LCK In The News

The next generation has also been vocal in the condemnation of their exclusion from Module 4. In 2021 Long Covid Kids is currently supporting 11,000 families.
The charity's CEO, Sammie McFarland said: "We are livid. Even today, the public remains insufficiently informed about the profound risks associated with Long Covid-a nuanced, life-altering condition that is preventable. The denial of representation to the Long Covid Group in Module 4, which advocates for almost two million adults and children in the UK affected by Long Covid, perpetuates the enduring inequalities faced by countless families."
Jeremy Rossman, a Senior Lecturer in Virology at the University of Kent and Chairman of Long Covid Kids said that despite the disappointment of not being able to represent the voices of the children and families affected by Long Covid in this important module, the charity would continue to tell their story in Modules 2 and 3 and though its independent advocacy work.

Jane Ryan - a partner at the law firm Bhatt Murphy which specialises in defending civil liberties and represented the Long Covid Group in Modules 2 and 3 of the Covid-19 Inquiry - said: “In my view the decision shows the massive inequality of arms between ordinary members of the public seeking accountability for long term damage to their health from COVID-19 and the Government."
“Unlike Rishi Sunak and the Cabinet Office my clients do not have the financial resources to take the COVID-19 Inquiry to Court to review the decision. It is imperative that the COVID-19 Inquiry properly considers through out every aspect of its investigation the long-term harm done by COVID-19. To avoid and minimise Long Covid is an error the Government made throughout the pandemic resulting in devastating long-term harm to the health of thousands of people in the UK. Those shameful mistakes should not be repeated by the Inquiry: Long Covid should be central to the investigation throughout.”

Meredith Leston, public health consultant and Trustee of Long Covid Kids, said: “Children and those with a known history of COVID infection were originally excluded in the vaccine development trials that informed the products we all rely upon today. This is why it is absolutely essential that Module 4 prioritises the voices and vaccination experiences of young patients still struggling to return to health after infection.
The charity’s CEO Sammie McFarland added: “We are livid. Even today, the public remains insufficiently informed about the profound risks associated with Long Covid - a nuanced, life-altering condition that is preventable. The denial of representation to the Long Covid Group in Module 4, which advocates for almost two million adults and children in the UK affected by Long Covid perpetuates the enduring inequalities faced by countless families."

Module 4 of the COVID-19 Inquiry opens this week and will examine the roll out of vaccines, therapeutics and anti-viral treatment across Britain. However, the decision has been made to exclude representation from any Long Covid Group.
By not investigating Long Covid in Module 4, the Inquiry is in effect saying that there is no need to investigate pharmaceutical interventions which could prevent and treat Long Covid and the exclusion of the Long Covid Groups dismisses the profound impact that Long Covid has had, and continues to have, on many people in the UK.

Female First also covered this story, of the exclusion of Long Covid groups from Module 4 of the Covid Enquiry.
As well as quoting Jane Ryan, partner at the law firm Bhatt Murphy, Meredith Leston, Public Health Consultant and Trustee for Long Covid Kids and Sammie McFarland, CEO Long Covid Kids they also quote Professor Danny Altmann - the renowned immunologist and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London - who is bemused that Long Covid sufferers “who continue to pay such a high price” due to the pandemic” have been silenced.
Altmann said: “It is hard to rationalise the omission of any voice for those with Long Covid, who continue to pay such a high price. The impact of COVID-19 cannot be counted solely through hospitalisations and deaths, vital as these are. In addition to over 226,000 deaths, the UK is home to some 1.7 million people with Long Covid - variably unable to resume their old lives"
“It’s hard to envisage a comprehensive or valid analysis of the pandemic with these voices excluded.”