Stars promote jab to counter anti-vax scare
With watchdog set to approve vaccine this week...
CELEBRITIES and social media influencers will be enlisted to help promote the coronavirus vaccine amid rising concerns over the spread of conspiracy theories online.
Health bosses and ministers are in talks with ‘responsible’ high-profile stars to post positive messages about the jab.
No celebrities have been confirmed but officials suggest Marcus Rashford, the England footballer campaigning to end child hunger, and members of the Royal Family would be ideal.
There are fears that the torrent of antivax content on social media sites could lead to a low take-up of the vaccine, affecting the chances of achieving herd immunity. A recent survey in the US and UK found that public willingness to take a Covid vaccine fell by 6.4 per cent after reading anti-vax posts.
Under the plans, well-known television doctors will be enlisted, as well as figures with a large following on social media, the Guardian reported.
Religious and community leaders are also being consulted in order to allay possible fears over the vaccine among black, Asian and ethnic minorities.
The Government refused to provide details but a source said officials are working closely with Public Health England and NHS England and Improvement ‘to provide authoritative information to the public’. The Army has already
‘Transform UK into a whole new world’
mobilised an ‘information warfare’ unit to fight anti-vax propaganda.
Soldiers from the defence cultural specialist unit, launched in Afghanistan in 2010, are analysing how Britons are being targeted online.
The troops, who belong to the 77th Brigade, are sizing up the level of vaccinerelated disinformation from hostile states such as Russia, according to The Sunday Times.
The mass rollout of Covid-19 vaccine will transform the UK into a ‘whole new world’ by the spring, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday.
‘The vaccine will [by then] have been distributed to key workers and the most vulnerable, particularly by age,’ he said.
Optimism over the jab, which is due to be approved by UK regulators within days, had allowed the Government to plan its ‘exit strategy’ from the pandemic. His positive assessment came as Downing Street announced a £20 million fund to expand the UK’s ability to produce medicines and diagnostic equipment.
Hospitals across the country have been told they could receive large stocks of the front-running vaccine as early as next Monday.
The vaccine – produced by US drugs giant Pfizer with German firm BioNTech – has recorded a 95 per cent success rate in trials.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is reportedly ready to give it the green light this week, making the UK the first Western country to approve a Covid vaccine. The Government has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but they will be challenging to roll out, given the need to store them at temperatures of -70C (-94F).
The medicines regulator was asked by ministers last week to review the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, of which the Government has ordered 100 million doses. The Oxford team said last week that, overall, a trial suggested their vaccine gave 70 per cent protection. But a half dose for the first of the two jabs required raised that protection to 90 per cent, they said.
The UK has also ordered 5 million doses of a vaccine being developed by US firm Moderna.
Yesterday Boris Johnson launched a capital investment scheme aimed at stimulating the development of medicines in the UK, saying the £20 million fund would ‘equip us to fight future health crises’.
It comes amid concerns from experts that a breakdown in Brexit trade deal negotiations could affect the supply of medicines.