In a video call with NHS officials, The Queen suggested that people who refuse the vaccine are “selfish” and that those who are having doubts about taking it, should “think of others.
She also described the virus as “a bit like the plague.” The 94 year-old said that her jab hadn’t hurt at all and that it left her “feeling protected.” According to The Daily Mail;
It is highly unusual for the sovereign to take such a firm public stand on contentious issues and her remarks will be seen as a victory for efforts to increase take-up. An NHS vaccine chief said it was an ‘incredibly important vote of confidence’ in the programme.
More than 18million Britons – one in three adults – have had at least one jab. Another 448,962 were given first doses on Wednesday.
But officials are concerned that ‘vaccine hesitancy’ could still undermine the rollout and even slow down the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Listeners to The Richie Allen Show will have heard me speculate this week, that the slowdown of the vaccine rollout is not down to supply issues. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van Tam told SKY News that fluctuations in delivery are to blame, but I don’t believe him. I think they have run into problems with uptake, far earlier than they anticipated.
A report on SKY News yesterday, said that nearly 28 per cent of the UK’s care workers have refused the jab and a number of immunologists appearing on BBC TV and Radio admitted that there is a problem with uptake among hospital staff.
That might go some way to explaining The Queen’s so called “extraordinary” intervention. It remains to be seen what they will do about it in the short term. Maybe we will see more public figures pleading with us to be unselfish and have the jab. As they become increasingly desperate, we can expect more threats about what we will be prohibited from doing, should we refuse the vaccine.
I have no doubt that as The Daily Mail said today, they will also say that restrictions may have to remain in place unless the refuseniks roll up their sleeves. It might reach the stage, where people will be asking their neighbours to see the NHS card that is given to everyone who has had the jab. It’s going to get ugly, that’s for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment