Caller who had trial Covid vaccine begs others to get jab as his family suffers around him
4 January 2021, 10:53
Caller who had trial vaccine begs people to get jab
This caller urges the public to have Covid jabs as he had the Novavax vaccine during trials and is now the only person in his household not suffering with coronavirus.
Colin from Medway told LBC's Nick Ferrari that in November he volunteered to have two doses of the Novavax trial vaccine and urges others to have Covid jabs if possible.
His pleas come as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine begins its rollout, with the first UK patient Brian Pinker, 82, receiving the dose in Oxford.
Colin told Nick his mother is seriously ill in hospital with coronavirus and his two other household members, his partner and daughter, are both unwell at home - yet despite being "in the thick of it", he is entirely healthy.
"I am well...me being right in the middle of this I'm tested frequently and I've got nothing, got no symptoms at all," he said, adding that the hardest thing in the world is watching his family "crumble around him."
Matt Hancock's instant reaction to first AstraZeneca dose
"Please please please if you're offered the vaccine take it, it's the only chance that you've got," Colin said, "follow the science, don't follow Facebook.
He concluded: "Why would you believe something that somebody can put on a social media site rather than the scientists which have been absolutely fantastic?"
Read more: Matt Hancock's instant reaction as first Oxford vaccine dose is given
Some 530,000 doses of the newly-approved vaccine are available across the UK from today, with vulnerable groups already identified as the priority for immunisation.
Mr Pinker, a dialysis patient who describes himself as Oxford born and bred, said receiving the vaccination would allow him to be free to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife later this year.
"I am so pleased to be getting the Covid vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford," the 82-year-old said.
"The nurses, doctors and staff today have all been brilliant and I can now really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley."
