Boris Johnson has revealed he has been invited to receive his first dose of a Covid vaccine.
Speaking during PMQs on Wednesday, the prime minister praised the “truly stunning” rollout of the vaccines in the UK.
“The best thing I can say about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine programme, is that I finally got news I’ve got to have my own jab very shortly, I’m pleased to discover,” he said.
Johnson added: “It will certainly be Oxford/AstraZeneca that I will be having.”
The PM was not given a choice of which vaccine to have, but No.10 asked in advance given the public interest.
It comes as an expert from the UK’s vaccination committee warned people across Europe will die from Covid as a direct consequence of the decision by some governments to halt rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Professor Jeremy Brown said the move by more than a dozen European countries to suspend the vaccine over blood clot fears was “not sensible” and was “not logical”.
Brown, a consultant in respiratory medicine and member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Good Morning Britain he was worried the decision could drive up the number of people who are hesitant about booking their vaccine.
The vaccine has been given to around 11 million people in the UK “and there’s been no serious side-effects” reported in this country, he added.
Health experts also told HuffPost UK that hesitancy arising in the UK as a result of Europe’s stance could even delay “unlockdown”.
Sweden and Latvia have followed countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, in temporarily suspending AstraZeneca jabs in light of a small number of reports of bleeding, blood clots and low blood platelet counts.
On Tuesday, Emer Cooke, the European Medicines Agency’s executive director, told a press briefing there was “no indication” that the vaccine was the cause of the “very rare” reported blood clots.
In the UK up until February 28, the MHRA has received 30 reports of blood clots in people who had the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab and 38 reports associated with the Pfizer vaccine.
Meanwhile, millions of people aged 50 to 54 in England are now being officially invited to book their vaccine, including via the booking website.
GPs in many parts of the country have been moving on to lower age groups as the vaccination programme continues at pace.