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Sammie McFarland

@sammiemc.bsky.social

2.1K followers 790 following 370 posts

Long Covid Kids Founder & CEO Hoping to be on the right side of history. ♿️#LongCovid ✳️#CleanAir 🙋🏻‍♀️Campaigner 🧠🧡🫀#LongCovidKids 🌊#ColdWater 🧜🏻‍♀️#Swimming 🧘🏻#Pilates coach - #Pacing since 2020 🦠 😷 🫅🏼#CoronationChampion 💥#Volunteer

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 13d

⚠️ No parent should ever be in this position, no child should be refused healthcare.
If the truth had been shared with the general public, we wouldn’t have been left without support.

Module 8. U.K. COVID Inquiry
@longcovidkids.bsky.social

#CovidInquiry #LongCovidKids #Parenting

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 6h

Q - There was secrecy wasn't there, at the point in time the government had decided to reopen schools and was thinking about the contingency measures that might be required from Sept 2020 onwards.

A - How do you mean by secrecy?

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 6h

Q- Was there any realisation on your part that this could have profound implications for children?

A - The whole government policy - was about maintaining both the economy and schools to be open. I do not believe that significant weight was attached to scientific advise.

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 6h

"At the time Boris Johnson admitted that scientific evidence was not appropriately prioritised by the Government at the time.
As a department that isn't involved in the health aspects of the pandemic you are waiting for a clear steer from those coordinating the response"

#LongCovidKids

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 6h

Clair Dobbin KC
Q - Is that answer suggesting you needed permission to think from Downing Street?

#Education #10DowningStreet #COVIDInquiry

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 6h

Clair Dobbin KC asks if at this stage it was well clear that the pandemic was out of control?
A - Yes it was much more widely spread
13th Feb - Warned school closures could last for wks
Q - This didn’t prompt you to think about what this could mean for children in this country?

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 8h

Module 8, UK COVID Inquiry, Sir Gavin Williamson.

"there were failures"

Talking about the pandemic
"the government not really grasping the enormity of that"

#Education #CovidInquiry #

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 5h

& because NHS staff have had NO TRAINING. They revert to SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) which is precisely how #ME px are put at risk by NHS provision.
Everyone relies on A&E, whether privately insured or not. There is nowhere to go that is safe for anyone with #ME in the UK. Justice4ME.uk

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 1d

Vicky Ford, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for
DfE.

"If the question is there have been more planning pre-pandemic ? then the answer is obviously Yes"

#Education #Childhood #Children #Planning #LongCovidKids

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 23h

Thank you. 🙏

Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 1d

🙏 🫂

Reposted by Sammie McFarland

Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 1d

Indra Morris DfE

Module 8 UK COVID Inquiry

Indra's question in a cabinet office meeting.
Her Q - "What about children?"
She states: "The response was basically that we are focusing on a health pandemic children are not at risk in the same way"

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 1d

and protect families from punitive measures when their child’s attendance is low.
Learn more about the incredible work by the team at @longcovidkids.bsky.social

www.longcovidkids.org

Long Covid Kids | Charity | Post Covid Syndrome

Learn more about Long Covid in children with U.K based international charity Long Covid Kids. Join the support services to connect with families, children and young people living with Long Covid. Find...

www.longcovidkids.org

Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 1d

Adults, children and young people living with #LongCovid miss out on moments and milestones they’ve worked so hard for or dreamed of experiencing. Not through choice, but through frustrating necessity. That’s why LCK is calling for an Education policy to suppprt children with Long Covid, and

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 1d

,research, and effective treatments

While I won’t be at #WOY2025 in person, I’ll be cheering on every woman being celebrated today and continuing to advocate for children and young people impacted by Long Covid.

Thank you to the organisers for recognising advocacy and lived experience.

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 1d

I’m so proud to shared this 😊

I have been so looking forward to attending and connecting with such an inspiring group of women from across the country. However, on this occasion, #LongCovid prevails, a reminder that determination and positivity can’t beat illness alone. Patients need answers

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 4d

The Expert Paediatric Long Covid Report requested by the UK COVID Inquiry is now available on our website.

Submitted by Dr Terry Segal and Professor Elizabeth Whittaker

www.longcovidkids.org/uk-covid-inq...

#PaediatricLongCovid #LongCovidKids #LongCovid #ExpertReport #COVIDInquiry

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 5d

Please help us raise awareness by sharing our film, in collaboration with Combination Dance Company, launched on the first day of the inquiry.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNV_...

#COVIDInquiry #Children #Health #Education
#Inclusion #SEND

Lives Interrupted: The Voices of Young People with Long Covid | UK COVID Inquiry | Combination Dance

YouTube video by Long Covid Kids

www.youtube.com

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UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 5d

#UKHSAVirusWatch is back, a summary of our weekly winter surveillance report .🦠🧵
This week's data shows an increase in COVID-19 activity, which is circulating at medium levels. Flu activity has also increased, particularly in those aged 15 to 24, but remains at baseline levels.

Graph showing COVID-19 positive tests rising steadily from spring 2025 after a low in early 2025. Data from October 2024 to October 2025, England only.

Graph showing flu-positive tests peaking sharply in winter 2024–25 before declining and then beginning to rise again in autumn 2025. Data from October 2024 to October 2025, England only.

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 5d

My main aim with this piece it to highlight the difficulties I face with this illness and how I will never allow it to defeat me. Always keeping positive.’

Learn more about the project in Katie’s #blog:

www.longcovidkids.org/post/self-ex...

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 5d

🧵Understanding How the UK COVID Inquiry
Handles Questions

We know that many of you are feeling frustrated that some of the key questions we hoped would be asked in the Covid Inquiry haven’t yet been put to witnesses. We completely understand and we share that frustration.
We

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Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 5d

Interesting study not specific to 🦠 but thought provoking:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC57…

Scans show immune activation in the brain circuits driving OCD
Medical not behavioural
Inflammation not attitude
Further research needed in CYP w LC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5710556/

Inflammation in the Neurocircuitry of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Is translocator protein distribution volume, a marker of the microglial component of neuroinflammation, elevated in the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit of obsessive-compulsive disorder...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sammie McFarland @sammiemc.bsky.social · 5d

Heartbreaking 💔
This is the case for some children - if we had #CleanAir in schools risks would be reduced, children would feel safer.
Note: important to rule out other causes and differentiate between school avoidance and long term medical conditions.
(Ms Hammond Kent CC 🗣️ COVID inquiry)

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Action for ME @actionforme.bsky.social · 5d

Our first Big Survey in over 5 years launches next week! You can sign up in advance to receive the survey once it's live, head to our web page to find out more: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...

📅Opens 10am, Monday 13th October - 27th January 2026

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 7d

Kevin Courtney TUC
Concerns about Long Covid reported by members - concentration levels and fatigue (staff and students)

LCK recommend schools receive guidance to aid identification, referral and support.

#COVIDInquiry #LongCovid

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Long Covid Kids @longcovidkids.bsky.social · 7d

Kevin Courtney TUC

“ Having ventilation, filtration, in place in schools would be a real benefit”

We agree - see our Clean Air recommendations to the inquiry at the end of our written statement. www.longcovidkids.org/uk-covid-inq...

#CleanAir #Education #COVIDInquiry

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