I am sure all the correspondents here would wish to thank Azeem Majeed and Mariam Molokhia for their noble aspirations [1] (and I thank them particularly for their personal reply). If one has qualms it is because the science at this stage seems somewhat incomplete, speculative and even premature [2, 3]. Might we have made even more progress at combatting the epidemic if early on we had focussed on what was known [4,5,6]. It is not only in the Prime Minister’s terms that have we been waiting for “the cavalry” all this time, it is that battles usually have casualties.
[3] Pete Doshi, ‘ Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us’, BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4037 (Published 21 October 2020)
[5] Ellen CG Grant, ‘ Vitamin D and Vitamin C missing Re: Covid-19: politicisation, “corruption,” and suppression of science’, 17 November 2020, https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4425/rr-28
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. I also moderate comments for the on-line journal ‘The Defender’ for which I am paid. I am also a member of the UK Medical Freedom Alliance
Rapid Response:
Re: Vaccinating the UK against covid-19
Dear Editor
I am sure all the correspondents here would wish to thank Azeem Majeed and Mariam Molokhia for their noble aspirations [1] (and I thank them particularly for their personal reply). If one has qualms it is because the science at this stage seems somewhat incomplete, speculative and even premature [2, 3]. Might we have made even more progress at combatting the epidemic if early on we had focussed on what was known [4,5,6]. It is not only in the Prime Minister’s terms that have we been waiting for “the cavalry” all this time, it is that battles usually have casualties.
[1] Responses to Majeed and Molokhia, ‘ Vaccinating the UK against covid-19’, https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4654/rapid-responses
[2] ‘Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data’, https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/11/26/peter-doshi-pfizer-and-modernas-95-...
[3] Pete Doshi, ‘ Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us’, BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4037 (Published 21 October 2020)
[4] Ellen CG Grant, ‘ Life saving high dose Vitamin D and Vitamin C Re: Covid-19’s known unknowns’, 22 October 2020, https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3979/rr-7
[5] Ellen CG Grant, ‘ Vitamin D and Vitamin C missing Re: Covid-19: politicisation, “corruption,” and suppression of science’, 17 November 2020, https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4425/rr-28
[6] Ellen CG Grant, ‘ Vitamin D and Pandemics Re: Malnutrition: the silent pandemic’, 2 December 2020, https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4593/rr
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. I also moderate comments for the on-line journal ‘The Defender’ for which I am paid. I am also a member of the UK Medical Freedom Alliance