Think of others and have your vaccination, urges the Queen
THE QUEEN said her Covid-19 jab “didn’t hurt at all” and encouraged those hesitant about vaccination to “think about other people rather than themselves”.
The head of state, who was inoculated in January, said after having the vaccine you felt “protected”, which she described as important during a video call with health leaders delivering the Covid-19 vaccine across the four nations.
Asked about her vaccination experience, she chuckled as she told the officials: “It was quite harmless”.
During the conversation on Tuesday, the head of state likened coronavirus to a plague that has swept across the globe and when a health leader said he wanted to “bottle” the community unity he
had encountered the Queen suggested it was like the wartime spirit she experienced.
The Queen spoke to the four senior officials overseeing the delivery of the vaccine in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to hear about the collaborative effort, which has passed the milestone of 18 million people vaccinated in the UK since the call was made.
She praised the vaccine rollout, describing its speed and the millions inoculated as “remarkable” and in a morale boost told the health leaders to “keep up the good work”.
Dr Emily Lawson, who is leading the vaccine deployment programme for the NHS in England, told the Queen: “We hope everyone who is offered the vaccine will take it up, because it is our best chances to protect both the people who take up the vaccine, their families and their communities.”
The monarch replied: “Once you’ve had the vaccine you have a feeling of, you know, you’re protected, which is I think very important.”