Katy Ewing

Poised on the brow of the young Oak-wood hill until moments later when 4 others bolt from their tree hides and all silently spring to the field on the safe, unwatched-by-us side of the hill. But this moment...

I'm in a lull on twitter without much visibility, so probably hardly anyone will see this, but here's an important thread on "why everyone's sick all the time". No, you are not imagining it. Sickness is increasing. Sickness absence rates are increasing.

@1goodtern @threadreaderapp unroll please

**Vaccines do not prevent transmission** **Babies are not vaccinated against Covid** **Many immunocompromised people cannot be vaccinated** **Vaccines are not widely and easily available** And, once more, **Vaccines do not prevent transmission**

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 No offence to you, but I find your substantive conversations sometimes unnecessarily combative and bullish, and can't imagine who leaves an encounter with you persuaded to change their mind. This time has been slightly better mind you. It also might just be a cultural thing.🤷‍♀️

@PeteUK7 @Katywing What I have done is try and reach across the aisle to people I had disagreed with and tried to have substantive conversations. This thread symbolizes a lot of my beliefs in that regard. x.com/thereal_truthe…

@PeteUK7 Please answer yes or no Do you at least agree there has never been a documented case of a healthcare worker getting infected while wearing a surgical mask and that includes everyone at the Kent University?

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 you literally told me to 'move on' just today, even though I am clinically vulnerable and at higher risk of death and long covid despite vaccination x.com/thereal_truthe…

I've never urged anyone to "ignore" covid or move on from covid. It will be with us forever and I have said that over and over. What people need to move on from (and this is just my opinion) is the Covid only focus. There are far more dangerous pathogens to kids. But more importantly we have to stop lying about COVID and misrepresenting the data/science. Doing what anti-vaxxers do (for example regarding cancer or posting fake charts see below) is harmful and I'll always push back on misinformation.

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 It's literally from 3 days ago: yes, during the pandemic, which is now. You're stuck in denial. All these harmful diseases would be helped by measures to prevent Covid, and by fewer people denying the harms that we can see all around us - how do you know what I care about?

@Katywing @PeteUK7 You’re stuck in the past. That’s from during the pandemic. I’ll focus on protecting children from harmful diseases you don’t seem to care about or talk about ever because vaccines prevent them so it’s not about “masking.”

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 I'll move on when it's safe to do so thanks.

@Katywing @PeteUK7 It’s almost April 2026. You got to move on.

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 Here's a nice positive story for you from the last few days - change can happen when the messaging is done correctly. Focus on your own country's significant problems or you will be confused about what's possible. clinicallyvulnerable.org/post/covid-inq…

@Katywing @PeteUK7 Not a single person is going to start masking who isn’t now, especially kids. Not one. Focus on realistic goals or you will continue to be frustrated.

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 And in UK, most folk want to do the right thing - when polled in 2023, many were still taking precautions. (handwashing highest because that was what the messaging focusses on)

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 The chart above is actually about the much larger clinically vulnerable group rather than clinically extremely vulnerable. Yes, improve ventilation in schools and public buildings, improving messaging on risks of infections and on masking would help with all you mention.

I know ppl who’ve gotten long COVID, know they have it, are losing their livelihoods & health to it, and STILL arent masking or speaking on it bc of the extreme stigma. Thats why participating in masking matters beyond disease control but also to begin to break this deadly stigma

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 e.g. re my original point around schools: if I am CEV and have a child in school, where they are unable to stay safe from infection, I can't send them to school and stay safe from infection myself - the child might not be CEV but is a member of a CEV household, like 1 in 7 people

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 Your calculation makes no sense, sorry - if each of the 3.7 million CEV people lives in a household of an average of 2.25 people, each of the people in that household lives in a CEV household - that's 8,325,000 in a general population of 57,106,000 - slightly higher than 1 in 7

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 I mean by the above that many clinically vulnerable people don't realise they are clinically vulnerable or how to protect themselves, said better by @julia_doubleday below, in this excellent thread on the political reasons this mismatch has occurred: x.com/julia_doubleda…

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 There is also a much larger group of Clinically Vulnerable people and our families, many of whom are also still trying to avoid the significant risk of a Covid infection, although unfortunately the minimisers in charge have resulted in many being unaware of this.

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 I should have said around 1 in 7 people live in a CEV household, apologies.

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 Office National Statistics estimated 3.7 million clinically extremely vulnerable people in England ONS: average size of household in England is between 1.8 and 2.7 people CEV households in England = between 6.6 million and 9.99 million people. Population of England 57,106,000

@Katywing @PeteUK7 Where’s that 1 in 7 number from

@thereal_truther @PeteUK7 Your UK friend might have been caught up in anti-lockdown fake narratives that have been rife in certain quarters. Here's a good analysis on what actually happened. A lot of money + effort was put into making people get 'back to normal' in US and UK. x.com/_CatintheHat/s…

Are you sure? My friend in the UK said schools were closed over a year. Lockdowns and school closings varied in the USA depending on the state and if they were a blue or red state. Los Angeles had one of the longest school closings in the country. Most students missed the equivalent of roughly two years of normal in‑person schooling. The reasons they are now skeptical of public health, vaccines and masks are multifactorial. It was backlash over mandates, politicising & their belief that masks don't work and/or COVID wasn't serious enough to warrant such a response. They also hated how covid risk was in their view exaggerated and age/health risk stratification was not emphasized. They also are upset that consequences of mitigation were not considered enough. So we can disagree with their views but not their anger. I too believe age/health risk stratification was not communicated properly and vaccine mandates overall were a mistake. They came too late (fall 2021) to make a real difference as they didn't increase rates significantly & their backlash has now harmed vaccine rates for childhood diseases like measles and polio. I also believe school closings lasted way too long. And places like Los Angeles made a number of dumb errors. From arresting people on beaches to closing outdoor dining during the superbowl (so people instead held indoor parties at their homes and spread the virus more!)