Jeremy Farrar
@JeremyFarrar
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Scientifique en Chef Organisation Mondiale de la Santé
Switzerland
Joined June 2013
Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England. Agree with John & clear science advice. TTI has to be in place, fully working, capable dealing any surge immediately, locally responsive, rapid results & infection rates have to be lower. And trusted
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Human vaccine #COVID19 dose to its 1st participant. Group 45 healthy volunteers to be given the vaccine. <70 days since virus sequence released - Remarkable. A long long way to go until there is a vaccine for public health. A moment to celebrate @moderna_tx @NIH @CEPIvaccines.
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Vaccine nationalism will not solve #COVID19 for anyone. #Covid19 vaccines must first reach the people who need them most worldwide - healthcare workers & vulnerable at risk individuals. It’s in all our best interest. @ObserverUK @wellcometrust
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There has been a lot of comment on 'in hospital with or because of COVID-19". It is a false dichotomy. Patients are not a single illness or disease, health & illness are not categorical.Having one condition,invariably influences outcome of other conditions.Multi-morbidity is real.
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It is discomforting that most people still underestimate true impact of #Covid19. Immediate effects are so shocking that we are all caught up in them.But longer-term implications may be more profound still. If we are not careful, they will shake the world order to its foundations.
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Australia records zero Covid-19 cases for first time in five months - it can be done.
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Headline is awful. UK identified new variant SARS-CoV-2, variant with potential public health & clinical implications & shared that data within UK & with the world. By doing so will have saved many lives. Responsible urgent open sharing of scientific data.
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Omicron was in the Netherlands before South Africa alerted the world - we may never know where it originated, another reason to underline the importance of not laying blame & seeking to punish
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South Africa needs to be praised, offered whatever support is needed & acknowledged for the quality & speed of the public health & genomic science in SA, sharing the data immediately, supporting the region & the world. Not criticised, have sanctions or other restrictions imposed.
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Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case
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Thanks for invitation @BBCRadio4 World Tonight. No easy choices in the UK now, every choice has very significant negative consequences. But delay before implementation is a decisions in itself & will make later interventions harder & need to be deeper & in place for longer.
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Tragic every perspective. A safe effective vaccine, developed with public, private & philanthropic funding over years, a founder & company committed to not for profit vaccine, that can be manufactured at scale & used globally now subject to legal actions .
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The tragedy is how predictable this has been since at least early July. It was not inevitable. It is not inevitable now that this worsens, but to avoid spiralling out of control needs to be action now. We are close to or at events & choices of 13-23 March.
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As we go into new phase a personal lesson from 2020 & resolution for 2021. Make time twice a day, 15-30mins, in the diary, in daylight, to get outside, respecting restrictions, walk, exercise, breath, or simply stand. Every day. Non-negotiable. Important for my mental health.
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Arbitrary sackings.Passing of blame.Ill thought through, short term, reactive reforms.Out of context of under investment for years. Response to singular crisis without strategic vision needs for range future challenges.Preempting inevitable public enquiry.
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Challenge lifting restrictions. Lockdowns suppressed transmission, reduced number people infected.They have not changed the virus, way is transmits & >90% of people are susceptible. Austin sees dramatic rise COVID-19 cases since economy started reopening
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As the permafrost melts with global heating there will be organisms released that the world has not experienced or seen for thousands of years. They may not all be benign.
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"Omicron BA.2.2 cases without a complete primary vaccination series appeared to face a similar fatality risk to those infected in earlier waves with the ancestral strain"
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Unfortunate use of “Indian variant” on Thought for the Day @BBCr4today - naming viruses by people, by location, an area, a country is unhelpful, stigmatise, can cause critical delays in reporting & sharing data.
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Facing greatest challenge our lifetime. @WHO doing extraordinary job so every country can tackle virus,protect citizens & save lives. No other organisation can do what WHO does,owe them all our respect,thanks & gratitude. A time for solidarity not division
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Covid booster jabs in England to be thrown away as demand falls. So tragic if true when so many people around the world wait for their first vaccine
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World needs to know. A text this evening from colleague in middle income country. "We have a disaster here. Hospitals overwhelmed, critical oxygen shortages, soaring COVID numbers. New variant SARS- COV-2 highly transmissible".
