While we see an exponential rise in cases & hosp the govt: -has no mitigations in schools - is considering no isolation for contacts of cases if fully vaccinated -planning to replace isolation with LFDs -not offering vaccines to adolescents
We know that those fully vaccinated get infected & pass on- possibly even more so with the delta variant, given the moderate level of escape seen. It's hard to escape that idea that the govt plan here is to allow a large surge to happen - as they're doing nothing to prevent it.
'Live with the virus' is another version of 'herd immunity by infection' among unvaccinated + focused protection by vaccination We're also creating the ideal scenario for virus escape. It's downright terrifying that many scientists & govt advisors support this plan
Our govt is leading us down a route can only be described as reckless endangerment - some people will have chronic illness & some will die due to this negligence. In the meantime, we have to wait & watch helplessly- because we have no power to protect ourselves or our families
Not only have we been let down by govt, we've also been let down by our scientific leadership. We've had scientists from the JCVI suggest children don't contribute much to transmission & don't get ill. PHE has made misleading statements about transmission among children.
JCVI is making decisions about offering vaccines to children, while scientists within JCVI have very clearly repeated known myths that minimise impact of transmission among children. How can this body be making decisions based on evidence, if it doesn't seem to know the evidence?
Our CMO has repeatedly spoken about 'living with the virus' not acknowledging the groups that will be most impacted by this. Long COVID has been repeatedly dismissed by our leadership. Some members of SAGE have continued to minimise impact on children & childhood transmission.
Shockingly, even very recently, we've seen some scientists in SAGE suggest that it may be a good thing for children to get infected, as this may help them in the future (literally no evidence for this- but clear evidence that long COVID is common even in children)
We've been failed completely on all counts - both by govt and scientists who should know better. I think historians will be shocked at the sort of risks that govt was supported in taking against all evidence, but members of our scientific community.
This feels very much like the eugenics and race science movement that was perpetuated by scientists in the Western world & normalised. They were sure they were right then, and they're sure they're right now. It's society's most vulnerable that will pay the cost for their failures
I think privilege can blind people- and the lack of diversity in academia has always had damaging consequences on science. But never more damaging than what we're seeing now. We're seeing scientists get entrenched into dangerous ideologies.
Sadly our lives depend on our politicians and their advisors getting this right. But self-reflection, and self-doubt is not a feature of privilege or many in academic leadership. Neither is acknowledgement of failure, or who these failures most affect.
If you want to gain some insight into race science ideologies that many parts of our academic community normalised even until very recently, I strongly suggest reading 'Superior' by Angela Saini. It's an eye-opener.
