THE POSITIVE PROFESSOR

IT WAS a great pleasure for me to receive my first Covid-19 vaccine dose yesterday at Hammersmith Hospital.

I spent many years working as clinical director for cancer services there. The staff responsible for the vaccination centre are doing a fantastically efficient job in true Hammersmith tradition.

More than seven million Brits have now received their first jab – a remarkable statistic. Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi and everybody else involved in the logistical process deserves huge credit.

We are fortunate in the UK that there is strong support in the population for getting a vaccine. That should not be taken for granted as, in countries like France and Poland, the numbers are significantly lower than ours.

However, some of the myths and lies that are propagated on social media will have dented public confidence already.

When I posted on Twitter that I was scheduled to receive mine, I was subjected to a torrent of wild and unfounded abuse.

There are some who would never consider taking one and that is their choice, but there are many who have legitimate concerns and labelling them as “anti-vaxxers” is not helpful. We need to reassure people that the process is safe – leading by example is the

CMO of Rutherford Cancer Centres and Former Director of WHO Cancer Programme

SOCIAL media’s voice of calm Karol Sikora has been signed up by the Daily Express. Readers can now enjoy his soothing advice in these troubled times that have won him hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. If you need reassuring everything’s going to be all right read Professor Positivity.

best way to do that in my view. I’ve had more vaccines than most in my time and I’m still here to tell the tale.

As director of the WHO Cancer Programme I went to some pretty risky places. From yellow fever to Japanese encephalitis, I had them all. So please, I urge anyone offered the vaccine to take it. It is our escape route and we have to grab it with both hands.

The brilliance of scientists across the globe have given us this opportunity to reclaim our old lives back – let’s not waste it.