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Africa to be declared free of wild polio after decades of work
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Interesting to be blaming SAGE. Has been clear & in the advice that the UK faced an inevitable increase in community transmission & cases after the summer & needed a fully functional & trusted T-T-I in place.
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Good decision - would have liked to see implemented sooner. Key is to reduce transmission & new infections as soon as possible & get as close as possible to “elimination” before autumn.
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The best time would have been ~21 September. The second best time would be now. The worst time a month from now. Later will mean harsher restrictions, in place for longer with less impact, few lives saved & more damage economy
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Sad and regrettable when an issue such as wearing of masks becomes a party political issue
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Would be a tragedy. All approved vaccines are safe, highly effective, will save countless lives & increasing data reduce transmission. I will be delighted to have any vaccine. Very happy to have @AstraZeneca - Ox vaccine, or any other approved vaccine.
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Number of patients needing intensive care for Covid-19 in France rising. Extraordinary difficult to have increasing community transmission among the young & less at risk & for that to not lead to increased transmission & illness in more vulnerable people
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@LBC @NickFerrariLBC Vaccine nationalism has no place in COVID or other public health matters of global significance. Science has always been the exit strategy from this horrendous pandemic - that science has been global & has needed an unprecedented global partnerships & global financing.
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15 Mar Bath Marathon. 5 Dec London. Message same "Really?" Vaccines are coming, we can look forward to a future beyond pandemic in 2021. But not yet we have a very difficult weeks & months ahead. What we do now will define UK epidemic Dec-Feb before vaccines are widely available
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There is lots of high-quality data on COVID-19, but we haven’t always done a good job of explaining what it really means, or put the data in context of a fast moving dynamic epidemic, when days matter. So I am going to have a go.
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Uk has responsibility to reduce transmission,to prevent illness,hospitalisations & deaths in UK. But also as a country with means to reduce transmission to not be exporter of a new variant to other parts of world, much of which doesn't have access vaccines
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Vaccine nationalism will not solve #COVID19 for anyone. #Covid19 vaccines must first reach the people who need them most worldwide-healthcare workers & vulnerable at risk individuals. It’s in all our best interest. 1st published @ObserverUK @wellcometrust
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Marseille's Covid-19 hospital beds 'close to saturation'. Community transmission will lead to increase in people needing hospital care. We need to learn lessons from France, reduce transmission, protect #HCW & vulnerable at risk individuals & prepare NHS .
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1/2 Personal view 1) I'll wear mask public transport & crowded indoors 2) Enhance ventilation work places/schools/homes 3) Ensure vaccinated & boosted 4) Support employees/education stay home if symptomatic or testing positive
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Will be surge in infections, we go into autumn/winter with 1:70-1:80 people infected. Vaccines have amazingly weakened link btw infections & illness/hospitalisations but not broken it. No one wants to reimpose restrictions but we face a challenging winter
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Still no agreement on a name - negotiations continue.
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Shocking - we must not come to accept this, become sanguine, or accept & assume it is inevitable. This is shocking COVID19 in UK - 1,601 people admitted to hospital, 15,830 people in hospital, 1,391 needing a ventilator, 598 deaths reported today.
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Few days off time to recharge whilst off I will 1/ Continue wear mask public transport & busy indoor settings (work, shops,cinema,hospital) 2/Test regularly 3/If any symptoms COVID or test +ve stay home 4/Will continue until ONS data shows transmission considerably lower than now.
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Important @CMO_England transmission extraordinary high. Vx & Tx preventing illness & saving lives.We can all do more reduce transmission,illness,Long-COVID,Variants 1) Wear masks busy indoors/public transport 2)Test 3)Support people who can't go into work.
