https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/24/sage-warned-independent-sage-name-would-cause-confusion-patrick-vallance-david-king
Sage warned Independent Sage its name would cause confusion, says Vallance >Chief scientist told former incumbent Sir David King the similarity
would lead to mixed messaging
Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Fri 24 Mar 2023 14.56 EDT
The governments chief scientist warned a former incumbent not to
confuse the public during the Covid pandemic by naming an independent
expert panel after the group convened to advise ministers on the crisis.
Sir Patrick Vallance revealed the clash in an interview at the Institute
for Government on Friday, where he also said he would have told the
former prime minister Boris Johnson that the Covid rules were meant to
be followed by all.
Vallance chaired the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or Sage, >throughout the pandemic and fed assessments from the expert committee
back to the prime minister and the rest of government.
In response to initial secrecy around Sages meetings and membership,
Sir David King, who was the governments chief scientist a decade
earlier, created Independent Sage, a separate panel of experts that held
its meetings in public.
Speaking at the event, Vallance said King called early in the crisis and >declared his intention to set up the parallel group because of concerns >around Sages lack of transparency. I did ask him not to call it Sage, >because I think that was very confusing, Vallance said. I think its a
pity that that happened.
At the time, several senior scientists criticised King for the move and >warned that calling the group Independent Sage risked undermining
Britains pandemic response and muddying the waters around crucial
public health messages.
Sages membership was kept secret at the start of the pandemic, along
with data and research papers the group discussed, and minutes of the >meetings. Following an outcry over the lack of transparency, the
committee became more open, publishing the names of members who were
happy to be identified and releasing documents, though often several
weeks after the event.
The delay in releasing documents led to widespread alarm in October 2020
when it emerged that Sage had warned ministers three weeks earlier that
the country faced a very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences >unless it took immediate action by imposing a circuit breaker
lockdown. Instead, Boris Johnson introduced a three-tier Covid alert system.
Vallance, who steps down as chief scientific adviser next Friday, said
that while government departments had very good science advisers, the
civil service has lagged behind. When he took up the post in 2018, only
10% of entrants to the civil service fast stream held a science,
technology, engineering or maths degree. A target has since been set to >achieve 50%, he said.
Asked if the governments chief scientist could ever be an artificial >intelligence, Vallance admitted that he had asked ChatGPT to write a
letter for the prime minister on a scientific issue to see what it would >churn out. The concept was a bit ropey, but the structure was quite
good, he said.
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On the advice he would have given Johnson over the events that led to
his grilling by the House of Commonss privileges committee this week
over Partygate, Vallance added: Ive been pretty clear: the advice was
there for everybody and everybody should follow it.
Dr Stephen Griffin, a co-chair of Independent Sage, said the group was
set up in the early stages of the pandemic because the attendance and >disclosure around Sage meetings was obscured. It was in no way intended
to be in opposition to Sage, and never has been much of our work has
been based upon, or in agreement with, recommendations later released in
Sage minutes, plus several of our group are Sage members.
Especially during the early years of the pandemic, Indie Sage certainly >offered both scientific and science policy advice; several of our
members are in fact experts on the latter. Sadly, certain critics
confuse policy with politics, yet to offer scientifically informed
statements on subjects such as supported isolation, or countering >transmission, for example, in schools ought not to be controversial.
Michael Ejercito wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/24/sage-warned-independent-sage-name-would-cause-confusion-patrick-vallance-david-king
Sage warned Independent Sage its name would cause confusion, says Vallance >> Chief scientist told former incumbent Sir David King the similarity
would lead to mixed messaging
Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Fri 24 Mar 2023 14.56 EDT
The government’s chief scientist warned a former incumbent not to
confuse the public during the Covid pandemic by naming an independent
expert panel after the group convened to advise ministers on the crisis.
Sir Patrick Vallance revealed the clash in an interview at the Institute
for Government on Friday, where he also said he would have told the
former prime minister Boris Johnson that the Covid rules were meant to
be followed by all.
Vallance chaired the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or Sage,
throughout the pandemic and fed assessments from the expert committee
back to the prime minister and the rest of government.
In response to initial secrecy around Sage’s meetings and membership,
Sir David King, who was the government’s chief scientist a decade
earlier, created Independent Sage, a separate panel of experts that held
its meetings in public.
Speaking at the event, Vallance said King called early in the crisis and
declared his intention to set up the parallel group because of concerns
around Sage’s lack of transparency. “I did ask him not to call it Sage, >> because I think that was very confusing,” Vallance said. “I think it’s a
pity that that happened.”
At the time, several senior scientists criticised King for the move and
warned that calling the group “Independent Sage” risked undermining
Britain’s pandemic response and muddying the waters around crucial
public health messages.
Sage’s membership was kept secret at the start of the pandemic, along
with data and research papers the group discussed, and minutes of the
meetings. Following an outcry over the lack of transparency, the
committee became more open, publishing the names of members who were
happy to be identified and releasing documents, though often several
weeks after the event.
The delay in releasing documents led to widespread alarm in October 2020
when it emerged that Sage had warned ministers three weeks earlier that
the country faced a “very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences” >> unless it took immediate action by imposing a “circuit breaker”
lockdown. Instead, Boris Johnson introduced a three-tier Covid alert system. >>
Vallance, who steps down as chief scientific adviser next Friday, said
that while government departments had “very good” science advisers, the >> civil service has lagged behind. When he took up the post in 2018, only
10% of entrants to the civil service fast stream held a science,
technology, engineering or maths degree. A target has since been set to
achieve 50%, he said.
