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They didn’t ask for the spotlight, and at times they didn’t always seem comfortable in the media spotlight.
But the scientists who came into our lives at the start of the coronavirus pandemic have become household names.
None more than Professor Jonathan Van-Tam.
The only one to have a nickname: JVT.
The only one with a distinctive way with the words, some of them chained together in a range of bewildering metaphors and analogies.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Van-Tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, now reflected on the past 18 months.
He gave a warning, made a promise, and made a confession.
He was also impatiently waiting.
Van-Tam will be presenting the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures this year, following in the footsteps of Sir David Attenborough, Dame Nancy Rothwell and Michael Faraday – who began the tradition in 1825.
Van-Tam is proud to have been approached, but he also has pressing concerns.
“We are still in a period of a pandemic,” he said. “And I think the period of considerable hazard will last for several more months. And I think it would be a mistake… to be sure we’re somewhere really comfortable until we’re done this winter and it’s spring.
He added: “It’s my biggest concern, that people just relax and think it’s [it], the show is over. Sorted. And I don’t know where it is yet. It would be beautiful if so, [if] it just keeps on sliding in a nice way. But I’m still careful that there are more twists and turns with this virus. “
Inevitably, perhaps, Van-Tam conjures up a metaphor.
“It’s like there’s this big express train going down the main line on the east coast, but in reality the final destination is the last stop somewhere in Scotland. And of course as you go down that train ride the line speeds decrease, they get a bit more twisty and twisty, there are more stops and false endings. And it’s kind of like that really – we’ve done quite a few trips on the main line, but we haven’t finished the job.
The professor then changed sides, likening the situation to the escalation of Scafell Pike.
“There are several false summits. And it’s got a lot of people getting there and you get there and you’re like, “Oh great”. And in fact you realize that when the haze clears there is a little more and, there is a little more … We’re really at that kind of stage, where it’s a test of our endurance and our ability to stay focused and go through with it.
Van-Tam insisted that he never repeats these metaphors and that he never really knows where they came from. Most of the time, they are improvised. “They’re right there somewhere in my kind of open space, bringing in if that’s the right thing to do.”
Like Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, he takes a dim view of celebrities who spread misinformation.
It was Whitty who called Nicki Minaj. The rapper told her followers on Twitter that her cousin in Trinidad refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19 because her friend had had it and then became impotent with swollen testicles.
Again, Van-Tam seeks an analogy.
“If your gaming PC has a problem, don’t take it to a plumber and have them fix it. Find someone who you know is qualified to fix it, and who has the expertise and training to give you advice on what is wrong or what needs to be done. And it is the same with information on the pandemic, go to reliable sources.
“You know, why would you believe someone who is, I don’t know, a pop star or an actress or an actor… why would you believe them about something deeply important in terms of biomedical science if they don’t have the training and background to give you that advice? That’s all I would say. And I just don’t think it’s fair to give airtime to nonsense. “
Perhaps this is one of the reasons Van-Tam is so keen on speaking directly to children during his lectures at the Royal Institution at the end of the year.
The epidemiologist and Boston United fan will deliver three talks, titled Going Viral: How Covid Changed Science Forever, alongside other experts to explore the legacy of Covid. The programs are scheduled to air on BBC Four and iPlayer between Christmas and New Years.
“Children, especially high school students, have been through a lot of disruption. They have had schools closed for a while, they have had disrupted social contact at a time when they really need it with their friends and classmates.
“I think it’s a chance to explain to the kids in terms that they can understand exactly what we’ve been through, where maybe the lens through which they saw it is just ‘Oh, l ‘school is closed’ and ‘I have to do these lessons online,’ he said. “So this is their chance to live up to what happened to them.”
Leveling with them can have its limits.
When asked what he thought of the photographs of Boris Johnson’s cabinet sitting side by side without a mask, the professor dodged the question. Kind of.
“You know, it’s… I’m just not answering that question. What I’ll say is that, I think it’s important, as much as possible, to try to frame what you’re doing in terms of the Japanese three Cs: close contact, overcrowded frames, closed frames with a relatively low ventilation.
“And I think the proportion of people in the room who are likely to be vaccinated, or likely to be positive… these are important factors. But it is not possible to judge particular situations and I will not try.
Nor will he be drawn to disputes and disagreements between politicians and scientists – not yet, anyway.
“I’ll think about those kinds of moments and tell you later.” For now, we’re kind of going to hold them back until we get over that. “
Has the pandemic taken its toll on him personally?
Van-Tam admits it does.
“I think it’s fair to say that no one who worked in a senior scientific role expected what we had to live through in the last couple of years, at a level of responsibility, at a workload or at a fairly high profile. And it was very difficult, and none of us signed, so to speak. But we are where we are. And, you know, sometimes in life you don’t have a choice as to where you are and if it’s time to serve. And if so, you must get up and be counted.
And what about the future?
“I don’t know what the future holds. It has been a very exhausting experience to date. And now, never make an important decision when you are tired and when you are not in the right space for reflection. So I think I would say just wait and see.
Would he be tempted by Strictly Come Dancing? He promised not.
“I don’t think I would be very flattering in Lycra.”
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