Why we’ll all miss Jonathan Van-Tam

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has quit his role as the deputy chief medical officer for England to return to an academic post at the University of Nottingham.

Van-Tam – who has come to be known as JVT – gained cult appeal during the pandemic through his use of colourful and occasionally bewildering analogies to explain coronavirus in the Downing Street news briefings. So much so, his memorable metaphors have been dubbed “Van-Tamisms.”

His family history is just as colourful. Van-Tam’s paternal grandfather, Nguyen Van Tam, was prime minister of South Vietnam when it was a French protectorate back in the 1950s. His uncle, Nguyen Van Hinh, was chief of staff of the Vietnamese national army and the first Vietnamese officer in the French armed forces to be promoted to the rank of general. He told The Times that he credits his father’s southeast Asian roots for giving him “reverence for education and learning, respect for elders, gentleness of mind and spirit.”

To bid a fond farewell, we have cherry-picked the best Van-Tamisms that helped the public understand the pandemic. 

“It’s wet, it’s windy, it’s horrible.”

JVT compared the pandemic to waiting to board a crowded train. “This to me is like a train journey – it’s wet, it’s windy, it’s horrible. Two miles down the tracks, two lights appear, and it’s the train, and it’s a long way off, and we’re at that point at the moment. That’s the efficacy result.”

He added: “Then we hope the train slows down safely to get into the station – that’s the safety data – and then the train stops. At that point, the doors don’t open, and the guard has to make sure it’s safe to open the doors. That’s the MHRA, that’s the regulator.”

“Spring in a box”

After discussing the spread of Covid-19 and how restrictions help stop it, JVT likened the virus to a spring in the box. “It’s like having a spring in a box and you’ve got the lid on. Now you can take the lid off a little but you haven’t disconnected the spring or broken the spring in any way. If you take the lid right off the spring still under tension, off it will go again.”

“A hose pipe in your garden.”

Asked during the early months of the pandemic about the lag between infections and Covid hospitalisations, JVT responded: “This whole concept is a bit like a hose pipe in your garden with a tap at one end and when you turn that tap water still comes out the hose pipe for a few seconds before it dies down. If everyone in a certain area turns on their sprinkler in the garden at the same time, the water pressure will go down for a while.”

“It’s gone to penalties.”

JVT also spoke about football penalty shootouts as he discussed vaccine breakthroughs and how the Pfizer vaccine would affect the transmission of the virus. The Boston United season ticket holder said: “So this is like… getting to the end of the play-off final, it’s gone to penalties, the first player goes up and scores a goal. You haven’t won the cup yet, but what it does is, it tells you that the goalkeeper can be beaten.”

“A second penalty.”

After the announcement of two potential vaccines, JVT said the second penalty has gone to the back of the net: “It’s brilliant news, absolutely brilliant. It’s the second penalty now, that’s also gone into the back of the net. So we’re starting to feel in a better position.”

“Get on that train.”

Welcoming the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, JVT said: “The train has now slowed down safely. It has now stopped in the station. And the doors have opened – that was the authorisation by the MHRA. What we need now is for people to get on that train and travel safely to their destinations.”

“It’s not a yoghurt.”

He also compared the vaccine, which needs to be stored at around -70C, to a yoghurt. “This is a complex product with a very fragile culture,” he stated. “It’s not a yoghurt that can be taken out of the fridge and put back in multiple times.”

“The Mum Test”

While discussing the need for older people to have the jab, JVT said he used the “mum test” to reassure the public of vaccine safety. “I think the ‘mum test’ is very important here. My mum is 78, she’ll be 79 shortly and I’ve already said to her “Mum, make sure when you’re called you’re ready, be ready to take this up. This is really important for you because of your age and just be ready to be called.”

“Don’t tear the pants out of it.”

In May 2020, as the country (bar No.10) faced tight restrictions, JVT urged people to “follow the guidance, don’t tear the pants out of it, and don’t go further than the guidance actually says.”

The phrase re-emerged a year later, when JVT urged people to celebrate their newfound freedoms carefully as restrictions ease. “Take it steady. I think I’ve said ‘Don’t tear the pants out of it’, once before from this or a similair podium. But frankly, we’re back to that again.”

“Standing in a meadow on your own.”

Speaking on how it is not feasible to avoid the risk of contracting coronavirus altogether, he said: “Nobody reduces the risks to zero other than standing in a meadow completely on your own ad infinitum with nobody coming within three metres of you.”

“We’re on the glide path”

Sir Jonathan also compared the progress on a vaccine to a plane coming into land: “Do I believe we are now on the glide path to landing this plane? Yes, I think I do.”

Adding: “Do I accept that sometimes when you’re on the glide path you can have a side wind and the landing is not totally straightforward, totally textbook. Of course. And this is the real science world that we live in but yes, I think we’re on the glide path – over.”