Peter English #FBPE Profile picture
Jul 21, 2021 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
That JCVI statement in more detail.

gov.uk/government/pub…

It's clear that their top priority was "reductions in hospitalisations and deaths in the population".
1/ Image
They move on to considering vaccine safety - but say, in effect, there's not enough data.

But many other countries have been vaccinated children without significant safety signals. Image
They explain why they recommend vaccination of 12-17yos with certain conditions increasing their risk (and suggest there will be more detail to follow).

And recommend vaccinating those who are household contacts of immunosuppressed.
3/ ImageImage
Because "The health benefits in this population are small, and the benefits to the wider population are highly uncertain" they conclude that "…the health benefits of universal vaccination in children and young people below the age of 18 years do not outweigh the potential risks" Image
I'm not convinced this follows.

Just because benefits "are uncertain" does not mean they don't exist.

And many would argue that they are substantial, even if they cannot yet be estimated precisely.
5/
In a section headed "Direct health benefits" they consider the fact that few children without underlying conditions will be seriously ill if they get Covid-19.

Oddly (given the section's heading) they then move on to discussing possible VAERs. Image

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More from @petermbenglish

May 28
Make sure you register to vote in the General Election on 4th July!


1/5gov.uk/register-to-vo…
Make sure, if you'll be voting in person, that you have photo ID - note that the tories are trying to exclude younger voters by making some forms of ID (like railcards) unacceptable for younger voters, but acceptable for older voters.

2/5gov.uk/how-to-vote/ph…
If you're not sure where or whom to vote for, you could look at these websites (they may not yet make a recommendation; they will nearer the time):
-
-
-
3/5tactical.vote
tacticalvote.co.uk
getvoting.org
Read 6 tweets
Apr 17
It is essential that we switch away from fossil fuel use as quickly as possible. And many countries are successfully switching their electricity use to renewable sources.
One advantage of hydrocarbon power - like gas - is that you can quickly increase energy production to match surges in demand. By contrast, most renewable sources can't do this.
You can't make it more sunny when you need the power most; and wind and tidal energy (for example) are dependent on how windy it is, or the phase of the tide.
Read 28 tweets
Apr 2
1/ I've just tweeted two twitter threads - from @dgurdasani1 and @DrEricDing - about "highly pathogenic avian influenza" (HPAI) virus spreading in cattle and on to humans.

This is a step along the path to epidemiologists' nightmare scenario.

There are many strains of influenza.
@dgurdasani1 @DrEricDing 2/ Most strains mostly affect a single species. Bird strains generally transmit poorly to, or between, mammals.

But flu viruses mutate very quickly. Once established in another species, variants that can transmit better have an evolutionary advantage.
@dgurdasani1 @DrEricDing 3/ Flu viruses mutate by "drift" - gradual change. They also mutate by "shift". Shift can occur when a bird or mammal is simultaneously infected by two different flu viruses, creating a new virus with a mixture of genes from the two original viruses.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 5
When I graduated in 1984, and became a junior doctor, I had to pay my GMC membership, professional indemnity insurance, and for ongoing professional exams and Royal College membership. Just as junior doctors do now. BUT…
1/
…But, as a junior doctor in the 1980s, I had no "student debt". Like nearly all my colleagues, I'd had a government grant to pay my fees and living expenses.

And I had free hospital accommodation for the first three years…
2/
…and then, when I bought a house, house prices were much more affordable.

Today's junior doctors have to pay for hospital accommodation, and much more than I did for their own house or flat.
3/
Read 14 tweets
Dec 16, 2023
@TedUrchin @acgrayling @RishiSunak @BorisJohnson As a doctor turned (unwillingly) civil servant, it was always drilled into me that all records must be kept - not least in case of a future enquiry. 1/
@TedUrchin @acgrayling @RishiSunak @BorisJohnson My bacon was once saved when Department of Health tried to blame HPA (and me specifically) for leaking something they'd announced to a meeting of 100s months earlier. 2/
@TedUrchin @acgrayling @RishiSunak @BorisJohnson I'd informed GPs of the planned change. A newspaper ran the story - quoting my letter - the weekend before a planned ministerial announcement.

Minister was furious. I was the obvious culprit. But… 3/
Read 10 tweets
Nov 30, 2023
@implausibleblog It pains me to defend Hancock, but…

We SHOULD have known, very early on, that it was at the very least highly plausible that people could be infectious before they became symptomatic. See
1/threadreaderapp.com/thread/1726558…
@implausibleblog But the national experts in PHE stuck to the dogma that Covid-19 could not be transmitted by asymptomatic patients until months after we knew for certain that it could.
2/
@implausibleblog This, and their unreasonable adherence to the "masks don't work" long after there was strong and rapidly growing evidence that they [almost certainly, at first] do work mean that the scientific experts in PHE have serious questions to answer.
3/
Read 4 tweets

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