Prime minister Boris Johnson has hit out at anti-vaccine campaigners, labelling them “totally wrong” and accusing them of sharing nothing but “mumbo jumbo” on social media.
Speaking at a vaccination centre in Northampton, the PM said: “I want to say to the anti-vax campaigners, the people who are putting this mumbo jumbo on social media: they are completely wrong.
“What a tragedy that we've got all this pressure on the NHS, all the difficulties that our doctors and nurses are experiencing, and we've got people out there spouting complete nonsense about vaccination.
“They are totally wrong, and I think it's time that I, the government, call them out on what they're doing. It's absolutely wrong, it's totally counterproductive, and the stuff they're putting out on social media is complete mumbo jumbo.”
Johnson also talked up the UK’s “voluntary” approach to vaccination, compared to some of its European counterparts that have recently introduced laws making coronavirus jabs compulsory.
Back in November, Austria became the first European nation to make the Covid vaccine a legal requirement, while Italy has since made it mandatory for all over-50s.
The prime minister referred to the approach taken by such nations as “coercion”, saying that he thought it “important that we have a voluntary approach in this country and we're going to keep a voluntary approach.”
As of Thursday [January 6], 90 per cent of over-12s had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, with 83 per cent having had a second dose and 60 per cent having gone forward for a third or booster dose.
However, figures released by NHS England on the same day showed that less than half of all adults across some of the largest cities in England had received a booster or third dose of the jab, suggesting there is still some way for the vaccination campaign to go.
The London Borough of Newham was indicated to have the lowest take-up rate for third doses and boosters, with an estimated 38.5 per cent of over-18s in the area having gone forward.
Meanwhile, an estimated 42.8 per cent of adults in Nottingham had gone forward for their third jab or booster, along with 45.7 per cent in Manchester, 49.9 per cent in Birmingham, and 49.1 per cent in Liverpool.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
