Quote Originally Posted by spaldy View Post
So what happens when the UK opens? Are you proposing staying locked down forever? Boris and the government might like that but not sure about the taxpayers.

You do realize that with over 3000 variants already tracked and thousands more occurring down the road that this will never end? we will all be exposed just like every pandemic in history. eventually, the human race will develop antibodies. Modern medicine has sped that process up along with good theraupeutics but eventually we'll all have the antibodies.

the lockdowns were intended to slow the spread down long enough for vaccine development, allowing the hospitals to stay on top of this and develop effective treatments.

That's happened. it's time to open up and get on with life. It's a government control issue now.

In the meantime the UK just gave up a flagship event.
The UK, as you put it, is already open, we're just selective as to who is allowed in and under what circumstances, something the exemptions UEFA seek would drive a coach and horse through. You seem to ignore what I said about the road map to lockdown removal and the steps already taken, and that all this has been possible because we have an incredibly successful vaccination programme that is delivering lower infection/hospitalisation/death rates than at any time since Covid struck.

We are all aware that there are variants, and that vaccinations aren't all-powerful, but we're also aware that as removing restrictions has been based on the data, anything that raises (or risks raising), those rates should be avoided. The mixing of 3000 random individuals with equally random infection histories behind them with a large number of fans from the UK who face no quarantine when they return is just that, an avoidable risk.

With you on the purpose of lockdowns and vaccine development/deployment, but the effect is not yet well enough embedded (even in the UK, we still have millions of adults who haven't had their first vaccination, never mind second), for anyone to say "it's happened", because it hasn't, and most certainly not in the USA, most of mainland Europe, Russia, most of Africa.

As for passing up a "flagship event", where two clubs I would gladly see the back of compete for a cup we won't be getting anywhere near for a couple of seasons yet? Meh......