Asked if the government’s chief scientist could ever be an artificial
intelligence, Vallance admitted that he had asked ChatGPT to write a
letter for the prime minister on a scientific issue to see what it would
churn out. “The concept was a bit ropey, but the structure was quite
good,” he said.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to First Edition
Free daily newsletter
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what
they mean, free every weekday morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online
ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our
Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
On the advice he would have given Johnson over the events that led to
his grilling by the House of Commons’s privileges committee this week
over Partygate, Vallance added: “I’ve been pretty clear: the advice was >> there for everybody and everybody should follow it.”
Dr Stephen Griffin, a co-chair of Independent Sage, said the group was
set up in the early stages of the pandemic because the attendance and
disclosure around Sage meetings was obscured. “It was in no way intended >> to be in opposition to Sage, and never has been – much of our work has
been based upon, or in agreement with, recommendations later released in
Sage minutes, plus several of our group are Sage members.
“Especially during the early years of the pandemic, Indie Sage certainly >> offered both scientific and science policy advice; several of our
members are in fact experts on the latter. Sadly, certain critics
confuse policy with politics, yet to offer scientifically informed
statements on subjects such as supported isolation, or countering
transmission, for example, in schools ought not to be controversial.”
In the interim, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8) way to eradicate the COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the UK & elsewhere is by
rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) finding out at any given
moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) for them to
call their doctor and self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of
stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the best while
preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations
and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining via slip-RNA-replication to form
hybrids like http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current
COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:
Michael Ejercito wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/24/sage-warned-independent-sage-name-would-cause-confusion-patrick-vallance-david-king
Sage warned Independent Sage its name would cause confusion, says Vallance >>> Chief scientist told former incumbent Sir David King the similarity
would lead to mixed messaging
Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Fri 24 Mar 2023 14.56 EDT
The governments chief scientist warned a former incumbent not to
confuse the public during the Covid pandemic by naming an independent
expert panel after the group convened to advise ministers on the crisis. >>>
Sir Patrick Vallance revealed the clash in an interview at the Institute >>> for Government on Friday, where he also said he would have told the
former prime minister Boris Johnson that the Covid rules were meant to
be followed by all.
Vallance chaired the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or Sage, >>> throughout the pandemic and fed assessments from the expert committee
back to the prime minister and the rest of government.
In response to initial secrecy around Sages meetings and membership,
Sir David King, who was the governments chief scientist a decade
earlier, created Independent Sage, a separate panel of experts that held >>> its meetings in public.
Speaking at the event, Vallance said King called early in the crisis and >>> declared his intention to set up the parallel group because of concerns
around Sages lack of transparency. I did ask him not to call it Sage,
because I think that was very confusing, Vallance said. I think its a >>> pity that that happened.
At the time, several senior scientists criticised King for the move and
warned that calling the group Independent Sage risked undermining
Britains pandemic response and muddying the waters around crucial
public health messages.
Sages membership was kept secret at the start of the pandemic, along
with data and research papers the group discussed, and minutes of the
meetings. Following an outcry over the lack of transparency, the
committee became more open, publishing the names of members who were
happy to be identified and releasing documents, though often several
weeks after the event.
The delay in releasing documents led to widespread alarm in October 2020 >>> when it emerged that Sage had warned ministers three weeks earlier that
the country faced a very large epidemic with catastrophic consequences >>> unless it took immediate action by imposing a circuit breaker
lockdown. Instead, Boris Johnson introduced a three-tier Covid alert system.
Vallance, who steps down as chief scientific adviser next Friday, said
that while government departments had very good science advisers, the
civil service has lagged behind. When he took up the post in 2018, only
10% of entrants to the civil service fast stream held a science,
technology, engineering or maths degree. A target has since been set to
achieve 50%, he said.
Asked if the governments chief scientist could ever be an artificial
intelligence, Vallance admitted that he had asked ChatGPT to write a
letter for the prime minister on a scientific issue to see what it would >>> churn out. The concept was a bit ropey, but the structure was quite
good, he said.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to First Edition
Free daily newsletter
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what
they mean, free every weekday morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online
ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our >>> Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
On the advice he would have given Johnson over the events that led to
his grilling by the House of Commonss privileges committee this week
over Partygate, Vallance added: Ive been pretty clear: the advice was
there for everybody and everybody should follow it.
Dr Stephen Griffin, a co-chair of Independent Sage, said the group was
set up in the early stages of the pandemic because the attendance and
disclosure around Sage meetings was obscured. It was in no way intended >>> to be in opposition to Sage, and never has been much of our work has
been based upon, or in agreement with, recommendations later released in >>> Sage minutes, plus several of our group are Sage members.
Especially during the early years of the pandemic, Indie Sage certainly >>> offered both scientific and science policy advice; several of our
members are in fact experts on the latter. Sadly, certain critics
confuse policy with politics, yet to offer scientifically informed
statements on subjects such as supported isolation, or countering
transmission, for example, in schools ought not to be controversial.
In the interim, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8) way to eradicate the
COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the UK & elsewhere is by
rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) finding out at any given
moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) for them to
call their doctor and self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of
stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the best while
preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations
and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining via slip-RNA-replication to form
hybrids like http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current
COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
I am wonderfully hungry!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/24/sage-warned-independent-sage-name-would-cause-confusion-patrick-vallance-david-king
Sage warned Independent Sage its name would cause confusion, says Vallance >Chief scientist told former incumbent Sir David King the similarity
would lead to mixed messaging
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