First the feds weren’t releasing it, then they said they would, and then it wasn’t clear. Enough already, Ian Frazer argues

“No evidence base will be perfect, but it’s better to understand how the evidence base was created than not at all,” Professor Frazer, co-inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine says.

Last week the Academy of Science pushed for the government’s pandemic modelling data to be made public. “Australia must make full use of leading scientists’ expertise …  to sharpen our response,” academy president John Shine said. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly appeared to agree, saying the “epidemiology” would be “unlocked,” and “we need to be more open transparent, and we will be,” (CMM April 1). But by the week’s end what was being released was not clear.

Optimists say the data will be out there on Tuesday.  Pessimists point out the prime minister says he will report, which is not the same as release the data. What Mr Morrison said Friday is; “the Chief Medical Officer and I will be conducting a briefing on that information and sharing that with the nation.’

Which might not be enough for the scientists, as Professor Frazer puts it; “it’s really important that we understand the basis of the decisions that are being made on our behalf by government. Some of these decisions are quite strict and impose quite limiting rules on what we are allowed to do. So, we really need to know the evidence that’s being used to support these decisions is there and how it was derived.”