Congratulations to Prof Sir Jonathan Van Tam, raised in Boston and still a resident of Lincolnshire. After guiding us through the Covid pandemic, he and his colleagues were recognised in HM The Queen’s New Year Honours with a knighthood, and a recent investiture courtesy of HRH The Duke of Cambridge…

Bill. Bill. Knighthood. Bill. Wait… knighthood? Usually the material which drops through your letterbox or inbox is underwhelming to say the least, but Christmas came a little early for Prof Sir Jonathan Van Tam just before Christmas in 2021. That’s when an email confirmed that the academic and healthcare professional was to be knighted for his contribution to the country’s efforts to surmount the challenge of the Covid pandemic. “I received an email with advance notification that I was to be offered a knighthood beforehand. I was shocked, stunned.”

“You’re given 72 hours to formally accept, but the appointment is under embargo so you’re not allowed to tell anybody until it’s officially announced at about 10.30pm on New Year’s Eve, firstly in the London Gazette and then released to the media more generally.”

“When the news broke there were a few messages of congratulations that evening, and more really nice messages the day after. I was really grateful!”

“A letter follows from the Central Chancery with some paperwork that you have to complete: permission for the media to use your photograph (or not) and confirmation of who your guest will be; and the location and timing of the Investiture  ceremony.”

Covid had a final irony to unleash, since Sir Jonathan couldn’t make the first ceremony date he was given in May because he was ‘moderately unwell,’ needing to self-isolate…. having caught the virus for the first time! Fortunately, when a second date of 7th July was offered Sir Jonathan was fighting fit and ready to attend his investiture, this time at Buckingham Palace rather than at Windsor Castle.

“We stayed in London overnight and made sure we were up in good time with a smart morning suit and shiny shoes. There were about 100 people receiving their awards that day, and I was really lucky that on the day my colleagues Sir Frank Atherton [CMO for Wales], Dame Jenny Harries [Jonathan’s fellow DCMO] and Kevin Fenton CBE [of Public Health England] were receiving their awards too.”

“Once in the palace you’re led through to a briefing room and told how the ceremony works, how to use the knighting stool, which knee to use. Right up until the morning you’re still not informed which member of the Royal Family will preside over the ceremony.”

“On the day, it was his HRH The Duke of Cambridge. You certainly feel nervous on the day so it’s probably better that you’re not aware until the final hour or so that you’ll be speaking with the future King!”

“Once you’re called up and you receive your cue to bow and kneel, the sword comes down and then you’ve a short conversation, the details of which are strictly private. It’s a really intimate ceremony.”

“It felt quite surreal, but a real honour, very humbling,” says Jonathan. “It’s an award that’s a reflection on the huge team effort that everyone has made together, recognition for the whole team.”

“It is a fair reflection that as a senior expert you are supported by a phenomenal team in the Private Office and so stand on the shoulders of giants. Although not receiving their awards (MBEs) on the same day as me, I felt really heartened that Marc and Luke – members of the Chief Medical Officer Team – were also to be recognised with awards.”

March saw Prof Sir Jonathan Van Tam step down from his role as Deputy Chief Medical Officer, having been appointed in 2017.

He’s returned to his role in Nottingham University, now installed in a leadership role as Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Medicine & Health Sciences. Sir Jonathan has lectured at the University since 1991, leaving in 1999 to work in the pharmaceutical industry and in the Health Protection Agency but ‘returning home’ in 2007 as a specialist in pandemic influenza and other respiratory viruses, publishing almost 200 academic papers and four textbooks on the subject.

Sir Jonathan has also served on SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. All of which meant few people would have the same level of knowledge and experience to guide the country through a future pandemic.

It was either horrendous luck on his part, or good fortune on the public’s part that he was seconded from the University to the DCMO role in 2020. “Nobody could have predicted in specific terms where or when such a pandemic would occur, but influenza would be the most likely outbreak.”

“Covid hasn’t gone away, and won’t be eradicated. Further surges are likely and it’s plausible that we’ll see Covid activity this winter. The good news is that we have a mature Covid vaccine programme with most of the population vaccinated three times and priority given to the vulnerable.”

“The JCVI and the government now have indicated a further booster programme for Autumn 2022 and we know that vaccination is very effective in breaking the link between infection and severe illness and hospitalisations.”

“It’s not a foregone conclusion that the virus will become weaker with each mutation and it’s still possible that we’ll see a nasty variant, but we’ll never go back to square one when it comes to dealing with Covid, by any means.”

As for Sir Jonathan there was a transformation from academic to becoming a celebrity of sorts, with each appearance on the Government’s Covid briefings. He became well-known for his translation of data-driven science and clinical evidence into a much more user-friendly format – often making use of a well-honed metaphor – for an anxious population. He also presented evidence that ministers could use to make policy decisions whilst himself remaining politically neutral.

“I don’t believe any government anywhere in the world has found the pandemic easy,” Sir Jonathan told Pride in July 2019.

“That was never going to be an easy path to take. The government was often faced with the unenviable decision of harming the economy to save lives and some have questioned the decisions the government made with the benefit of hindsight (and of course, hindsight by its very definition isn’t available at the time you have to make those tough decisions).”

“Everyone involved from junior civil servants to ministers were incredibly bright, very articulate, genuinely motivated, and really determined. They managed to do some astonishing work under the kind of pressure that many can only imagine.”

Today, Sir Jonathan is more recognisable than in his pre-pandemic days, and though he says he’s become used to that, he’s grateful for the fact that when in Lincolnshire he can sometimes go to the pub or the supermarket without being noticed.

Sir Jonathan can also enjoy giving his continued support to Boston United, and says he’s looking forward to seeing how Paul Cox’s new squad performs.

Hopefully he’ll steer the team to as successful an outcome on the pitch as Sir Jonathan and his colleagues have as we continue to emerge more confidently through Covid-19.