It is not possible to fully identify vulnerable individuals, and it is not possible to fully isolate them. This declaration prioritises just one aspect of a sensible strategy – protecting the vulnerable – and suggests we can safely build up ‘herd immunity’ in the rest of the population. “An effective response to the Covid pandemic requires multiple targeted interventions to reduce transmission, to develop better treatments and to protect vulnerable people.
“So I appreciate and understand the concerns and the sentiment behind this declaration, and of course other diseases are important and need attention, but without these anti-COVID-19 ‘tools’, I cannot see how they will achieve this ‘Focused Protection’ for these vulnerable groups in any practical, reliable or safe way.”ĭr Rupert Beale, Group Leader, Cell Biology of Infection Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, said: “A similar approach may also work for COVID-19 one day – indeed a similar vaccination strategy for COVID-19 to that of influenza (targeting the most vulnerable) has already been discussed in the UK: but we don’t have a COVID-19 vaccine yet, nor a more general use antiviral treatment. “But we don’t yet have these additional ‘tools’ (the vaccine and antivirals) for COVID-19, to assist with this ‘Focused Protection’ approach. “And if this fails to prevent influenza infection of the vulnerable groups, we have antivirals like oseltamivir and zanamivir that we can give to anyone who has influenza or in whom we even just suspect influenza (as empirical therapy during the influenza season) to reduce the severity of their illness. “In fact, this ‘Focused Protection’ approach is used each year during our annual influenza season, where we vaccinate the vulnerable – elderly and those with comorbidities – including pregnancy: and even primary school children who have contact with such vulnerable groups in an effort to further protect the vulnerable:
Jay Bhattacharya in the video was not really understandable and had no practical details of how this would be done. “The interviewer gave a very simple example of a grandparent looking after a school-age child, highlighting one household member (the child) who would not be expected to suffer from COVID-19 much, who would attend a large gathering with other young people on a daily basis, but where the other household member (the grandparent) should be ‘protected’. “Having watched their video and read their Declaration, I can understand their concerns and their aims, but they are not very clear about how they will carry out their proposed ‘Focused Protection’. Expert reaction to Barrington Declaration, an open letter arguing against lockdown policies and for ‘Focused Protection’Īn open letter has been published, arguing against lockdown policies and for ‘Focused Protection’.ĭr Julian Tang, Honorary Associate Professor in Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, said:
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