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At a time when the government is trying to persuade everyone that it is safe to re-open the schools and go back to work it is also trying to introduce extreme measures against a disease which retreated months ago [1-3]. They are saying that the risk of the disease is so bad that we must suspend the rules that normally regulate medicines, and we must introduce a legal footing for the products which protects not citizens but the government and the manufacturers, and the situation is so bad that inexperienced persons must be brought in to administer the products [4,5] - AND THEN THEY EXPECT EVERYONE TO LINE UP AND ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES. But I think we can all agree with your recent editorial "Less haste, more safety" [6], and that it might also help if the government had a consistent story.
[4] Elisabeth Mahase, 'Midwives, paramedics, and physiotherapists could deliver covid and flu vaccines under government plan', BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3375 (Published 28 August 2020)
[6] Fiona Godlee, ' Covid-19: Less haste, more safety', BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3258 (Published 20 August 2020)
Competing interests:
AgeofAutism.com, an on-line daily journal, concerns itself with the potential environmental sources for the proliferation of autism, neurological impairment, immune dysfunction and chronic disease. I receive no payment as UK Editor
Extreme Mixed Messages
Dear Editor
At a time when the government is trying to persuade everyone that it is safe to re-open the schools and go back to work it is also trying to introduce extreme measures against a disease which retreated months ago [1-3]. They are saying that the risk of the disease is so bad that we must suspend the rules that normally regulate medicines, and we must introduce a legal footing for the products which protects not citizens but the government and the manufacturers, and the situation is so bad that inexperienced persons must be brought in to administer the products [4,5] - AND THEN THEY EXPECT EVERYONE TO LINE UP AND ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES. But I think we can all agree with your recent editorial "Less haste, more safety" [6], and that it might also help if the government had a consistent story.
[1] Carl Heneghan, Jason Oke, 'Why Oldham shouldn't be going into lockdown', CEBM 19 August 2020, https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/why-oldham-shouldnt-go-into-lockdown/
[2] Daniel Howdon, Carl Heneghan, 'The Declining Case Fatality Ratio in England', CEBM 19 August 2020, https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/the-declining-case-fatality-ratio-in-england/
[3] Tom Jefferson, Carl Heneghan, Elizabeth Spencer, Jon Brassey, 'Are you infectious if you have a positive PCR test result for COVID-19?', CEBM 5 August 2020, https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/infectious-positive-pcr-test-result-covid-19/
[4] Elisabeth Mahase, 'Midwives, paramedics, and physiotherapists could deliver covid and flu vaccines under government plan', BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3375 (Published 28 August 2020)
[5] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/distributing-vaccines-and-tr...
[6] Fiona Godlee, ' Covid-19: Less haste, more safety', BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3258 (Published 20 August 2020)
Competing interests: AgeofAutism.com, an on-line daily journal, concerns itself with the potential environmental sources for the proliferation of autism, neurological impairment, immune dysfunction and chronic disease. I receive no payment as UK Editor