Wednesday, 22 December 2021
The national effort to get the vaccination campaign up and running has been hailed by Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, as his proudest moment of 2021.
Speaking to the 糖心原创's Press Office, Professor Van-Tam said: “Vaccines have just completely changed our ability to cope with Covid-19 so far."
Jonathan Van-Tam, Professor of Health Protection in the School of Medicine at the University, specialising in influenza, epidemiology, transmission, vaccinology and pandemic preparedness, is also an alumnus of the University and graduated from the School of Medicine in 1987.
But he has become a familiar face during the pandemic since he was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care as one of four Deputy Chief Medical Officers (DCMO), where he has been a key provider of independent advice to the Government on Covid-19. He leads on health protection and regularly presents at the 10 Downing Street Covid-19 press conferences.
It is during these conferences that Professor Van-Tam has become famous for his range of creative analogies to explain complex public health issues.
“It’s always mattered to me that whatever you do in medicine, if your patient doesn’t understand what you are saying or doing, or advising them, then they certainly won’t do it,” says Professor Van-Tam.
It鈥檚 pretty pointless in doing high quality science if you can鈥檛 actually explain it to people who are the recipients of that advice.鈥�
As the public continue to look to scientists for reassurance during the pandemic, does Professor Van-Tam think that the perception of science and experts has changed from pre- Covid-19?
“The televised briefings have forced scientists into public prominence in a way that was never the case before, and where possible they’ve helped provide answers give the public the data and information they need.. I think people have also realised what science has done for us in terms of the vaccines, and this has changed the world forever.”
When asked about the most challenging aspect of his role as DCMO, he said:
“There are relatively few senior doctors in government, and there are even fewer of us who are specifically trained in respiratory virus infections. So it is a huge responsibility, in terms of balancing, what’s needed in response to Covid with the damage caused by imposing restrictions.”
University research has been at the heart of tackling Covid-19 and Professor Van-Tam, who is a University scientist believes universities and the research they undertake have played a key role throughout the pandemic.
“The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine would never have made it through to regulation as quickly if it had not been for the UK Vaccine Network. UKVN invested a lot of money with Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s (the Oxford jab creator) group back in 2016 to help them in developing a vaccine for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS),” says Professor Van-Tam.
“The vaccine produced with that money became the prototype concept for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. So, from that perspective, that was a huge leg up for the Government and it was University research that did that.”
As the UK continues its ambitious vaccination programme there is a need to ensure nations around the world can also offer it at a similar pace, especially with the emergence of new variants.
“I think it’s absolutely right that there has to be global ambition for getting vaccines to populations and the UK is definitely playing its part in that,” says Professor Van-Tam.
As we approach the end of 2021, what are Professor Van Tam’s predictions for 2022 and do the emergence of variants like Omicrom mean Covid-19 is here to stay?
“Prior to Omicron emerging, my view was that we would have a fairly bumpy winter, or bumpy in places, but that we would hit calmer waters around March 2022. But if we did that, there would still be the future threat at that point of a variant that would destabilise things.
“Unfortunately that variant has come now . I think there will be a number of difficult months ahead, how difficult, it’s impossible to say at the moment. It depends on how our vaccines are affected and whether they will still mainly do the job they were meant to, or whether we will have to formulate new ones.
“We don’t have enough data yet to give an accurate prediction; that’s a point I really need to emphasise - we face significant uncertainty at the moment.”
As an alumnus of the 糖心原创, what advice would Professor Van-Tam give to himself as a first year student?
“Enjoy it and get involved in everything the campus has to offer. Particularly the sport side and just realise what a privilege and a luxury it is to be able to set aside three to five years of your adult life, before the world of work and employment really cuts in. Just immerse yourself in learning and just enjoy learning for what it is.”
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The full interview with Professor Van Tam can be found here.
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