3 ms·

Unlikely to be the latter, because they've already prepurchased millions of doses. Unlikely to be the former either. The UK regulatory system is highly-regarded

Unlikely to be the latter, because they've already prepurchased millions of doses. Unlikely to be the former either. The UK regulatory system is highly-regarded, and until January the EU medicines regulator was based in London. It may just be that they're particularly efficient.

mattmanser 6y ago
Lets hope it's not not like our pandemic preparedness, that was highly regarded and turned out to be rotten.
- ascorbic 6y ago
  The difference is that the pandemic preparedness was untested, while the MHRA has been working for years
- cameronh90 6y ago
  It had actually been identified that our pandemic preparedness was overly focused on influenza. Still, I have no idea whether we'd have fared better in a flu pandemic - maybe the assumption was that we'd be able to get a vaccine quicker in that case? In any case, it's still somewhat unclear why the UK has done so badly with Covid. There are some obvious things the government should have done better - and unless Brexit turns out to be a "titanic success", I can't see how Boris Johnson will remain PM until the next election. But even compared to countries that have implemented weaker measures, slower than we have, or have had their healthcare systems overwhelmed, or struggled with testing - we've suffered much worse. And the reason why is, at this point, unknown. One argument is we have a less healthy population, either due to lifestyle factors or due to having relatively mild previous flu seasons. Another is our dense, poor housing and service economy. Another is travel and weather. Will be interesting to see what falls out over the analyses over the next few years, and if anything is done to act on the problems (I doubt..). The factor that these preparedness plans can't account for who is in charge at the time the disaster hits. We might have technically had the best plans, best scientists, best civil service, best procedures - and then the person in charge refused to listen to them. Like Trump and the CDC. Maybe people will vote for competence over bluster next time around? (I doubt..)
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  I suspect it's because a large portion of society didn't take it seriously rather than preparedness. There are a lot of protections against government forcing the populace to do things that they don't want to do unlike in some much more authoritarian countries.

mattmanser 6y ago

Lets hope it's not not like our pandemic preparedness, that was highly regarded and turned out to be rotten.

ascorbic 6y ago
The difference is that the pandemic preparedness was untested, while the MHRA has been working for years
cameronh90 6y ago
It had actually been identified that our pandemic preparedness was overly focused on influenza. Still, I have no idea whether we'd have fared better in a flu pandemic - maybe the assumption was that we'd be able to get a vaccine quicker in that case? In any case, it's still somewhat unclear why the UK has done so badly with Covid. There are some obvious things the government should have done better - and unless Brexit turns out to be a "titanic success", I can't see how Boris Johnson will remain PM until the next election. But even compared to countries that have implemented weaker measures, slower than we have, or have had their healthcare systems overwhelmed, or struggled with testing - we've suffered much worse. And the reason why is, at this point, unknown. One argument is we have a less healthy population, either due to lifestyle factors or due to having relatively mild previous flu seasons. Another is our dense, poor housing and service economy. Another is travel and weather. Will be interesting to see what falls out over the analyses over the next few years, and if anything is done to act on the problems (I doubt..). The factor that these preparedness plans can't account for who is in charge at the time the disaster hits. We might have technically had the best plans, best scientists, best civil service, best procedures - and then the person in charge refused to listen to them. Like Trump and the CDC. Maybe people will vote for competence over bluster next time around? (I doubt..)
stjohnswarts 6y ago
I suspect it's because a large portion of society didn't take it seriously rather than preparedness. There are a lot of protections against government forcing the populace to do things that they don't want to do unlike in some much more authoritarian countries.