Three years on from pandemic, when Dr Doom, Prof Gloom and ‘JVT’ became household names
Three years ago today Britain went into its first ever national Covid lockdown. In a landmark speech to the nation, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson effectively sentenced everyone to house arrest.
Britons were told they could only leave their homes for food, exercise and their jobs ‘if absolutely necessary and could not be done from home’.
Police forces across the country were given new powers to enforce the rules, including stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public — with the exception of those you live with.
During daily briefings from Downing St, Mr. Johnson kept the nation abreast of the outbreak and the country’s response, along with his team of scientific advisers.
Among those seen most often were England’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty and his then deputy Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, as well as Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
MailOnline has listed what those key figures in the pandemic are doing now.
During daily briefings from Downing Street, Mr. Johnson (center) kept the nation abreast of the outbreak and the country’s response, along with his team of science advisers. Among those most often seen in Downing Street briefings were England’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty (left) and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance (right)
Sir Chris became a familiar face when he served as England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) during the pandemic and appeared on TV almost daily during the first lockdown
Sir Chris Whitty
Sir Chris became a familiar face when he served as England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) during the pandemic and made almost daily appearances on TV during the first lockdown.
He developed a fan following for his forthright, reliable and unflappable nature during televised briefings.
A range of merchandise was released in appreciation of Sir Chris – from mugs to T-shirts and birthday cards to cardboard masks.
Some were emblazoned with the phrase ‘next slide please’, referring to his catchphrase at Downing Street briefings.
More recently, Sir Chris found himself at the center of news attention after a trove of over 100,000 leaked WhatsApp messages from Matt Hancock were shared with The Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott.
Exchanges show that Sir Chris warned ministers against enforcing the hated sex ban during the Covid pandemic because ‘people are unlikely to listen’.
Unlike the other two, Sir Chris is still the CMO for England, the UK Government’s Chief Medical Adviser and Head of Public Health.
He also represents the UK on the Board of Governors of the World Health Organisation.
Sir Chris is also a practicing NHS Consultant Physician at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and visiting professor at Gresham College, which gives free public lectures.
Sir Patrick Vallance
When the UK first went into lockdown, Sir Patrick was No 10’s Chief Scientific Adviser.
He made headlines for his no-nonsense approach to the role and quickly became known as someone who brought bad news.
Sir Patrick made headlines when he dashed hopes of the country’s normalcy before Christmas Day 2020 when he warned in September that it could take six months before a vaccine is found.
He also accused Tory MPs and commentators, who criticized advice and modeling given to ministers by SAGE, of ignoring evidence on the Omicron variant to suit their political agenda.
When the UK first went into lockdown, Sir Patrick was No 10’s Chief Scientific Adviser
The former president of research and innovation at GSK also came to the forefront after Mr Hancock’s leaked messages revealed that he had sent a message in August 2020 that implementing foreclosure for the most vulnerable was not ‘easy or very easy’. had been effective.
The government’s top science adviser gained a reputation for not following the political agenda publicly after he dealt a hard blow to Mr Johnson in hopes of persuading workers to return to their offices in July 2020.
He said there was ‘absolutely no reason’ to change the home working guidance in force at the time and that the UK was ‘still at a time when distancing measures are important’ and that remote working ‘remains a great option’.
Sir Patrick is still the government’s chief scientific adviser, meaning he provides scientific advice to the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet.
But he will resign from the role, which pays up to £185,000, next month to become chairman of the Natural History Museum’s board of directors.
Mr Johnson has credited Sir Patrick with playing an ‘instrumental role’ in ‘accelerating this country’s scientific superpower’ and overseeing vaccine roll-outs.
Sir Patrick is also a national technology advisor and head of the government science and engineering profession.
Sir Jonathan Van Tam
At the time of the first lockdown, Sir Jonathan was England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
Dubbed JVT by colleagues, he became a regular figure on TV screens during the lockdown, imparting his expert knowledge at some of the daily coronavirus conferences.
The Boston United fan was famous for his memorable metaphors, such as comparing Covid to a “goalkeeper who can be beaten” and the vaccine rollout to the “glide path to land this plane.”
He also explained that the extreme temperature at which the coronavirus vaccine must be stored is not like yogurt. He said: ‘This is a complex product. It’s not yogurt that you take out of the fridge and put in it several times.’
At the time of the first lockdown, Sir Jonathan was England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer
JVT became a familiar face after sparking panic and concern in the UK in the early days of the Covid crisis, when it was admitted that the country may have to ‘live’ with the virus for years before a vaccine was found.
He also made headlines in December 2020 when he warned that Britons may wear face masks for years to come – even after a successful coronavirus vaccine becomes available.
JVT also clashed with other scientists during the pandemic, for example when they claimed the outbreak would be “a lot calmer” by Easter 2022, while others warned it could take years to become a manageable, seasonal virus.
In January 2022, it was announced that JVT would step down as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England at the end of March that year.
Mr Johnson said Sir Jonathan has made an ‘extraordinary contribution’ to the UK during the pandemic and provided ‘invaluable advice’.
He returned to the University of Nottingham, where he was a Professor of Health Protection before being seconded to the Department of Health in 2017, to join the executive team as Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Medicine and Health Sciences.
Three years since Covid first reached British shores, there have been 24.4 million confirmed cases in the UK and more than 220,000 deaths.