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"Nigeria incinerates a million COVID vaccine doses that had been donated to them too close to the expiry date" - it is unforgivable to make high profile announcements on sharing of vaccines, then share doses that cannot be used
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Finland detects UK & SA variants. As immune pressure on virus grows, evolution will speed up & any variants that escape that immunity will have selective advantage. Both variants huge worry, variant described SA, may already evade mAbs, variant UK more transmissible.
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And if the first and/or the best vaccine is developed in another country? .
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@VictorianCHO Increases in rates of infection in North and Southern hemispheres at the same time of year. COVID-19 has not yet, if it ever will, become a seasonal viral infection.
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A plea to the media for whom I have great respect - words like “Hunt” have no place in public health. This is me and you, we are the public, none of us want to be hunted. Over the coming weeks we all have responsibilities - language matters.
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Very good to see ~90% people wearing face mask on train this morning. With data from @ONS Infection Survey & REACT @imperialcollege showing transmission still very high I will continue to wear mask on public transport & indoor public spaces & review after Feb2022 school half term.
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Welcome suggested names for new puppy! One with 11 siblings and a very tired Mum.
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To everyone @wellcometrust & all partners around the world, past, present & future - Thank you.
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The UK government is to cut 60% of its funding to Unicef, the United Nation's children's fund, as part of its move to reduce spending on foreign aid.
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I have not worked closely with Office for National Statistics until this crisis. The @ONS is a national treasure, teams fantastic to work with,flexible,informed,dedicated, agile. Fantastic colleagues. Brilliant work and great to work with you.Thank you.
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As a new variant many issues to resolve amid uncertainty. Having great public health & science people, teams, infrastructure & close links into informed policy makers committed to sharing evidence is crucial. Fortunately all that is true in South Africa.They need all our support.
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Fastest way out of 1st wave,to lifting restrictions,meeting family/friends,opening up economy,education,work,shops - is deal with 1st wave,reduce/stop transmission & have Test-Trace-Isolate fully functional. Earn trust.Learn from each other,we don't need to all make same mistakes.
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How many waves will it take for Britain's lockdown sceptics to finally call it a day?
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Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines - huge congratulations & thank you. A 30-40 year journey & the wisdom of sustained investment in discovery science & knowledge.
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21st Sept CSA & CMO advised that UK could face 50,000 Covid cases by mid-Oct & 200 deaths/day by mid-Nov. These based on SAGE 'Reasonable Worst Case Scenario". Were widely derided at the time. Both have proved underestimates of true infections & deaths.
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Many said it was impossible, nationalism would prevent it happening, geopolitics would not allow. Today a 'Landmark moment': 156 countries agree to Covid vaccine allocation deal. Progress.
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Prof Chris Whitty: the expert we need in the coronavirus crisis - Very accurate article, and the right person at the right time in the right place. UK is very fortunate @CMO_England .
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@wi_john @FinancialTimes I will continue to wear a mask for the foreseeable future - 1/ In shops 2/ Indoors in public places 3/ On public transport 4/ In crowded outdoor settings 5/ In other settings when asked to do so or if I may make others feel uncomfortable.
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Cannot continue just observe & not act. U.K delayed in March resulting one of worst outcomes globally. Sept/Oct we have had all the data, trajectory epidemic clear + experience first wave & other countries. Delaying is itself a decision with consequences
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UK Set to Rejoin EU Horizon Science Program After 2-Year Absence - good news for science, research, health, international collaboration, culture, careers - simply great news.
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Tally of covid-19 cases after CDC conference climbs to 181 - 10% of those who attended.
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@EricTopol UK may have highest or close to highest level immunity of any country in the world result of very high vaccine acceptance & a lot of transmission (running a hot epidemic see below) & yet now omicron doubling every 2d. Impact of omicron in less immune populations a huge concern
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Evidence that reinfection further increases risks of death, hospitalization & sequelae in multiple organ systems in the acute &post-acute phase. Reducing overall burden of death & disease due to SARSCoV2 will require strategies for reinfection prevention .
