NEW: white people in England aged 80+ are being vaccinated at twice the rate of black people, and rates in deprived neighbourhoods are lagging behind less deprived areas ft.com/content/a831fc…

The gaps are widening, suggesting fundamental challenges in ensuring equal protection
These inequalities are especially concerning given the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on ethnic minority groups.

The very groups that are most at risk from the disease, are thus far the least likely to have received protection.
The findings come from a team of researchers including @bengoldacre, who analysed data from 23m people in England to explore patterns of vaccine coverage by demographics & socio-economics.

The analysis will be repeated weekly, and Ben explains more here
Inequalities in vax rates are likely the result of multiple overlapping factors. One is barriers to healthcare access that disproportionately affect non-white and deprived communities.

@SarahNev and I explored this in our analysis of access to vax sites ft.com/content/cf3d56…
Another is markedly different attitudes to the vaccines themselves among different groups.

A separate study from earlier this month found that rates of vaccine hesitancy were much higher among many non-white groups than among the white British medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
The challenges here are both structural and cultural, but in both cases the onus is on the government and other authorities to close the gaps.

It is vital that these problem are solved as quickly as possible.

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More from @jburnmurdoch

29 Jan
Two great papers out today on how to improve compliance with restrictions and thus make real, lasting inroads against viral transmission, getting us out of the tunnel faster.

Turns out the answer is not blunt instruments, slogans, threats and fines (who knew?)

Micro-thread:
1) @mugecevik and co on how you can’t threaten/fine your way to adherence bmj.com/content/372/bm…

Transmission risk is highest in poorer communities who face pressures *not* to isolate. Trials show: when offered support, people are more likely to report contacts & seek isolation
2) A large survey by @BaharTuncgenc and co finds that when encouraging people to follow Covid guidance, positive messages and social encouragement work better than threatening or negative messages theconversation.com/why-were-more-…

I particularly love this line: Image
Read 5 tweets
26 Jan
Somehow even 12 months into the pandemic, people are saying "yes but how many of those 100k UK deaths were due to Covid and how many were due to lockdowns?"

Time for a (short!) thread:
1) @PHE_uk tracks deaths by underlying cause fingertips.phe.org.uk/static-reports…

As of Jan 8, 82,180 deaths in England named Covid-19 on death certificate.

Of these, C-19 was *underlying cause* in 74,000, or 90%. These aren’t people who tested positive, recovered and then fell down stairs.
2) We also have data from @ICNARC suggesting that deaths from many other causes are actually *down* this year.

ICU admissions for trauma and even self-harm are lower this year than usual.
Read 7 tweets
26 Jan
NEW: UK has now passed 100,000 Covid-19 deaths according to three different measures:
• Deaths within 28 days of positive test
• Deaths where C-19 mentioned on death certificate
• Excess deaths above historical average
Story @GeorgeWParker @ChrisGiles_: ft.com/675d737e-88a5-…
The inclusion of excess deaths puts to bed any idea that the towering death toll is due to people testing positive for Covid but dying primarily for other reasons.

There have been 100,000 more deaths than in a typical year, and this is despite fewer deaths from many other causes
Looking at the three measures across the year:
• Shortage of testing in spring meant "deaths within 28 days" were always an undercount
• Even death certs may have missed thousands of deaths, with spring peak in excess deaths thought to be the best metric for the overall toll
Read 6 tweets
24 Jan
I'm dismayed we're still seeing this kind of evidence-free shaming a year into the pandemic.

Individuals and small household groups walking around in parks, fully distanced is ... not how it spreads.

There's absolutely no evidence for it, but the myth has somehow stuck around.
We have detailed contact tracing research showing that transmission is almost 20x lower outdoors than in medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
We have mobility data showing that individual behaviour and adherence to guidance remain very good on the whole, while it's workplaces where activity looks on the high side
Read 8 tweets
15 Jan
NEW video from me & @tomhannen addressing more myths that have been used to play down Covid this winter.

Featuring:
• Why delays in death registration (& bad charts) wrongly led people to think there was minimal excess mortality
• "Excess winter deaths" are not "excess deaths"
For several weeks, some lockdown-sceptics have been sharing the EuroMOMO excess mortality charts which they say show we’re not seeing many more deaths than usual for the time of year.

A few days ago, EuroMOMO indeed showed deaths essentially back to normal in England. But...
Despite EuroMOMO stating that figures in recent weeks shaded in yellow have been "corrected for delays in [death] registration", this is clearly not the case.

Week after week, the line appears to be falling back to normal, but without fail it’s then revised upwards every time.
Read 11 tweets
7 Jan
NEW: a common response to reports of hospitals struggling this winter is "it’s no different to a bad flu season!"

I’ve tracked down historical data on flu ICU admissions, including winter 2017-18, a record high.

Here’s how England’s Covid winter compares to a bad flu season 📹
We can also address claims like "hospitals are always full in winter", or "it’s just people who were already in hospital for other reasons catching Covid on the ward"

Here are numbers of people in ICU beds (for any reason) in London hospitals, each winter

Spot the odd one out
Unless there has been a coincidental 50% rise in ICU admissions for other reasons (narrator: there hasn’t ), the only explanation for an unprecedented surge in ICU occupancy this winter is people who are there *because they caught Covid*. Image
Read 8 tweets

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