Has Chris Witty lost confidence in the vaccine?

[AnxietyDrivingMyLife]

I’ve my seen the actual footage of him talking to the committee- trying to avoid all news etc for my sanity. But was talked about in a zoom meeting and I find the words used somewhat baffling?
‘ the virus will find the unvaccinated and sadly we will have more deaths’

I understand the possibility of mutation etc but I thought

A). If the vaccine program carries on as it is now - then the vulnerable should be protected (largely) and the shedding of the virus should be minimal?

B). He was the person who asked us to ‘remember’ in one of last years press meet that the virus can be fought by an healthy adult and may not need hospitalisation- what has changed in that narrative?

Short answer: No!

Longer answer: He is fully aware of all of the factors around a mass vaccination project. He is still advising a ath between lockdown and immediate opening up, trying to minimise the number of deaths whilst offering enough advice to the government regarding realistic options on easing lockdown.

Nothing has changed in his narrative. Lots has changed in understanding about the virus and people taking / not taking the vaccine.

The vaccine isn’t 100% effective at preventing death or serious illness, nor have they ever claimed that it is. There will still be vaccinated people who catch it, get a serious case and who die. What it does is substantially reduce the risk of that happening, hence reduce the numbers hospitalised, and hence mean that the NHS can cope. It also has an impact on transmission, which will also reduce numbers.

I am a bit confused by your post. Is is very probably correct that:

‘ the virus will find the unvaccinated and sadly we will have more deaths’

... and that statement doesn't contradict your points A or B!

We are still awaiting more data on transmission by the vaccinated but it appears that the vaccine prevents a great deal of transmission... however there will always be a group of people who can't/shouldn't have it or will refuse the vaccine for various reasons and some of those may die if they catch it, even if they are healthy, younger adults who in the most part do manage to fight it off.

Basically those who decide not to have the vaccine will be vulnerable to the virus, particularly those with existing medical conditions and elderly. I presume the uptake on the vaccine isn’t as high as they would like in certain communities. I personally don’t know anyone who doesn’t want the vaccine.

Yep, however effective a medical intervention may be, it won't help if either you haven't given it to the patient yet, or the patient decides not to take it.

And also, no medical intervention is 100% effective.

Vaccine uptake has been great among the elderly, and high risk patients - they can see the obvious benefit. But the indications are that it will not be so high among a) younger people, who think Covid will be mild for them and have not thought about the risk of long term disability with long Covid and b) some immigrant communities who have been targeted with misinformation and fake news claims that the vaccine contains pork or beef protein.
There are also people with medical conditions that mean vaccine is contraindicated.
So there will remain a reservoir of potential Covid victims and spreaders, once the vaccine rollout is over. And if these people generate a resistant mutation, we could all be at risk again.

I don't think he has lost faith. But remember when we lifted the last lockdown? People went all out socialising + a new variant.

We've not vaccinated the younger population of working age adults enough yet to be confident a third wave won't be as devastating as the second. If people begin to gather in large groups again, then it will spread like wildfire. Hopefully enough vulnerable and elderly people have been vaccinated to have some effect on the numbers of people landing up in hospitals seriously ill.

Has there been a documented case yet of any fully vaccinated person dying from Covid, does anyone know?

To my mind nothing has changed, I take it to mean that we need to be careful as those who haven't been vaccinated or chose not to be, will always be at risk - and sadly for some they will pass away.

He should have said 'the virus will find those not immune' which would have been more accurate, rather than those 'unvaccinated'.

@CrunchyCarrot

He should have said 'the virus will find those not immune' which would have been more accurate, rather than those 'unvaccinated'.

Well it's probably factually correct. Anyone not vaccinated is very likely to catch the virus if they come into contact with it (unless they have antibodies; but nobody is sure yet how long they last). Anybody vaccinated with even one dose has a much lower chance of catching it and being sick.

