The press secretary for United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the prime minister might be open to the idea of taking the coronavirus vaccine on live television to instill public confidence in the novel vaccine, Sky News reported Wednesday.
Allegra Stratton, who was a journalist for the Guardian and the BBC before transitioning to her role as Downing Street Press Secretary, told reporters, “We all know the character of the prime minister, I don’t think it would be something that he would rule out,” according to Sky News.
It’s fantastic that @MHRAgovuk has formally authorised the @Pfizer/@BioNTech_Group vaccine for Covid-19. The vaccine will begin to be made available across the UK from next week. (1/2)
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 2, 2020
Stratton added, “But what we also know is that he wouldn’t want to take a jab that should be for somebody who is extremely vulnerable, clinically vulnerable, and who should be getting it before him,” according to U.S. News.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer implored Johnson to “do everything possible to counter dangerous, frankly life-threatening disinformation about vaccines,” Sky News reported. (RELATED: UK Approves Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine For Emergency Use)
The leader of the opposition Labour Party said that public confidence in the vaccine and its distribution is critical, according to Sky News.
Johnson concurred with Starmer, and said the government is “right to encourage take-up of vaccines across the country,” Sky News reported. Johnson says plans are in the works to prevent “disinformation” and “online harms.”
The 56-year-old Johnson contracted COVID-19 earlier this year in late March, the Guardian reported. Ten days after Johnson announced he had contracted the virus, he was moved to the hospital on April 5, and would be transferred to the intensive care unit the next day before recovering from the virus.
The UK government announced that the UK’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, and could start administering doses of the vaccine to the public as early as next week. The UK plans on prioritizing vulnerable populations for access to the vaccine.