Hi Yuyutsu,

What the vaccines offer is lower infection rates with less sever symptoms and therefore reduced hospitalisations, ICU and deaths. Its clear now that the unvaccinated are much more likely to need hospitalisation and intensive care than the vaccinated. The problem arises when the hospital system is overwhelmed with sick unvaccinated people, other non related patients miss out on attention and their lives are put at a higher risk, all because selfish people refused to get vaccinated.

If the vaccines offered 100% protection, and it was offered to all who wanted it, and if only the non-vaccinated contracted the disease, and 100% of those dropped down dead immediately, therefore not requiring hospitalisation, only an undertaker, things would be fine....for the vaccinated.

1,461 covid infections and 14 deaths reported in Victoria this morning. The most draconian loss of freedoms equals most infections and deaths.

Dear Paul,

«What the vaccines offer is lower infection rates with less sever symptoms and therefore reduced hospitalisations, ICU and deaths.»

Most important of these is the lowering of infection rates, thus vaccines can and should be used to stop the virus, then who would care about hospitalisation, ICU or death rates any more?

http://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/The%20Ambulance%20Down%20In%20The%20Valley.pdf

Only eliminating the virus can ensure that we won't have even more terrible variants down the line which could defy any vaccine.

When the vast majority is vaccinated, the <R>eproduction factor goes well below 1, thus only a brief lockdown is needed to get rid of the virus, then a good quarantine system can keep it out indefinitely.

The problem is that government only cares about their coffers, their "economy", not about us and our health. First they grabbed a monopoly to rob us of our freedom to defend ourselves and our ability to take care ourselves of our own health, then now they are forsaking us without sufficient protection at all.

«Its clear now that the unvaccinated are much more likely to need hospitalisation and intensive care than the vaccinated.»

While some may WANT it, nobody NEEDS hospitalisation: we lived and died for millions of years without hospitals!

How (if at all) we take care of our health, should be our private matter, as long as we do not infect others [except if they are happily willing to be infected by us]. As one of our private options, we should be able to obtain and use any vaccines, as much and as many as we want, from any source, also we should never be forced to inform government which vaccines we took and when.

Dear Yuyutsu,

Sorry but that is just bunkum.

Andrews fought the very long fight to keep Victoria and by extension the rest of Australia free from Covid.

The length of the lockdown and the incessant undermining by the Murdoch press meant appropriate behaviours, which might have done the job, were disregarded by a small minority which was unfortunately enough to make bringing this back under control impossible.

The plan B has had to centre around getting as many people vaccinated as possible and by giving a date and the opportunity for all Victorians to get vaccinated Andrews is doing just that. The mandates are part of that plan.

I am pretty sure he knows this is likely to lose him the next election but he is moving ahead anyway.

While some of his messaging has been off and his actions over the last 6 months could have been better handled, most Victorians I know who have a half way decent take give him a fair bit of credit.

Talking about 'elimination' is pretty daft when we still have the common cold and influenza - although Covid seems to have wiped out influenza, unless people diagnosed with Covid really have the 'flu; not impossible, give the almighty stuff up the "experts" and "leaders" have made of Covid, with a bunch of fat women sticking cotton buds up people's noses through car windows. Lord only knows what happens where these swabs are tested.

Dear SteeleRedux,

So we agree that one way or the other, Andrews "managed" to alienate the Victorian people.

While people in other states constantly asked themselves: "what more can I do to stop this virus?", Victorians were asking instead: "how can I defy and survive this tyrant?". The result is in the numbers.

Have you read the episode of The King in "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry?
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/framechapter10.html

When we still had no vaccines, the king ordered: "you may not be vaccinated",
then as vaccines became available, he ordered: "you must get vaccinated", and with great pleasure he watched how people "obeyed" him.

This idiot believes that people get vaccinated because of him, his orders, not because of the virus, not realising that people get vaccinated DESPITE him, while others who originally eagerly wanted to be vaccinated have failed to do so because they are no longer willing to be perceived as groveling losers. Great job, king of asteroid #325.