Needs to justify his hefty pay check
I'd wouldn't be taking too much notice he just likes his moment of fame
He knows its coming to an end

I don’t suppose his position is faith based. He’s just stating reality. The vaccine will protect the vaccinated and to some extent the unvaccinated as the vaccinated become less likely to be exposed to someone shedding viral particles. But the virus will still get through, and some vulnerable unvaccinated people will get sick and die.

The more people are vaccinated the lower the risk for the unvaccinated. This is why everyone needs to get the vaccine if they can, to protect those who can’t.

Well, 22 million have been vaccinated so far... that leaves a huge number of people unvaccinated at the moment. Most areas haven't even vaccinated everyone in group 6 with pre-existing conditions yet. Even though those under 60 are less at risk, they're not guaranteed safe either. A high infection rate would mean lots of people in those age groups getting ill and of course some would die - even people in the 20-50 age groups.

How is saying unvaccinated people are still at risk of catching covid showing a loss of confidence in the vaccine?

@Bordois

How is saying unvaccinated people are still at risk of catching covid showing a loss of confidence in the vaccine?

In much the same vein as suggesting CW gets paid for this and doesn't want it to stop.

Utterly illogical and lacking any reality!

🤣 obviously his job didn't exist pre-covid!

@AnxietyDrivingMyLife

I’ve my seen the actual footage of him talking to the committee- trying to avoid all news etc for my sanity. But was talked about in a zoom meeting and I find the words used somewhat baffling? ‘ the virus will find the unvaccinated and sadly we will have more deaths’

I understand the possibility of mutation etc but I thought

A). If the vaccine program carries on as it is now - then the vulnerable should be protected (largely) and the shedding of the virus should be minimal?

B). He was the person who asked us to ‘remember’ in one of last years press meet that the virus can be fought by an healthy adult and may not need hospitalisation- what has changed in that narrative?

Whitty isn't the greatest scientist, nor is he particularly good at presenting his thoughts.

The simple fact however is that UNTIL we get to a situation where we have herd immunity (meaning probably 70-80% vaccinated), while no variants have emerged in the UK that can bypass the vaccine/previous immunity, then we are highly vulnerable to things going wrong.

@Bordois do people really not know that the Chief Medical Officer existed before COVID ? Love the fact he's being called 'a not v good scientist'. What with him being a consultant of many years standing. You'd hope a doctor would know a bit of science 😂😂

the virus will find the unvaccinated and sadly we will have more deaths

This is just the truth though? I’m baffled that you’re baffled.

The virus isn’t going to disappear but with the vaccine and measures in place it will hopefully dissipate enormously until it becomes manageable and things can get properly back to normal.
Of course it will still kill people though, same as flu does.

@Bordois

🤣 obviously his job didn't exist pre-covid!

Quite!

@Beaniecats

Needs to justify his hefty pay check I'd wouldn't be taking too much notice he just likes his moment of fame He knows its coming to an end

Oh would you just stop!!!

Whitty isn't the greatest scientist, nor is he particularly good at presenting his thoughts. Woah! That's comedy gold!

BA in Physiology; DSc in medical science; BM BCh in Medicine; DTM&H in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; MSc in Epidemiology; LLM in Medical Law; MBA in Business Administration; DipEcon in Economics.

Man's as thick as pig shit, obviously!

@AnxietyDrivingMyLife

Your anxiety is making you 'hear' what he said incorrectly.

Are you clear now after previous posts or is there something you still don't understand?

The virus will be find the unvaccinated & lead to deaths.. what’s confusing about that? How does that remotely say the vaccine isn’t working? He’s talking about the unvaccinated. The virus ain’t going anywhere. It’s looking really positive that the vaccines do suppress transmission by around 70%, which is ace. But no vaccine is 100% even if 100% of the population had it. But not everyone will do people will die.

Also, he’s very much talking about now. We’ve not vaccinated everyone yet. The 0-55 years olds mostly remain unvaccinated. While much lower risk, it’s not no risk & the virus is quite random. A small minority of younger, healthy individuals are getting really poorly. Although the vast vast majority of that tiny minority won’t die thankfully!