De-funding of Zoe Study

[Mike4]

From another thread where this is off topic:

The "official" government daily figures are off by around a factor of 6 or 7 times. The ONS figures are more accurate but have a delay built in, the Zoe figures correspond quite closely to the ONS figures and are available on a daily basis.

Unfortunately the Zoe figures don't give the numbers that the government would like to see...I'd hate to think that's why they have been defunded.

Well it looks to me as though this is exactly the reason for the defunding.

The official line that covid is done with and becoming endemic, we have to 'learn to live with it', the cancellation of all non-pharmacological interventions, the withdrawal of free testing for the masses, and the signal sent by 2,000 of our nobility having good ol' sing-song in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday are all pulling in the same direction, yet that naughty Zoë study is telling everyone the opposite. Why would our politicians not de-fund it?

Given the sheer value of this study to medicine and the development of treatments for covid, de-funding it looks a horribly political decision to me.

[pje16]

Totally agreed....
The Zoe study is becoming about more than just Covid
Real people logging real symptoms is providing them with information about the human body
https://covid.joinzoe.com/wider-health-studies

[redsturgeon]

The cost of the Zoe funding is a rounding error in the money spent by government on Covid...about £5 million.

Compare and contrast the £200 million contract given to Tory Baroness Michelle Mone connected companies for PPE, most of which was never used.

John

[dealtn]

Why don't they monetise their aggregated, anonymised data when they share it? I tend to agree though its a small cost and from an economic perspective there is a large element of the product being a public good.

[redsturgeon]

Why don't they monetise their aggregated, anonymised data when they share it? I tend to agree though its a small cost and from an economic perspective there is a large element of the product being a public good.

Good idea, then they could sell the data to the government...for say £5 million.

John

[pje16]

Hang on to the £5m for research
UK gov would waste it in the blink of an eye

[dealtn]

Why don't they monetise their aggregated, anonymised data when they share it? I tend to agree though its a small cost and from an economic perspective there is a large element of the product being a public good.

Good idea, then they could sell the data to the government...for say £5 million.

John

Exactly, and others too.