A clip from The Jeremy Vine show, which saw Caprice arguing with a medical professional over the effectiveness of masks, has resurfaced on social media.
The debate, which originally aired on March 16, saw the former model, 48, get heated with the visibly irritated Dr Sarah Jarvis during a discussion on how to control the coronavirus outbreak.
While Caprice cited the examples set by Taiwan and Singapore, which imposed two-week lockdowns, strict quarantine measures and made wearing a mask compulsory, Dr Jarvis argued that there was “no evidence for this whatsoever” on whether the moves could control an outbreak.
“Let us make no mistake about this – we are not going to solve this,” Dr Jarvis said. “If we stop everything, if everybody was electronically tagged to their homes for the next two weeks, we would stop the cases for two weeks, and the moment everyone left, we’d see an enormous spike.
“We have got to be concentrated for this to work.”
At the time, Caprice was roundly lambasted on social media, with many calling her “ill-informed.”
However, as the UK approaches nearly 45,000 Covid-19 deaths, and with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing that it will be compulsory to wear a mask in enclosed areas from Friday July 24, Caprice’s comments have gone viral once more as many are now questioning whether she had a point all along.
Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalldr reshared the clip on Twitter, writing “So there you have it. If Caprice had been in charge not Boris Johnson, around 40,000 people might still be alive.”
Another Twitter user added: “Back in March there was a sophisticated person pile-on when Jeremy Vine had Caprice on his show - she backed lockdown, flight quarantine, cited Taiwan, Singapore. Was treated like a total idiot by Dr Sarah Jarvis. Looks a bit different now.”
“Caprice was completely belittled despite quoting experts. She was spot on,” said a third.
“Is it now time to issue a formal apology to Caprice?” a Twitter user pondered. “Lockdown, when it eventually came, dramatically slowed the rise of infections. Without it the deaths would have been in the hundreds of thousands. Caprice was right.”
Show host Jeremy Vine has since responded to the criticism, defending Dr Jarvis as he wrote: “She has been a doctor for 30+ years. I think that qualifies as expertise, no?”
During the initial interview Caprice defended herself on-air by arguing that the medical advice published in British newspapers from the World Health Organisation was worth discussing.
"I can have an opinion, because this is what I read," she said.
The Jeremy Vine Show airs weekdays from 9.15am on Channel 5
