Where are Chris Whitty and Patrick Valance??? Are they locked away at the Tower of London under Boris' orders?...

It's clear why Whitty and Valance are not on show - watch their commentary over the last two years and you can see that it's laced with caution, the need for rules, the fact that we must all stick by them. It would be the mother of all embarrassments for BJ to wheel them out in news briefings now because these guys come from a culture of telling the truth and asking the public to act according to that truth. BJ wouldn't know what the truth of any matter was if it hit him in the face because he's an egotist and the truth is what he wants it to be. He's been seen on several occasions to totally flout the rules conveyed in the Whitty and Valance messages - would it not be the height of incredulity to share a platform with them now?

I dont need to hear from anyone. I can resd stats and graphs. I can count cases and see the death figures. These men and wimen do have jobs to do. If things suddenly worsen then we would hear from them again. I simply do not see the need.

Boris Johnson's pronouncements are based on political considerations, especially the need to appease his restless backbenchers.

The scientists pronouncements are based on empirical evidence - there is no-one they need to appease.

I know which I would rather hear from in a pandemic.

It is all a great conspiracy I am sure! Maybe they have been gagged….what nonsense. I am not even in UK but I do know that fewer people are in hospital and that Omicron is not attacking the lungs of most people who catch it.Many sufferers say it is more like having a cold than flu. I actually read yesterday that there are fewer deaths from flu last year. So Whitty and Valance are not appearing because there is no reason for them to be giving new instructions. Ofcourse it is just a smokescreen and it is a Tory plan to hide the truth.

They are hiding after their false guesses they gave out as facts resulted them in getting undeserved knighthoods

Pallmall1964

I watch indie_sage on YouTube at 1.30 on fridays you get to hear the truth off these people.i would not listen to anyone else,the government are not telling these scientists what to say.

Indy SAGE are a group of disgruntled scientists with an axe to grind.

Its also rather insulting that you think scientists such as Whitty, Van Tam and Vallance are being told what to say by the government.

They are probably back doing what they were doing before Covid

Not only are the cases flatlining, we’ve been allowed tomix freely since December when Boris lifted restrictions in England. Great news.

DiscoDancer1975

Alegrias1

Does he?

Then excuse me, but ask him about the difference between date of reporting and date of test.

Then ask him about how there is a weekly cadence to the number of tests carried out.

Then ask him if he believes everything they tell him on the news is unassailable truth and whether reporters, who are usually arts and humanities graduates, are often mathematically challenged.

Finally, ask him if he thinks that its important that the population have accurate statistics on which to base their assessments of the situation of if they are allowed to make their own ideas up about the progress of the pandemic irrespective of the actual situation.

Sorry, expecting people to base their ideas on truth rather than misunderstanding seems to be a bit awkward for you.

This is why we need to hear from Sir Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, who have all the data and are qualified to interpret it for us.

THIS, exactly. The fact Vallance will be taking up a new positions end of March, is irrelevant NOW, at the end of January- and as all restrictions are being lifted in England.

We should be asking our MPs, the Press, QT, etc.

In Bristol they are shipping patients shortly due for discharge to hotels, to make room in the hospital for Covid and urgent cases. More cost. Case rates are still rising in parts of the South West.

JVT gave an excellent series of Royal Institution Xmas lectures about viruses on TV but otherwise both of them have not been visible lately. Of course they have jobs to do as well as appearing at No 10 briefings but they may be conveniently absent during the lifting of plan B restrictions by our Great Leader.

I watch indie_sage on YouTube at 1.30 on fridays you get to hear the truth off these people.i would not listen to anyone else,the government are not telling these scientists what to say.

The question was where these two wonderful Scientist have disappeared to, why has everyone gone off the subject.
We miss these men and their superior knowledge,lets hope we see them soon

I would if the other aspects were in support of that idea. In other words, if the risks to children were miniscule but the chance of preventing granny from getting Covid was overwhelming.

I agree with maddyone, both her posts.

Alegrias1

Callistemon21

Alegrias1

I don't know.

I'm not an epidemiologist.

Treat it as an ethical question!

Then I would want to know the risks to children of the vaccine, against the risks they have from Covid, including Long Covid, and I would want to know the effect on transmission. Then I'd weigh it up.

I would not want "protecting your grandparents" to be used as pressure either.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam will step down as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England at the end of March 2022 to take up a new role at the University of Nottingham.

Probably more studies are needed to answer all the questions about the vaccination of young children.

It’s as if the government have given up on Covid. And yet my grandsons primary school have a sharp increase in infections. Lots of children off with Covid. And worryingly five teachers too who have all been triple jabbed

Other countries have been vaccinating children five years old and up for a while now. I don’t know if we should vaccinate children either, but the evidence from elsewhere seems to suggest that the vast majority of children are fine with the vaccination. A few get inflammation of the heart and are treated in hospital with a good outcome.

Callistemon21

Alegrias1

I don't know.

I'm not an epidemiologist.

Treat it as an ethical question!

Then I would want to know the risks to children of the vaccine, against the risks they have from Covid, including Long Covid, and I would want to know the effect on transmission. Then I'd weigh it up.

Alegrias1

I don't know.

I'm not an epidemiologist.

Treat it as an ethical question!

Vallance and his day job.

They will be getting on with their usual 'day jobs' of course!

I don't know.

I'm not an epidemiologist.

Alegrias1

Although the cases may be high, hospital numbers are down and ITU numbers are the lowest they've been since July. Deaths from all causes are running at about the five year average.

So if there are even more cases than we think there are, then Covid is even less dangerous than we think.

(Tin hat on, awaits incoming on theme of covid denying)

If so, should young children be vaccinated?