(6 Jan 2022) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday criticised "mumbo-jumbo" from anti-COVID-19 vaccine activists on social media as he urged people to get a booster shot.
"I also want to say to the anti-vax campaigners, the people who are putting this, this mumbo-jumbo on social media, they are completely wrong," Johnson said.
Speaking at a vaccination center in Northampton, Johnson acknowledged the strain the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK is under and stressed patients with COVID-19 being treated in intensive care tended to be unvaccinated.
"When you look at what's happening to patients coming into hospital, a large number of them, perhaps 30, 40% of them haven't actually been vaccinated at all," Johnson said.
"And that's increasingly true of people who go into ICU, into intensive care. The large majority of them have not been vaccinated at all, and the overwhelming majority of them have not been boosted."
Some countries are currently debating the need to make vaccinations mandatory, with Italy bringing in regulations for over 50s to be vaccinated to be able to access certain businesses and workplaces, but Johnson confirmed that he feels the UK needs a "voluntary approach" towards vaccination.
"I believe in doing things through everybody working together and seeing the vital importance of vaccination. And we've got much higher rates of vaccination in this country thanks to that community led voluntary approach. That's a wonderful thing," Johnson said.
The PM went on to stress that the wave of cases from the omicron variant of coronavirus has added "huge pressure" to the UK's health service and urged people to get vaccinated to try and keep themselves out of hospital.
"What we've got to do is give the NHS all the help we can through the next period, with all the simplifications of systems, moving staff from one hospital to another, all the ways we can back staff up, but also make sure that the people who are likely to get ill get vaccinated first."
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
