Where's Whitty?

Looking for England's Chief Medical Officer

Has anyone seen Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO)?

Professor Whitty became the CMO in 2019 and was a regular face on TV telling us all about the pandemic. In televised news conferences, he and Boris Johnson would tell us all about the R number, how many deaths there had been and how we should stay at home and avoid people to reduce the spread of the virus. He earns approximately £210,000 ($240,000).

He did such a great job during the pandemic that he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 2022. So we are now looking for Sir Whitty.

For two years, Sir Chris was everywhere, telling us all to social distance whilst sun bathing outside in the Summer.

Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England

COVID-19 has gone down due to the efforts of everyone but is still in general circulation. If we do not follow social distancing guidance then cases will rise again. Naturally people will want to enjoy the sun but we need to do so in a way that is safe for all.

He was a keen lockdown advocate and warned us to take them seriously.

Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England

The situation in the NHS is very serious and the number of people in ICU is rising rapidly. We are improving our knowledge on how best to treat people in ICU thanks to research, but hundreds of people a day are currently dying. We must all take the lockdown very seriously.

NIHR Research @NIHRresearch

BREAKING: The NIHR-supported @remap_cap trial shows that patients receiving tocilizumab and a second drug called sarilumab can reduce the relative risk of death by 24% when administered to patients within 24 hours of entering intensive care. #Covid19 https://t.co/oTIw3z3fPL https://t.co/vVOQBnXrHJ

He constantly told us to get vaccinated because it reduced transmission and so helped to protect others.

Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England

PHE data show up to 50% reduction in transmission of COVID from first vaccine. 3 implications: 1) Getting a vaccine helps protect others 2) This is likely to be improved by getting your second dose 3) If people you meet are vaccinated it reduces your risk- but not completely.

UK Health Security Agency @UKHSA

NEW: Our new research shows that one dose of #COVID19 vaccine can cut household transmission by up to half. Read more here: https://t.co/y2Ps7CUxuP

Together with Jeremy Hunt, he circumvented the advice of the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) to approve Covid vaccines for children. The JCVI were hesitant to approve the vaccines due to a lack of safety data.

He told us how important climate change is and how it will put people’s health at risk.

Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England

As COP26 starts it is worth reiterating that the scientific case for urgent climate action is unequivocal. So is the public health case. Climate change will put people's health at risk around the world, especially the most vulnerable.

gov.ukStatement by International Senior Scientific Advisers ahead of COP26<div class=“govspeak”><p>The scientific case for urgent climate action is unequivocal. The <abbr title=“Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”>IPCC</abbr>’s Sixth Assessment Report <a rel=“external” href=“https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/” class=“govuk-link”>Climate Change 2021: The Physical S…

And he was part of the decision making process that saw unvaccinated care workers get sacked. NHS nurses, doctors and staff were on their way to suffer the same fate before a last minute U-turn. However, Chris wasn’t happy with that decision and still applied pressure on NHS staff to get vaccinated. He wrote to them all telling them it was their professional responsibility to get vaccinated.

Professor Chris Whitty @CMO_England

With the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Midwifery Officer, Medical Directors and others, I have written to NHS colleagues about the professional responsibility to protect patients from COVID-19. This includes getting vaccinated, as the great majority have.

However now he has gone missing. With the Omicron variant being dominant you might say that the man deserves a break after being on TV every day for the last few years. I would agree with you if there weren’t so many people dying at the moment.

Since March of this year, excess deaths have shot up, the majority of which are not Covid deaths. In this last week alone there have been 1,372 excess deaths in England and Wales which is 14% above the five year average.

The number of excess deaths at home is 26.3% above average, in hospital 10.5% above average and in care homes 10.4% above average. As I have said before, after a pandemic (which sadly kills the frail and elderly), there should be negative excess deaths.

So what is going on? What is causing these excess deaths? Why are so many excess deaths occurring at home?

But most importantly, where is our CMO to reassure us that these excess deaths are being investigated and measures being taken to eliminate them?

He’s been spotted lecturing about his favourite subject, pandemics. He’s been tweeting about flu/Covid vaccines and monkey pox but nothing about this mysterious killer causing excess deaths.

Where’s Whitty?