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COVID, SARS-1, Nipah, MERS, H5N1, H1N1, Zika, Ebola etc are symptoms of changing world - biodiversity, habitats, climate, animal/human interactions, legal/illegal wild life trade, urbanisation, trade/Travel. We have to address these drivers to prevent frequent & complex pandemics.
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Reduce new cases, reduce transmission in community/care homes/hospitals/prisons as far as possible, have Test-Trace-Isolate fully functional & robust with surge capacity, clinical care for those who do get ill & have the trust of the public. Before restrictions are lifted.
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Challenge lifting restrictions even with arguably world’s best Test-Isolate-Contact system in place. Virus not changed remains highly infectious, human population remains largely susceptible.Probable that lifting restrictions will lead to increase in cases
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We didn’t use the summer months to get an effective, supportive & trusted track-trace-isolate system in place as other countries managed to do. That would have helped get r right down. Instead we headed into autumn with r too high. We’re sadly seeing the consequences of this now.
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Lung abnormalities found in long COVID patients with breathlessness - important preliminary publication on mechanism underlying sustained shortness of breath after SARS-CoV2 infection
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Please wear mask public transport,shops,crowded indoor places,good ventilation,if poss flexible work,COVID/Flu vaccines,relatively minor modifications now can prevent need harsher interventions later,pressure NHS or having implement Plan B. It is avoidable
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Why quality control of tests so important - The Spanish government has withdrawn 9,000 coronavirus testing kits from use after it emerged that they had an accurate detection rate of just 30%.
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SAGE warned Government 'very early on' about COVID-19 in care homes
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End of a long week - the course of the pandemic is less predictable now than at any point since February 2020. A increased commitment to science, evidence, R&D, data sharing & global equitable access to all the tools to end this pandemic more important now than ever.
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Always worth remembering the Swiss/Austrian/German/French Cheese analogy of how public heath interventions work - its the combination of different interventions that makes the impact - multiple layers improve success - Vaccination Plus.
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Whatever your views of Brexit deploying the military to apparently protect U.K. from our closest allies is a tragedy.
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Over the coming weeks & months we will all be tired at times, fearful, these are very tough times. We will all be short tempered & grumpy! But we will get through it, the togetherness & solidarity is what we will remember.
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No symptoms Monday-Friday this week, sore throat, cough, tired, temperature, aches from Saturday morning. If in close proximity to you during last week assume I was infectious for at least some of last few days. Hope you are ok.
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15 March - 330 new cases confirmed and 23 deaths. 30th May 1,604 new cases confirmed and 113 deaths.
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Masks protect us all, if I wear a mask it protects other people. Very important if people are immunocompromised or other conditions including diabetes. Incredible that in HoC, individuals sitting so close to people who they know have diabetes are not willing to help protect them
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COVID-19 Vaccine Shipped, and Drug Trials Start | Time - work supported by @NIH & @CEPIvaccines
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A singular honour, an enormous privilege - I am a part of all that I have met. Thank you. “Ah, but a person’s reach should exceed their grasp, Or what’s a heaven for”
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The only thing more economically damaging than supporting people through this crisis is not supporting people through this crisis.
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I am very sorry to hear that Neil Ferguson will be stepping away and SAGE will not benefit from his direct input. He has been an outstanding member of SAGE and there is no doubt his scientific advice has saved many lives. (1/2).
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Vaccine Plus.Please wear mask public transport now, in shops/indoor spaces,good ventilation,if possible flexible work-times,COVID/Flu vaccine, minor modifications now can prevent rises cases, deaths, new variants or need for Plan B. It is avoidable
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Very important report. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection farmed minks. Avian H5N1 has caused outbreaks in humans with high mortality now found transmit between minks. Risk of evolution in mammals & acquisition of H-2-H transmission
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On the tragic day, the worst day of the pandemic in the UK, with 1325 people reported to have lost their lives - this is the exclusive report in a national newspaper. Have we lost perspective?
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“I thought it was all bull****. government conspiracy . ”
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