Whitty: Any vaccine that is offered l’ll happily take

HEALTH chief Prof Chris Whitty has said he will take any Covid-19 vaccine offered to him ‘and I’ll be very happy with that’.

England’s chief medical officer told MPs he would be keen to have a jab to protect him, as the NHS vaccination programme continues across the UK.

There is a ‘very small group’ who would not be persuaded that having a vaccine is the right thing to do, he said, but added that these people have the right to refuse and it was ‘not worth worrying about’.

Prof Whitty told the Commons science and technology and health and social care committee: ‘When it gets to my stage to be vaccinated – and I’m nowhere near the top end of the tiers so it won’t be for a while – I will absolutely have the vaccine when it is appropriate for me to do so.

‘I will either have a choice between having no vaccine or the vaccine that is available for me at that stage, and I’ll be very happy with that.

‘If the choice is between no vaccine and a good vaccine, I’m going to choose a good vaccine. I don’t really have a strong view as to which good vaccine I have, provided it’s safe and effective, which is what the whole (regulatory process)... is there to do.’

Prof Whitty (pictured) said the UK should have access to three or four vaccines by the middle of next year.

Once around 20million people in at-risk groups, over-50s and health and care workers have been vaccinated, a decision can then be made about whether tough restrictions are eased, he told MPs. Asked at what point it will happen, he said: ‘Society, through political leaders, ministers and parliament, will say this is a level of risk that we think it is appropriate to tolerate.’

Sir Patrick Vallance, England’s chief scientific adviser, said there would still be transmission among the population once the most vulnerable are vaccinated. On lifting restrictions, he said it is a ‘science-informed political decision’, adding: ‘Priority number one has to be protect those who are most vulnerable, you can see the effects of that.’

Sir Patrick added there was a risk of the public thinking the pandemic is ‘all over’ due to the Pfizer vaccine being rolled out.

‘The biggest risk we face now is everyone thinks this is all over,’ he said. ‘And it isn’t all over.’ His warning came after 16,578 new cases and 533 more Covidrelated deaths were recorded yesterday.