Fine Gael senator Jerry Buttimer has referred to a study in the Lancet as being from “The Lancelot,” apparently mistaking the medical journal for the mythical knight of King Arthur’s round table.
An easy mistake to make, in fairness.
The error was made during a Seanad debate this week on the extension of the government’s emergency Covid powers. Buttimer was expressing his intention to vote in favour of the extension.
“It is fair to say none of us wants to be here today to support the continuation of the legislation,” he said.
However, he went on to add that in light of the latest info from NPHET and NIAC, “I am happy to support this legislation because it is the right thing to do.”
“Where would we be today if we did not have the vaccination programme?” he said.
“The Lancelot study published last week shows that the low risk of infection by those who are vaccinated means that vaccinations work.”
This is what getting debunked by a Fine Gael senator looks like. I'm sure this "Lancelot" that he refers to is just as reputable as the Lancet. pic.twitter.com/EpegI3qGbt
— JRD (@JRD0000) November 4, 2021
Buttimer was presumably referring to the Lancet – an esteemed, 200-year-old weekly peer-reviewed medical journal in the UK.
Sir Lancelot was a mythical nobleman in the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, featuring the sword in the stone, Excalibur.
Now, is it possible that Buttimer knew the correct name for the journal and he simply misspoke? Sure, it’s possible. But he didn’t correct himself, and one has to wonder if such latitude or benefit of the doubt would be given to any non-establishment politician who made the same blunder.
If, for example, Danny Healy-Rae, or Mattie McGrath, while opposing the Covid cert, referred to the Lancet as “the Lancelot”, how long would it take for every newspaper in Ireland to publish a piece ridiculing them for it? No doubt there’d be about 40 pieces up before lunch.
And yet when a Fine Gael politician defending the mainstream position has an embarrassing gaffe, you hear nothing about it.
Notably, the Lancet study in question found that fully-vaccinated people can still contract the virus. As summarised by the BBC:
“People who are double jabbed have a lower, but still appreciable, risk of becoming infected with the Delta variant compared with unvaccinated people. They also appear to be just as infectious. Vaccinated people clear the infection more quickly, but their peak viral load – when people are most infectious – is similar to that seen in unvaccinated people.”
Double jabbed people are catching Covid and passing it on to those they live with, warn experts https://t.co/lzGboAjSUp
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) October 28, 2021
Buttimer’s remarks were made in response to Senator Sharon Keogan, who cited the study earlier in the debate.
“Fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can efficiently transmit infection in household settings, including to fully vaccinated contacts,” said Keogan.
“That is a direct quote from Community Transmission and Viral Load Kinetics of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) Variant in Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Individuals in the UK: A Prospective, Longitudinal, Cohort Study, which was published last month in The Lancet medical journal of infectious diseases. Inconvenient science is still science – or should we just follow the State-sanctioned science?”
Stephen Donnelly accusing opponents of the Covid cert of being “anti-vaxx” is a “cheap trick,” independent Senator Sharon Keogan has said, adding that “inconvenient science is still science.”#gript #nphet #tonyholohan #taoiseach #niachttps://t.co/xhUhFzGeUU
— gript (@griptmedia) November 5, 2021