With Parsley and Thyme?

The Brits really like their acronyms but it can get very confusing (even for themselves). The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is an official (appointed) collective of individuals who provide scientific and technical advice to support government decision-making, including that surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Independent SAGE is a group of scientists working together to provide independent scientific advice to the UK government and public, on how to minimise death and support Britain's recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. This second group has a narrower focus and aims to be 'more transparent' than its official counterpart. I suspect that they also feel that members of official SAGE, might be somewhat constrained in terms of what they can say, by their political 'masters'. Stephen Reicher of Independent SAGE has provided a 5 point emergency plan, just at the time when the new, 56% more tranmissable variant (B117) of Covid-19 has reached Germany and India from the UK (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/28/covid-vaccine-uk-restrictions-independent-sage). Many parts of the plan seem entirely sensible to me (they would, as I have been advocating some of them for some time). Independent SAGE is calling for:- 1. A fast roll-out of vaccines They suggest, that this should be largely done via the 8000 General Practitioners, who should be given extra resources (when dealing with seasonal influenza, 2 million vaccinations are carried out each week and a similar level of activity would be needed for Covid-19). Independent SAGE note that vaccination is not the complete answer and that some groups of folk (e.g. lactating women) cannot currently be vaccinated. 2. Putting in place National Control Measures Independent SAGE says that personal (especially International) travel needs to be closely monitored and regulated. They advocate (they are currently at variance with the UK government on this) that schools should be closed until safety has been much improved (e.g. by having smaller class sizes and free face masks for all pupils). They also suggest that University teaching should be entirely online, until much better control of the pandemic is achieved. 3. Improvements to the government's 'Test-Trace-Isolate regime Independent SAGE want to see tracing back (who an individual was infected by) as well as tracing forward (who the individual gave to disease to). They clearly think (I agree) that the private sector is 'not up to the job' as it requires local, specialist knowledge. Independent SAGE notes that, in the UK, only 20% of people actually self-isolate, following infection and suggest that practical (financial?) support is needed to improve this figure. 4. Changes to Workplaces Independent SAGE suggest that funds should be made available for necessary changes. They also feel that there must be inspection of all premises and certification of those that meet the standards. This would, they feel, improve confidence in the public using these locations. 5. Financial Support for Sectors of the Public Independent SAGE note that Covid-19 and the measures to control its transmission, impact most heavily on vulnerable populations. They strongly advocate improving help to individuals and businesses, who are vulnerable. Although these measures are likely to be very expensive and somewhat bureaucratic, this seems a broadly sensible set of suggestions. How many will see the light of day, in a battle of Sage vs Independent SAGE?