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…

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More from @drsimonwilliams

Dec 17, 2024
So child had a letter from school to warn of her attendance ; 😡 after missing 6 days , all of which were because she was sick with respiratory virus and we didn’t want to spread to other children

There isn’t an epidemic of absence, there is absence because of epidemics
2/ viral shedding and contagiousness with flu is high for at least 3 days (can be contagious 7days or more)

So if a child catches a respiratory virus just twice then they are at risk of ‘low attendance’ for staying at home to recover & to get other children sick
3/ by the way, governments and education managers:
much research shows that children’s academic performance (cognition, working memory etc) is negatively impacted when sick.

So attending school when sick is also not ideal for learning either
Read 4 tweets
Jun 4, 2024
This is a bad & incorrect take @Telegraph

already been picked up by anti-vaxxers

Vaccines have saved millions of lives globally

If excess deaths 'remain high', they would have been much, much higher without vaccines

Vaccines are safe, harms are rare

telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/0…
2/ The study in @BMJPublicHealth

doesnt draw the conclusion, as stated in news article, that 'covid vaccines may have helped FUEL rise in excess deaths'

Rather, it suggests that excess deaths 'remain high' DESPITE the use of vaccines (&other measures)bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e0…
3/ But - its strange how in the discussion, the authors quickly jump from data on excess deaths to opinion, conjecture, and even conspiracy-friendly language

The consensus in the scientific community is that mRNA vaccines are safe and any harms vastly outweighed by lives saved Image
Read 11 tweets
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
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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
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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
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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

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