"I Boris"...We Really Need to Talk About Johnson

[roubaixtuesday]

Mrs Dr B hasn’t been involved in the vaccine development but knows a few people who have been. As a country we basically got lucky because we have a very strong research base in this area and a team at Oxford who were already looking at corona viruses.

The government’s financial contribution to vaccine development is most politely described as “limited”. That’s not a problem in itself, but to try and claim any credit for the development process will stick in the craws of many who actually did the hard yards.

The govt invested very early in a wide range of different vaccine technologies to give a very good chance of early availability.

That's worked out in practice, and I think the govt deserves credit for it.

A clear strategy, well resourced and executed.

 

[Edwardoka]

A clear strategy, well resourced and executed.

Wait, you're talking about this government?

 

[Archie_tect]

The govt invested very early in a wide range of different vaccine technologies to give a very good chance of early availability.

That's worked out in practice, and I think the govt deserves credit for it.

A clear strategy, well resourced and executed.

The science community did the research but I don't think the UK Government financed the research, so they are piggy-backing again on the success of the vaccines. The fact that the UK approved the vaccines for use is perhaps something that we have taken advantage of- though as we were still part of the EU during the research and development I can't be certain. The roll-out of the delivered vaccines since the 1st January is something that has had an effect but again I'm not sure the Gov't has had a hand in that either.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

so they are piggy-backing again on the success of the vaccines

I've no idea what you mean tbh.

There are vaccine factories today that wouldn't be producing covid jabs without uk govt investment or commitments, and those jabs are making their way into uk arms faster than almost anywhere else in the world.

That was done with a range of different technologies to spread risk.

What are you suggesting should have been done differently? And where else has done that?

 

[Archie_tect]

I've no idea what you mean tbh.

There are vaccine factories today that wouldn't be producing covid jabs without uk govt investment or commitments, and those jabs are making their way into uk arms faster than almost anywhere else in the world.

That was done with a range of different technologies to spread risk.

What are you suggesting should have been done differently? And where else has done that?

I apologise RB, you are right. The Gov't did put £84m into vaccine research in May 2020 and have been more efficient at getting them approved.

 

[mjr]

So, in summary:
Attending early Cobra meetings on this threat: FAIL;
Testing: FAIL;
Contact Tracing: FAIL;
Border Controls: FAIL (may yet be done late);
NHS PPE: LATE;
First Lockdown: LATE;
Unlocking Gradually: FAIL;
Incentivising Risk-reducing Habits: FAIL;
Second Lockdown: LATE (and too short);
Second Unlocking Gradually: FAIL;
Third Lockdown: LATE;
Closing Schools: LATE;
Vaccines: PASS subject to confirmation;
Third Unlocking Gradually: ?

Even if the vaccines result is confirmed, it's not a great results card for Boris so far, is it?

 

[Salty seadog]

So, in summary:
Attending early Cobra meetings on this threat: FAIL;
Testing: FAIL;
Contact Tracing: FAIL;
Border Controls: FAIL (may yet be done late);
NHS PPE: LATE;
First Lockdown: LATE;
Unlocking Gradually: FAIL;
Incentivising Risk-reducing Habits: FAIL;
Second Lockdown: LATE (and too short);
Second Unlocking Gradually: FAIL;
Third Lockdown: LATE;
Closing Schools: LATE;
Vaccines: PASS subject to confirmation;
Third Unlocking Gradually: ?

Even if the vaccines result is confirmed, it's not a great results card for Boris so far, is it?

Eat out to spread it about.

 

[Bollo]

I apologise RB, you are right. The Gov't did put £84m into vaccine research in May 2020 and have been more efficient at getting them approved.

It did put money in and you can maybe work out roughly how much each research team received from that (clue, divide by 4). In investment terms the amount was minute. For an idea of scale, the Medical Sciences Division at Oxford has a turnover of around £0.5bn, and there are plenty of research projects that have received more impressive headline funding. For example, INEOS has just donated £100M for research into antimicrobial resistance.

The government put £22 billion into a completely ineffective test and trace system. Just to save you the maths, that’s just over 250x the amount it gave in total to assist vaccine development.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-...st-to-rise-to-22-billion-pounds-idUSKBN2832FL

I do agree that the government’s early decision to hedge the buying of vaccines still in development was a good one. No argument from me. But tweeting smug yah boo self-congratulatory bollocks on pretty much the same day that we hit 100,000 deaths is nothing short of obscene.

I thought (and I’m happy to be corrected on this) that vaccine approval was independent of government, so again I’m not sure they deserve any credit for that.

 

[kingrollo]

It will never happen of course - but I really think he should resign.

If he can't do better than close to the worst death ratio in the world , any ounce of common decency he should stand aside and let someone else have a go.

 

[Rusty Nails]

It will never happen of course - but I really think he should resign.

If he can't do better than close to the worst death ratio in the world , any ounce of common decency he should stand aside and let someone else have a go.

He says he takes responsibility. But clearly not as far as resigning. He‘ll probably force that on people under him.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

it's not a great results card for Boris so far, is it?

I think it's important to be fair in assessment, and a mere PASS on vaccines seems rather harsh when we're doing better than any large country in the world.

Equally, the response in every other area has been nothing short of criminally negligent, reflected in our death toll which is higher than any large country in the world.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I think it's important to be fair in assessment, and a mere PASS on vaccines seems rather harsh when we're doing better than any large country in the world.

Equally, the response in every other area has been nothing short of criminally negligent, reflected in our death toll which is higher than any large country in the world.

Yes, it is a plus for our government.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[newfhouse]

It appears to me that Johnson is betting everything on vaccination being (a) successful and (b) able to keep pace with evolution. We can’t revert to test, trace and isolate because we didn’t make that work as well as was needed during 2020.

Without a TTI system in place to buy us time we will risk a similar disaster if/when the next pandemic arises. Is that a reasonable assessment?

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Yes, it is a plus for our government.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I think it's a bit different to a broken clock, and maybe more interesting.

We have, IMO, a government which the most ideological since Attlee's but simultaneously with a leader who is the least ideological of all time.

The govt is made up, and its MPs even more so, of a hard right libertarian nationalism ideology that favours individual freedom, and private rather than public good above all else. Also Britishness is important above all else. This is supremely ill-suited to a pandemic, which requires a strongly societal response to be successful, and international cooperation.

The leader of the government, however, is not ideological at all, and very happy to do literally anything as long as it results in his remaining in power.

The two have collided to lethal effect in the pandemic, with Johnson stuck between wanting to please the hardline MPs he installed in order to gain power, and control a pandemic which requires the precise opposite policies.

The result has been a deadly seesaw vacillation between authoritarian control and exponential laissez-faire.

The exception is the vaccine programme, which having a very defined scope and endpoint, and being malleable to a private sector procurement approach, has been a real success story.

Short version: Narcissist PM can splash the cash but not walk the talk, to deadly but vaccine rich effect.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Seems like fair comment...

View: https://twitter.com/prodnose/status/1354214732383838210?s=20