The UK government has released the names of dozens of members of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the Guardian reports.
Last month, New Scientist reported that scientific data and other documents guiding the UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the identities of the SAGE members wouldn't be revealed until the crisis receded. About three dozen researchers criticized that plan in a letter to the Lancet and called on the government to make this information available to the public. The Guardian further reported that Dominic Cummings, the chief political advisor to the prime minister, and Ben Warner, a data scientist who worked on the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit campaign, had attended meetings, raising concerns about the impartiality of the advice given by the group. Last week, the government noted the names of SAGE members would soon be released, as New Scientist reported.
As the Guardian now reports, the names of some 50 SAGE members have been released. The list includes the Wellcome Trust's Jeremy Farrar, Public Health England's Sharon Peacock, Venki Ramakrishnan from the Royal Society, and Mark Walport from UK Research and Innovation, among many others. The Guardian notes that despite his presence at meetings, Cummings was not on the list of members.