‘No shortcuts taken in process to approve Covid-19 vaccine’
PUBLIC HEALTH BOSS TACKLES SOCIAL MEDIA MISINFORMATION BEFORE DOSES ROLLED OUT It’s like if we were going to build Highcross. Building it with one company would probably take years, building it with hundreds of companies and the best of the architects to
LEICESTER’S top public health official has stressed the importance of tackling challenging anti-vaccination misinformation on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as plans are drawn up to start the roll-out of the treatment in the city.
The NHS is working on a method for administering thousands of doses a week to the population of the city and the county.
And Leicester City Council’s director of public health Professor Ivan Browne has addressed concerns about uncertainty over the vaccine and its safety, while assuring people of the need and value of getting it.
In a recent meeting, Prof Browne told city councillors: “There’s a really important point around some of the misinformation and social media posts that are going around about the vaccine and vaccines in general.
“We have to be very, very careful and we have to be real advocates in terms about talking about the power of vaccines.
“We use vaccines for all kinds of things. We use childhood vaccines, we have our flu vaccines every year.
“I recognise people are concerned about the speed of the development of the vaccine but in simple terms I would put it like this - you have to recognise that every vaccine organisation across the world has been working on a single problem.”
He added: “It’s like if we were going to build Highcross.
“Building it with one company would probably take you years, building it with hundreds of companies and the best of the architects to do it would speed the process considerably.
“We have seen a lot of work with the best minds to try to create this vaccine.”
Prof Browne said: “The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been at pains to say while the process of approval has been speeded up, they have not taken any shortcuts.
“It’s very important we give that message out.”
Vaccinations have already begun being administered elsewhere in the country, with the first the other end of the M69 in Coventry on Tuesday.
Margaret Keenan, 90, was given the Pfizer/Biontech vaccination against the virus at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.
She said: “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year.”
And Dr Doreen Browne, 86, from Pimlico, central London, said she felt “honoured and privileged” to have been given the coronavirus vaccination after being another of the first people in the country to receive it on Wednesday.
“I think it’s terribly important to have the vaccination,” she said. “All this nonsense about anti-vaccination, I think, is a disaster.
“It’s very dangerous, I’m very provaccination, I think we’re so privileged to have it.”