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?

What worried me about his comment was the 'or those for whom the vaccine has not worked' bit.

How can anyone know that until it is too late?

@CheltenhamLady

What worried me about his comment was the 'or those for whom the vaccine has not worked' bit.

How can anyone know that until it is too late?

You can't. But its the same for pretty much every vaccine out there.

I'm not getting the vaccine, and I'm confident my risk of getting severe covid and/or dying will remain the same (ie negligible).

I think he means that if the virus is still in wide circulation, people can still catch it, and vulnerable people are still at risk of severe illness. However, since the vaccine isn't effective for 100% of its recipients, does not eradicate transmission and will simply reduce symptoms (rather than prevent initial infection) for many, his generalised, emotive statement and the careful use of language could also be construed as a means to influence vaccine uptake

@CuriousaboutSamphire

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!

I didn't say he was stupid, but he's made a lot of mistakes and if you look at those qualifications they tell their own story.

As a young student he studied physiology moving into medicine. His PROFESSIONAL qualifications later in life are non science - law, business, economics. In short as far as science is concerned he's at best a has-been. Like my old supervisor, he was found to be a better administrator than scientist and so that's the direction his career took. Then suddenly something comes up that requires a scientist in charge, NOT a bureaucrat - oops!

I still find it hard to believe that even an average scientist came up with the herd-immunity strategy back last March - it showed a complete ignorance of immunology, not to mention an inability to crunch basic numbers. The result was government inaction through at least two crucial weeks and on the first wave alone, that scientific stupidity cost tens of thousands of lives.

There's so many people refusing vaccines, many in my area still waiting, we're talking about over 60s now, I know it's Wales, but in England take up is patchy. We're now protecting people who refused the vaccine or are still waiting, I'm nearly 65 will take vaccine when offered to protect those that refused it

He still does medical rounds. He is CMO and his professional development reflects that.

You said he wasn't a good scientist... so, go on, tell us the mistakes he made... in detail, with evidence. And I don't think herd immunity means what you think it does, it certainly doesn't mean what those early journalistic pieces thought it meant - see Robert Peston and his act of sheer hubris!

@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

He strikes me as the kind of bloke who craves publicity, I have to say. I expect he’ll be on I’m a Celebrity next year.

Flu still kills many every year despite vaccines and we are in a pandemic which means it’s worse.

Ultimately it will probably be a similar kind of thing, which is what he said. He said another 30,000 deaths which sounds like a significant number but he said a bad year of flu can kill 20,000.

We are living with nowhere the same amount of socialising as we did 18 months ago. Even those who are 'breaking the rules' aren't going to clubs, conferences, weddings, and mixing with the same scale. If we fully open up then yes, you would expect cases to rise massively and more people to affected, = more hospitalisations and deaths, even among people in their 30s and 40s.