Any Biobankers on here?

[Darius_Jedburgh]

If so are you going to take the antibody test?
I know testing positive won't give us any more freedoms, but there won't be any drawbacks to testing negative will there?
I know in theory it's nothing to do with Whity and Vallance but they are never going to miss any opportunity to create a lockdown.

Anyone know of any drawbacks to taking the test?

 

[Rocky]

Whitty and Vallance have been excellent during this pandemic which has killed 125,000+ people. It would be far worse if they were not advising the Govt. You do these dedicated scientists a disservice. I, for one, are glad that we have them.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Whitty and Valkance may be good scientists, as I presume you are, but they are responsible for driving this country to the edge of ruin. Thry are just another part of the totally inefficient unaccountable vastly overpaid and overstaffed beaurocratic nightmare called NHS. They have been caught totally unprepared and expect the country to bow down before them.
Remember to protect the NHS because it won't protect you.
You regularly sing their praises so you must be another who believes that eternal lockdowns are the only way forward. We all know that June 21 will see little real change because they won't agree to it. We also know that there is another major lockdown coming in Octover/November and we all know that restrictions will be with us until the end of next year -2022 - at the earliest.

So now that you have done your perpetual cheerleading for laughing boy and his acolytes perhaps you could answer the original question. Of course you may not care to pass on the real answer. I wonder why?

 

[Rocky]

I've already taken the antibody test. I was positive for IgM and IgG

You are so wrong about Whitty, Vallance and the NHS.

 

[gunja99]

WTF? The only reason we are getting this vaccine delivered well is because of the NHS. If we had locked down harder and put the NHS and other public health bodies setup to track and trace of deseases (I have a family member who is a director of public health) then we wouldn't have the worst death rate (countries over 20m pop), the lockdowns and worst financial hit of any G7 country... Wow just wow Darius.

NO ONE wants lockdown, NO ONE AT ALL. We did it late and poorly, with a privatised track and trace that's failed... DO NOT INSULT OUR NHS.

 

[Rocky]

@Darius_Jedburgh - are you serious about the risks/benefits of taking a Covid antibody test? I'm happy to engage with you on this. But if this is another attempt to run down our NHS and CMO, then count me out.

By the way, I'm also involved (as a donor) in a local research project looking at T-cells as well - it is thought that T-cells are what provides the longer term immunity against Covid.

Happy to discuss the ethics of antibody testing, if that's what you want.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It’s the politicians who have made all the Covid laws and lockdowns, not the scientists. You want to blame anyone, it’s the Tory Party.

 

[byegad]

In answer to the OP.
Yes I started in 2006 or 7, went for several tests, then they stopped using the centre I could use and went into Central Newcastle which is an absolute pain on the arse to attend, so I don't go now. I know they pay expenses, or they did when I went, but Newcastle is an utter pain for those that don't use it regularly, as they change the road layout and trap people with bus lane fines.

 

[Rocky]

In answer to the OP.
Yes I started in 2006 or 7, went for several tests, then they stopped using the centre I could use and went into Central Newcastle which is an absolute pain on the arse to attend, so I don't go now. I know they pay expenses, or they did when I went, but Newcastle is an utter pain for those that don't use it regularly, as they change the road layout and trap people with bus lane fines.

As I understand it, Biobankers can take the antibody test at home......so a little easier than having to travel into the centre of town

https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/explore.../coronavirus-self-test-antibody-study-phase-1

(I'm assuming this is what the OP is talking about)

 

[midlife]

Not sure what an antibody test will alter on an individual basis. Those who have had COVID respond better to their first dose of vaccine but won't stop anybody getting their second dose.

I have been tested for antibodies but was part of a study to find out how many people were likely infected in our hospital.

 

[bitsandbobs]

Whitty and Vallance have been excellent during this pandemic which has killed 125,000+ people. It would be far worse if they were not advising the Govt. You do these dedicated scientists a disservice. I, for one, are glad that we have them.

I hope they've both been keeping good notes because they'll be first under the bus when/if there's an enquiry! Not sure Vallance will ever be able to escape floating herd immunity early on.

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

I hope they've both been keeping good notes because they'll be first under the bus when/if there's an enquiry! Not sure Vallance will ever be able to escape floating herd immunity early on.

There's been so much re-writing of history it's going to come as a huge shock to political commentators to learn just how wrong so much of the received wisdom is about the government "ignoring the scientists" - the timing of the initial lockdown decision, for a start. A lot of the evidence is already out there in the public domain - contemporaneous SAGE minutes, for example. But very few ever read it.

 

[steveindenmark]

I would not blame the NHS for any of this. The position you find yourself in can be squarely placed at Boris's door. I hope everyone remembers that for the next election. He was so slow out of the blocks people all over Europe were wondering what was going on in the UK.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Not sure what an antibody test will alter on an individual basis. Those who have had COVID respond better to their first dose of vaccine but won't stop anybody getting their second dose.

I have been tested for antibodies but was part of a study to find out how many people were likely infected in our hospital.

Suggest you read up on bio bank to see how it will be used.

 

[Rocky]

I hope they've both been keeping good notes because they'll be first under the bus when/if there's an enquiry! Not sure Vallance will ever be able to escape floating herd immunity early on.

I think they've all made mistakes and have also had to compromise. This was totally new and unlike anything that anyone had experienced. I'm told that both are humble men and admit to their mistakes. I still think they've steered pretty much the right course, although I suspect they would have wanted us to lockdown earlier in March last year and again in the autumn.

I don't have a huge amount of faith in an official enquiry - Governments usually set the terms so that the really important questions don't get answered (Kelly, Leveson etc etc). They are both scientists and will have their workbooks documenting every step. It'll be interesting if their narratives ever see the light of day.