing an 8 week gap for everyone. (Also it now allows you to see alternative appointments before you cancel an existing one).
    2. Spares at the end of clinic sessions are now relatively easy as everyone 18+ is already eligible to book. There are often very few waiting for spares and should be a handful of spares available. Priorities differ but being near the correct gap or a compelling reason may help.
    3. Pfizer is licenced in the U.K. for 16+. Gov policy is 18+ other than specific medical need. In delta variant surge areas, centres are vaccinating people age 16+. Whereas making a trip to a surge area carries a risk in itself, you may wish to balance the risk against securing the vaccine.
    4. Look out for days like yesterday, where many pop up vac centres were open to anyone without an appointment. A couple of hours before closing time and restrictions are usually relaxed as numbers are never as high as people had hoped.

    • Rhys says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:02

      Worth adding that you can get your second doses earlier than 8 weeks, too. I got mine at 5 by walking in. Min. interval varies by vaccine but is between 21-28 days.

      • GJB says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:22

        Same here, I got my 2nd jab after five weeks when I went to a pop-up site last week.

    • Grant says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:04

      What does the science say about maximum efficacy (for the individual)? Is it still 12 weeks between doses of AZ?

      • Tracey says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:34

        It’s interesting. There was some research that said Pfizer was good at anything 6+, but then by the time we get to say October and look at how much immunity someone has, would they have been better with a January+April set rather than January+Late February ????
        You want your immunity to be highest when you are at greatest risk of being exposed to Covid, particularly certain variants and you can’t predict when that will be.

      • Norm says:
        28 Jun28 June 13:01

        Yes, but. When it comes to variant alpha, the studies show an increased protection when considering 12 weeks vs 8 weeks vs 4 weeks. No such study was done for variant delta, however, the ones that were done show that the protection from the first jab is lower than for variant alpha.

        When looking at the results for the delta variant, they haven’t controlled weeks in between jabs at all, but if you look at the dates, the ones in the UK have all been within the timeframe when the program was 12 weeks in between doses. It’s uncertain what the results are, then, for 8 weeks as is currently being recommended instead of 12, but it’s safe to assume that there will be a reduction in overall effectiveness.

        Since I’m working from home, don’t use public transport and have been very careful, I’ve decided to postpone mine until the initial period of 12 weeks. If you’re exposed to the delta variant (which is now 75% of new cases in London, for instance), then most likely the best choice would be to take it at 8 weeks to increase your effective protection vs the prevalent variant, but you’ll need to make that choice yourself based on your circumstances.

      • Jonathan says:
        28 Jun28 June 14:01

        “ In the participants who received two standard doses, after the second dose, efficacy was higher in those with a longer prime-boost interval (vaccine efficacy 81·3% [95% CI 60·3–91·2] at ≥12 weeks) than in those with a short interval (vaccine efficacy 55·1% [33·0–69·9] at <6 weeks). These observations are supported by immunogenicity data that showed binding antibody responses more than two-fold higher after an interval of 12 or more weeks compared with an interval of less than 6 weeks in those who were aged 18–55 years (GMR 2·32 [2·01–2·68]).”

        AZ data from The Lancet.

        https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00432-3/fulltext

    • Sam G says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:19

      I haven’t had any luck moving my second dose pfizer booking yet but am keeping an eye out for a pop up clinic – I’ve been checking https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site

      I don’t live very near anything (much at all ha) so wouldn’t want to make the trip unless I was sure I was eligible rather than hoping for spares, I work at home currently and haven’t got any travel planned until Sept so no real rush

      • Tracey says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:31

        Given that it is virtually impossible to phone a vaccine centre and ask their policy, it is worth using social media, particular Facebook groups to find where to go. Eg yesterday there were advertised “1st vaccine only” pop up clinics that would actually do 2nd vaccines at 6+ weeks with no question.

        • Sam G says:
          28 Jun28 June 09:36

          oh yes I’m keeping an eye on that too. our village FB and GP are very good at posting updates of local sites. my nearest one did a couple of days for walk in with AZ and were very liberal so hoping for the same with Pfizer

      • Jody says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:31

        That’s a really useful link that I didn’t know about, thank you. Have passed it on to my kids so they can hopefully get their 2nd dose a bit sooner.

      • Tracey says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:36

        That won’t show all the pop up clinics, particularly GP led ones. I think Twitter is good for this and facebook groups. Also if you post your location it could help.
        That said, there were a lot of clinics this weekend, so in 8 weeks time I would expect another set designed to offer the 2nd vaccines to those that had their 1st this time.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          28 Jun28 June 11:29

          All centres are switching to offering walk in instead of appointments only.

          If you want a jab and turn up there is a very good chance you’ll get it regardless of an appointment

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      28 Jun28 June 11:21

      If the first vaccine invite was from GP, can we get the second vaccine using the national booking website or a pop up centre?

      • TGLoyalty says:
        28 Jun28 June 11:30

        Yes as long as your first wasn’t moderna as not many centres are offering them.

  • Kumar says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:59

    Is Virgin Atlantic flying to any Red list countries , I can see they have cancelled all their flights to India for July.

  • EwanG says:
    28 Jun28 June 09:02

    @BJ You we’re asking about Brooke + Wilde mattresses on Saturday. This morning on Vodafone VeryMe they have a code for 45% off wys £599+ on a mattress (VERY45, how did they come up with that??…..).
    You’d need to spend quite a bit to double dip with the Amex offer too as that’s on purchases of £799 after discount!

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