Who do you think might know more about public health ? Who do you think has more knowledge about physical wellbeing? Who might have your interests first and foremost in their thoughts , to protect your mental and physical health ? People with masses of skills and experience in medicine, medical research and public health ? Would it be the Oxford classics scholar Boris Johnson or :
- Deepti Gurdasani
- John Drury
- Trisha Greenhalgh
- Stephen Griffin
- Zubaida Haque
- Zoë Hyde
- Aris Katzourakis
- Martin McKee
- Susan Michie
- Christina Pagel
- Stephen Reicher
- Alice Roberts
- Robert West
- Christian Yates
- Hisham Ziauddeen
The above names posted an article in The Lancet. This is one of its opening statements:
On July 19, 2021—branded as Freedom Day—almost all restrictions are set to end. We believe this decision is dangerous and premature.
The Lancet
The experts have 5 main concerns with Boris Johnson’s intention to ‘let it rip’ on July 19th because not enough people have been vaccinated in the UK and the people more likely to get infected with the Covid virus and who have not had 2 or even 1 dose are the young.
- unmitigated transmission will disproportionately affect unvaccinated children and young people who have already suffered greatly.
- high rates of transmission in schools and in children will lead to significant educational disruption, a problem not addressed by abandoning isolation of exposed children (which is done on the basis of imperfect daily rapid tests).
- preliminary modelling data suggest the government’s strategy provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants.
- this strategy will have a significant impact on health services and exhausted health-care staff who have not yet recovered from previous infection waves.
- as deprived communities are more exposed to and more at risk from COVID-19, these policies will continue to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable and marginalised, deepening inequalities.
The letter goes on to say that the authors consider this strategy by PM Johnson on 19th of July “to be both unethical and illogical.”
They urge the UK Government to reconsider its decision, whilst although it is for England, it will have significant impact on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.
Reporter: Fiona Grahame
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