of the pandemic in england from people involved in key decisions at the time. now, in this joint report, they criticise that early response. instead of locking down quickly like some other countries, they say the government s scientific advisers felt there was no choice but to bring in social distancing rules gradually, letting sporting events go ahead and keeping borders open, and they say ministers did not do enough to challenge that advice. what we conclude in this report is that the national response to covid was a bit like a football game with two very different halves, and in the first half, we had some serious errors, we could have avoided a lockdown, but having got into a position where we had to have one, we should have locked down earlier, but in the second half, we had the vaccine rollout, which we describe as the most effective initiative in the history of uk science and public administration. some of the relatives of those who have died responded angrily to that comparison
gradually, letting sporting events go ahead and keeping borders open, and they say ministers did not do enough to challenge that advice. what we conclude in this report is that the national response to covid was a bit like a football game with two very different hearts, and in the first half, we had some serious errors, we could have avoided a lockdown, but we then got into a position where we had to have one, we should have lockdown earlier, but in the second half, we had the vaccine rollout, which we describe as the most effective initiative in the history of uk science and public at ministration. at ministration. some of the relatives at ministration. some of the relatives of at ministration. some of the relatives of those at ministration. some of the relatives of those who - at ministration. some of the relatives of those who have | at ministration. some of the - relatives of those who have died responding angrily to that comparison. responding angrily to that comarison. ,
now, in this joint report, they criticise that early response. instead of locking down quickly, like some other countries, they say the government s scientific advisers felt there was no choice but to bring in social distancing rules gradually, letting sporting events go ahead and keeping borders open, and they say ministers did not do enough to challenge that advice. what we conclude in this report is that the national response to covid was a bit like a football game with two very different halves, and in the first half, we had some serious errors, we could have avoided a lockdown, but having got into a position where we had to have one, we should have locked down earlier. but in the second half, we had the vaccine rollout, which we describe as the most effective initiative in the history of uk science and public administration. some of the relatives of those who have died responded angrily to that comparison. this isn t a game. my mother didn t lose
coronavirus patients, and i shook hands with everybody. scientists did not know how many were infected with covid or how fast the new virus was spreading. doctors and nurses were already struggling to cope. when we brought back people injanuary from wuhan, i was. for months now, two groups of mps have been taking evidence on the handling of the pandemic in england from people involved in key decisions at the time. now, in this joint report, they criticise that early response. instead of locking down quickly like some other countries, they say the government s scientific advisers felt there was no choice but to bring in social distancing rules gradually, letting sporting events go ahead and keeping borders open, and they say ministers did not do enough to challenge that advice. what we conclude in this report is that the national response to covid was a bit like a football game with two very different halves,