the times | Tuesday July 21 2020 2GM 11News
Daily Mail: “If we get an effective
vaccine, and almost everyone takes it
up, overnight all the restrictions can
stop and life will return to normal like it
was before March, with no social
distancing or restrictions.
“The figures suggesting many people
might refuse a vaccine are depressing,
and [people are being] incredibly
selfish. As a doctor, I have known
children die who would have survived
if they had been vaccinated, and if
people do not get vaccinated for
coronavirus other people such as their
grandparents could die. The risks of
vaccines have been maliciously
overestimated.”
Research published this year showed
a drop in the number of children
receiving key childhood vaccinations
during lockdown, although figures are
thought to be improving.
More than 3,500 fewer children had
been vaccinated against measles,
mumps and rubella by April 26 this year
compared with the same time in 2019.
A study by the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and
Public Health England, using
electronic health records, found that in
the three weeks after social distancing
measures were introduced the number
of MMR vaccinations was 20 per cent
lower than the same period in 2019.
In August last year the UK lost its
“measles-free” status with the World
Health Organisation after a number of
cases, some of which were attributed to
clusters of unvaccinated children.
Melanie Phillips, page 28A British drug has been found to
dramatically reduce the chances of
coronavirus patients needing intensive
care, according to the preliminary
results of a small randomised trial.
Hospitalised patients who inhaled a
protein designed to stimulate the
immune system were 79 per cent less
likely to deteriorate to the point where
they needed ventilation. However,
other researchers said that larger trials
were needed to be sure of its findings,
with a lot of uncertainty about the
strength of its effect.
The trial of the drug, developed at the
University of Southampton, involved
101 patients, half of whom received a
placebo. The data will need to be exam-
ined closely by other scientists and has
not yet been released for peer review.
Synairgen, the pharmaceutical
company developing the drug, is
obliged by stock market rules to report
preliminary results. If confirmed the
findings would represent a dramatic
breakthrough, adding to the small stock
of drugs able to change the course of the
disease.
Until now only remdesivir, an anti-
viral, and dexamethasone, a steroid,
have been shown to have a clinical
effect on Covid-19. The effectiveness of
remdesivir was relatively low, merelylessening the time people spent in
hospital, while dexamethasone was
only useful in a subset of patients.
The patients involved in the South-
ampton trial were more than twice as
likely to recover to the point where they
could return to normal life. Three
people in the placebo group died while
all in the treatment group survived.
However, because of the size of the
study compared with those that
showed the efficacy of remdesivir andThe chief nursing officer for England
has confirmed that she was dropped
from a Downing Street press confer-
ence after she said that she would criti-
cise Boris Johnson’s chief aide for driv-
ing to Durham during lockdown.
Ruth May said that she was never
told why she was dropped at the last
minute on June 1. She confirmed to
MPs that when asked during a prepara-
tion session about Dominic Cum-
mings’s behaviour, she said that he
should have followed the rules.
She said yesterday: “In my opinion
the rules were clear, and they were
there for everyone’s safety and they
applied to us all.”
No 10 was forced on to the defensive
when it emerged in late May that at the
height of the epidemic Mr Cummings
had driven his family to his parents’
home in County Durham while his wife
was showing symptoms of the virus.
After falling ill himself, he later drove
30 miles to Barnard Castle and claimed
that it was to test his eyesight.
Mr Johnson and ministers spent a
week defending Mr Cummings’s deci-
sion to follow his “instinct” in the face of
intense criticism. Chris Whitty, the
chief medical officer for England, and
Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientificadviser, both declined to give their
views when asked at a Downing Street
press conference, saying that they did
not want to get involved in politics.
On May 30, Jonathan Van Tam, the
deputy chief medical officer, said that
the rules “apply to all” when asked
about Mr Cummings. Jenny Harries,
another deputy chief medical officer,
said the next day that she agreed. Ms
May was due to appear the day after.
Professor Van Tam has not been seen
at the briefings since. Reports first
emerged last month that Ms May had
been dropped because No 10 did not
want a third health service leader to
criticise Mr Cummings. At the time
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary,
said: “I don’t think it is true.”
However, appearing before the
public accounts committee yesterday,
Ms May said that “it is indeed true I was
dropped from the briefing”.
She confirmed that she had been
preparing for the appearance. “Yes, of
course, I was asked about lockdown and
rules”, adding that she would have
given a similar answer to the one given
by Professor Van Tam. Pressed on
whether Mr Cummings broke the rules,
she said: “They applied to all of us.”
Matt Hancock, the health secretary,
presented the slides himself. She said
she was asked to attend another brief-
ing later in June but was stuck in traffic.
Sir Ed Davey, the acting Liberal
Democrat leader, said: “This is why we
need to see the timetable for the inde-
pendent inquiry he agreed to last week,
so we can get the truth out in the open.”Ruth May said she
was not told why
she was dropped
from the briefingNew treatment shows promise
dexamethasone, researchers are wary
of putting too much confidence in it.
The drug contains a protein called
interferon beta which the immune
system uses to signal to the body and
muster a response. One of the corona-
virus’s tricks is believed to be that it
suppresses this response. By inhaling
the protein in an aerosol, the scientists
believe that it restores the lung’s ability
to naturally neutralise the virus.
“The results confirm our belief that
interferon beta... has huge potential as
an inhaled drug to be able to restore the
lung’s immune response, enhancing
protection, accelerating recovery and
countering the impact of Sars-CoV-
virus,” Tom Wilkinson, professor of
respiratory medicine at the University
of Southampton, said.
Regulators typically take months to
bring a drug from this stage to market
but if the promising early findings are
confirmed it is expected to be fast-
tracked. It will still require a far larger
trial, during a second wave in the UK or
abroad.
Martin Landray, from the University
of Oxford, is one of the scientists run-
ning the Recovery Trial, the UK’s flag-
ship trial of coronavirus treatments. He
said: “This is a small study, in an early
phase. It is better to see encouraging re-
sults than negative results, but one
shouldn’t get over-excited.”Tom Whipple, Alex Ralph The national picture
Daily new lab-confirmed UK casesDaily new UK deaths*Counting of cases has changed to remove duplication. Numbers
now include those tested in all settings. Source: Gov.UKCases Deaths
Total UK* 295,372 45,
254,
18,
16,
5,40,
2,
1,
556England
Scotland
Wales
N Ireland1113814 Jul39814 Jul851553815(^6640)
27
16
642 827726
16
114
17
687
17
18
18
19 20
19
580
20
News
from safety first to hairy scary
on primary schools, Boris Johnson at the Discovery School in West Malling, Kent and Sir Keir Starmer at Whitmore Park in Coventry, but vaccines stole the headlines
Chief nurse:
I would have
criticised
Cummings
Chris Smyth Whitehall Editor
ANDREW PARSONS/NO10 DOWNING STREET; JACOB KING/PA