Simon Williams Profile picture
Sep 23, 2022 16 tweets 9 min read Read on X
🚨New @ons analysis shows that in 2021 the more children vaccinated in a school the lower the #covid rate!

➡️New covid infections were 40% LOWER in schools where >60% pupils had 1st jab compared to schools where <20% had 1st jab.

Vaccines for children are safe and effective.
(Also, outside U.K. - @GYamey @TRyanGregory who have argued in favour of the effectiveness of vaccines for under 18s )
Caveats apply:

For example, analysis of Spring 2022 data did not find a significant effect of vaccines on rates in schools.

BUT oNS acknowledge that :
- number of schools is low in this term.
-test and trace data to be treated with caution after twice-weekly testing dropped
5/ absolutely as @SGriffin_Lab notes via the excellent communications of @Zubhaque @Dr_D_Robertson @chrischirp & @IndependentSage colleagues

ONS also shows woeful inequalities in vaccine uptake - this gap will unlikely be closed as things stand

6/ for example, 12-15 year olds living in the most deprived areas were Only HALF as likely to have had one jab compared to those least deprived areas 👇
7/ also: black Caribbean children are more than 4 times less likely to have had 1 jab, and more than 5 times less likely to have had 2 jabs compared to white British children
8/ also pupils living in a household with an adult aged 75 or over were only slightly more likely to have had a vaccine

( priority for public health communication is to encourage as many household members of a vulnerable family member to have a vaccine )
(Caveats noted here 👇)
Also May be of interest to @devisridhar who has been a big proponent of sage effective vaccines for children:

scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-…
9/ other research is emerging which also suggests benefits of vaccines in all age groups.

(I) recent study from US shows that hospitalisations related to covid-19 were TWICE as high in unvaccinated compared to vaccinated children aged 5-11👇

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35446827/
10/ another study published last month in leading medical journal @NEJM found

For fully vaccinated children (5-11):

👉all covid cases=36% ⬇️
👉PCR confirmed cases=65% ⬇️
👉hospitalisations=83%⬇️

Compared to unvaccinated
11/ these data are from Singapore - one of the most vaccinated countries 👇

Nearly 8 out of 10 children 5-11 have received their primary vaccine course dose

All other age groups - including 12-19 y’o’s are basically near 100%
12/ Singapore has also a good overall pandemic track record (eg here for total covid related deaths compared to U.K.,usa, global average
13/ also

From a massive sample - In Singapore, 22 serious adverse events after vaccination (0.005% of all doses administered)

Good vaccine safety data
14/ @WHO gice a detailed and nuanced discussion on vax in children here

TDLR: benefits outweigh costs for vaccinating across all eligible ages

who.int/news/item/11-0…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Simon Williams

Simon Williams Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @drsimonwilliams

Oct 12, 2023
WOW-Official guidance on Covid is SO DIFFERENT in 🇺🇸 & 🇬🇧
🧵

TLDR: UK less directive & less cautious

🇺🇸
any COVID-like symptoms: Isolate & test
If +ve: isolate 5-10 days & wear N95 mask 10 days

🇬🇧
If fever or v unwell, stay home till well
If +ve try stay at home 5 days
2/US CDC:

If you suspect COVID, isolate & test

Isolate until rapid/LTF results (if -ve, end isolation)

If +ve

1. If no symptoms/symptoms improving ➡️ Isolate 5 days

2. Moderate/severe symptoms ➡️isolate 10days severe: also check doc/take viral test

cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

Image
Image
3/ CDC also recommends:

Wearing high quality masks (N95/FFP respirators) until day 10 (unless 2 -ve tests 48 hours apart)

And measures to reduce spread at home, including Ventilation
Image
Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 6, 2023
🚨 Our final report on #COVID19 and public experiences published👇



What have we learned?

Trust the public
Lack of trust in government harmed compliance
Rules needed to be clear & consistent
Ppl needed more financial support
Misinformation=big problemswansea.ac.uk/press-office/n…
2/ Brief thread on what we have found so far. As the @covidinquiryuk is ongoing

...& lessons for future

Report here:

Also, work forms basis of peer review publications, inc:





psyarxiv.com/e56cn
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…
journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
3/ Fantastic team inc: @KimberlyDienes (co-lead) & @JemmaJJ_ @DrTampe Chris Armitage @ProfJohnDrury et al.

Thanks @SwanseaUni @SwanseaPsych
@ManHealthPsych Wales COVID Evidence Centre for support

More pub's to come - but here's our take aways so far:
Read 5 tweets
Aug 23, 2023
🚨Our MAJOR new @royalsociety report out TODAY

Evidence shows COVID measures together = EFFECTIVE

Key findings:

➡️Distancing/lockdowns=MOST EFFECTIVE measure

😷 FACEMASKS consistently found to be EFFECTIVE

➡️Strong evidence for contact tracing apps

royalsociety.org/topics-policy/…
2/n

✈️Comprehensive border control policies reduce, but dont eliminate, infections entering countries.

🪟 ventilation did reduce transmission in particular settings (but hard to quantify)

📣communication helped ensure high adherence, but trust & clarity = key barriers
3/n Fantastic to be part of such a collaborative effort with leading global experts including:

Sir Mark Walport (Chair) @wendybarclay11 @mugecevik @chris0dye @bencowling88 @melindacmills et al - full list of contributors here 👇

Image
Image
Image
Read 17 tweets
Jun 30, 2023
Can aspartame cause cancer?

a brief 🧵 on the history of a recurring public health controversy

TDLR

this is a classic case of the social amplification of risk

Need to communicate the gist - 'the dose makes the poison' (no-one consumes enough aspartame)
2/ Had to go back to my grad school notes on this one, for a research project on aspartame and risk communication. ie. *this is not a new controversy*

Aspartame has been controversial ever since its accidental discovery by James Schlatter in 1965 in his - drug research
3/ Aspartame was approved by FDA from 1981 on, and EU in 1994.

A number of public controversies over its safety have ebbed and flowed ever since.

Here is a thorough history of the sweetener:
dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/hand…
Read 14 tweets
Jan 11, 2023
Brief 🧵 about why Andrew Bridgen is a classic, if high profile, example of how covid misinformation has pervaded part of the public

Firstly - nothing screams scientific credibility like a blog authored by ‘Tyler Durden’

Bridgen cited this in his tweet Image
2/ the disgraceful link between vaccines and the holocaust is not a new thing

Antivaxxers have been pushing this narrative since the start of the pandemic

@GYamey has bravely condemned this & a general link between covid denial and antisemitism
medpagetoday.com/publichealthpo…
3/ as discussed in @BBCNews

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

The whip has been removed - very important. Such anti-vax sentiments are not ‘freedom of speech’ but are dangerous misinformation that can lead to avoidable death or disease
Read 18 tweets
Aug 1, 2022
Even *if* COVID was 'just another' virus (its not BTW), then this is still a problem. Here's why 🧵

In short, having ('just') ANOTHER virus that hospitalises many and infects many, many more ON TOP of existing respiratory viruses, is a big burden on healthcare
2/n the classic epidemiology bathtub metaphor may be useful here. Lets think of the bathtub as NHS (healthcare system) capacity ... adding covid to the mix, is like rapidly opening the tap up - or rather, like turning an extra tap on.
3/Also its not a choice between covid OR other viral infections

So not only can people get re-infected with covid multiple times, they can also get infected withmultiple viruses-i'll defer to epidemologists and virologists like @SGriffin_Lab @ArisKatzourakis @dgurdasani1 4 more
Read 12 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(