#03 Niall talks about Covid Lockdowns, masks and restrictions and were they a waste of time?

Niall talks to Professor Bill Tormey (Editor-in-Chief Irish Journal of Medical Science)
and Ivor Cummins (biochemical engineer) about all the restrictions, lockdowns, face masks and vaccines and how effective they were during Covid.
lockdowns and Ireland had the second longest lockdown in the world. lockdowns disproportionately affected vulnerable populations. Those in lower socioeconomic brackets faced greater financial hardship and limited access to resources and healthcare. The inequities exposed by lockdowns highlighted the need for targeted support for the most vulnerable members of society. From recent studies in comparison to countries who had little or no restrictions, infections and deaths were no higher and in fact some countries with little or no restrictions had less infections.
Business closed downs. The night time economy was destroyed and some say it will never recover as habits changed, peoples livelihoods were destroyed which in turn caused huge mental and physical health issues, the elderly were left to die alone and sad…. and in general people lost nearly three years of there lives and quality of life.
Even with strict restrictions in place, the virus can still find ways to spread, making it difficult to completely control its transmission.
The long term health effects of lockdowns will be felt for years, with undiagnosed cancers, heart disease and other life limiting conditions that were not attended to during the lockdowns , it seems the collateral damage and incalculable deaths or reduction in quality of life will be felt for Years
In conclusion, masks, although a useful tool in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19, did not work as effectively as anticipated. Their limitations in filtering small particles, inconsistent usage, potential for promoting risky behaviour, variability in mask types, and the multi-faceted nature of the virus itself are all factors that contributed to their limited or as suggested in a recent gold standard study they had little or no effect.
Not only that people turned against each other because it was inferred if you didn’t wear a mask you were like a walking loaded Gun waiting to spread an infection
Then we come to vaccines. WE all clambered for the vaccine and were promised by experts on TV this would stop you getting Covid, then it turned ...ok it wont stop you catching it but you wont get as sick. Then it was ok you might get sick but you won't end up in hospital.
The latest admission from pyhizer was that they never tested the vaccine for reducing transmission but wait did the experts not suggest it would stop the spread. were we misinformed one day after another
Then came the vilification of those who choose for their own reasons not to get vaccinated. They are irresponsible, they are murderers, they should lose their jobs, they should be segregated and indeed they were as they were not allowed in public places like restaurants, bars, venues they couldn’t leave the country on a plane. It then turned out the vaccinated were just as likely to spread covid, so that was all in vein.
Did the vaccines make any real difference, did the lockdowns make any real difference, did masks make any difference. Looking at evidence from countries with lower uptake of the vaccine it seems little or no difference.
The last part was encouraging children to wear masks which again studies show made little difference in comparison to the social sacrifice made. Also encouraging parents to get children vaccinated against a virus that was of little risk to them… in fact some countries suggest the risk was higher from the vaccine and have banned its use in under 18s .
But how did covid effect you, was your job lost, did you lose a loved one to the virus or for other related reasons, did you wear masks and adhere to the restrictions and how did it effect you life or is that all a distant memory?