As we come to Step 2, a thread on those I think have had a Good or Bad pandemic.
Good: mRNA vaccine developers - the Dambusters heroes of our age.
Good: Matt Hancock - Came up smelling of roses when all had doubted him.
Good: Imperial modellers - Though not getting everything right, they've been vindicated in most respects despite heavy criticism early on.
Good: The NHS - despite the criticisms of decades & doubts of the early phase of this crisis, no evidence death rates were higher + also found new drugs.
Good: Hugo Gye - Found a niche & stuck to it, resisting the temptation to use his platform to pontificate about all & sundry.
Good: Freddie Sayers - Secured all the top folk to interview & did so in a humble yet probing way that let them put across their opinions clearly, whether they were right or wrong. A class act & one to look out for in the future.
Good: Steve Baker - Applied his brand of fearless humane libertarianism in a broadly supportive way. Occasionally taken in by charlatanry but never too dependent upon it. Backed lockdowns when truly needed but kept the govt's feet to the fire in a healthy way despite criticism.
Bad: John Edmunds - Went from lead herd immunity advocate to chief pessimist, with barely a breath in btwn. Team forecast R going well above 1 when schools reopened, then bizarre 31% vaxx efficacy model, relegated to an appendix in latest SPI-M analysis. Credibility badly damaged
Bad: Team Gupta - Secured headlines for wildly wrong predictions early on, then doubled down long after it was clear her models weren't working & never really had an account of why or period of proper reflection. Possibly unlucky but didn't help herself.
Bad: Young & Delingpole - Showed themselves easily taken in by charlatans & far too eager to pronounce decisively on technical matters where they had no expertise & they were utterly wrong, despite 10s-100s of k of lives at stake. Will be hard to take seriously ever again.
Bad: Friston - A brilliant man whose superb techniques have worked startlingly well in other contexts but has simply had a mare throughout this crisis & yet has surrendered to the temptation to make headlines & give quotes long after it was clear his predictions were always wrong
Bad: AZ - Made the mistake of trying to be nice & help make the world a better place, despite having no prior expertise in vaccines. Got hated for it, first for manufacturing problems & later for rare side effects. Suspect they will stick to making profits in future.
Bad: Keir Starmer - Has looked more & more like a shallow opportunist as the crisis has progressed. No genuine contribution to the debate either way. Lame.
Good: The coronavirus dashboard team. Never in history have death stats been so sexy.
Bad: The European Commission - Messed up on the vaccines, frequently ignored by Member States, comical screw-up over NI. UvdL in particular has looked frequently out of her depth. Previous reputation as "Whatever else you say about them, they're fiercely competent" now damaged.
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