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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/n...r-official
In an interview with the Observer, Clive Dix, a leading figure in drug development who chaired the taskforce until April, said that he believed the UK was no longer “on the front foot” in tackling the pandemic.
His criticisms echoed those of Kate Bingham, the first chair of the vaccine taskforce, who warned in a speech last week: “Had we relied on the existing machinery of government, the outcome [of the vaccine programme] could have been very different.” Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, has also called on the government to publish its plans for tackling vaccine-resistant Covid variants.
He said that he had envisaged the French company Valneva as a key part of this process. However, he said the government’s “ridiculous” decision to scrap its existing contract with the company had damaged that approach.
The reason they stop people getting seriously ill and dying is not the antibody response. It’s the longer-term cellular immune response. And it’s pretty obvious now that that’s what is keeping people out of hospital and keeping people from dying. So I’m pretty sure that response won’t wane.
In an interview with the Observer, Clive Dix, a leading figure in drug development who chaired the taskforce until April, said that he believed the UK was no longer “on the front foot” in tackling the pandemic.
His criticisms echoed those of Kate Bingham, the first chair of the vaccine taskforce, who warned in a speech last week: “Had we relied on the existing machinery of government, the outcome [of the vaccine programme] could have been very different.” Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, has also called on the government to publish its plans for tackling vaccine-resistant Covid variants.
He said that he had envisaged the French company Valneva as a key part of this process. However, he said the government’s “ridiculous” decision to scrap its existing contract with the company had damaged that approach.
The reason they stop people getting seriously ill and dying is not the antibody response. It’s the longer-term cellular immune response. And it’s pretty obvious now that that’s what is keeping people out of hospital and keeping people from dying. So I’m pretty sure that response won’t wane.
