Jonathan Van-Tam: ‘I’d be at the front of the queue’
that’s just being precautionary. We don’t expect there to be a problem, but without having the vaccine tested on pregnant women we’ll probably recommend they wait until after they’ve had the baby. Similarly, it hasn’t been tested in children, although a teenager would probably respond similarly to a young adult so they could likely have the vaccine.
QI don’t know, but I think it would be a bad thing for public health if the rich and privileged were able to pay their way to the front of the queue, leaving someone at very high risk and not wealthy low down the list – and they would be; there’s going to be a global shortage of these vaccines. So I’m opposed to that.
“I will be having the vaccine. If I could be at the very front of the queue then I would be. But I can’t because privilege and position don’t count. All that counts is the JCVI recommendations regarding who’s most at risk, so it’s not appropriate for me to be at the top of the list. But if it would help convince others,
I would happily do so.
“I know I said on TV that I’m going to tell my mum to have one – she’s 78.
But I don’t really need to. I discussed the interview with her afterwards and she said, ‘Johnny, if you told me I had to get on a train to London tonight because I could have a vaccine later this evening, I’d be coat on and on the train in minutes. That’s how important it is to me. I know I’m elderly, I know I’m at risk and I know if I get coronavirus, there’s a greater chance that I’m not going to do well.’”