Former vaccines minister minister Nadhim Zahawi has told how Covid left him struggling to breathe and with a temperature of 39.5 degrees.
The education secretary said his doctor told him he would have been “in big trouble” if he hadn’t had both his jabs and a booster.
Zahawi said the “horrific” virus, which he contracted two weeks ago, had nearly required him to be intubated in hospital.
He told Sky News: “Certainly if I hadn’t had the vaccine I would have been in big trouble, according to my doctor.”
The minister, who appeared to have lost weight, said he had been affected “quite severely” by the virus.
He said: “By day four or five it got into my chest and it started really affecting my breathing and I was put on heavy medication.
″[My doctor] said one more day and I might have to put you onto steroids or something else that is heavier, but luckily I started to then recover.
“My temperature went up to 39.5. It was not pleasant.”
Zahawi, who led the government campaign to get the country vaccinated, added: ”[My doctor] reminded me that if I hadn’t had the vaccines and the booster, I guarantee you would have been in hospital and probably intubated.
“Get your vaccine and get your booster, it’s never too late - the offer is evergreen from the NHS.
“This thing is not like a cold, it’s not like a mild flu. If it hits you severely and you’re one of the unlucky ones, it’s horrific, it’s not good.”
The Cabinet minister spoke out the day after Boris Johnson announced that England’s Covid restrictions will be lifted a month early.
However, people classed as clinically extremely vulnerable have told HuffPost UK that the move, which has been welcomed by Tory MPs, puts their lives at risk.