By Charlotte Webster-
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock today suggested that the coronavirus vaccine could be made mandatory once one becomes available.
His comments on talk radio came after it was revealed that the British government is planning to obtain several quantities of the recently hailed vaccine produced by U.S firm Moderna. The vaccine has been funded by the US Government as part of “Operation Warp Speed”.
Downing Street’s spokesperson said there were no plans to make vaccination mandatory , but declined to rule that out. He said nothing can be ruled out in this pandemic.
After U.S firm Moderna revealed that its jab may be 94.5% effective against the illness, a survey conducted in the U.S revealed that 50% of the American public are sceptical about the safety of the vaccine. Scientists in the U.S plan to engage the public better and enlighten them about its safety, by conducing multiple trials and making their findings public.
Circulating views in some U.S circles about the potential harm in a vaccine has also contributed to some pessimism about it. Ahead of the distribution of the vaccine which plans to prioritise the elderly and seriously ill, analysts and journalists are already examining what plans are in place for those who resist the vaccine when it arrives.
Negative views about the vaccine originate from the speed at which a vaccine has emerged compared to the initial minimum period of 18 months initially estimated.
Mr Hancock told talkRadio: “I hope that a very large proportion of people will want to take the vaccine because it’s the right thing to do.”
But he added: “We are not proposing at this stage to make it mandatory.”
Asked if he would rule that out, the Health Secretary said: “I have learned not to rule things out during this pandemic because you have to watch what happens and you have to make judgments accordingly.”
He said there were “complications” around making it mandatory because some people may not be able to take it for medical reasons.
Downing Street also refused to rule out the prospect of making it a requirement for eligible people to take the vaccine although officials stressed that was not the plan.
“We want as many people as possible to take the vaccine,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
“It will go through rigorous safety checks before it is cleared for use.
“But we are not proposing to make it mandatory.”
I hope that a very large proportion of people will want to take the vaccine because it’s the right thing to do. Asked whether there could be restrictions – such as a public transport ban – imposed on people who refused a vaccine, the spokesman said: “We are not proposing to make it mandatory.”
Extreme
Meanwhile, Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething said mandatory vaccination as “the most extreme and most unlikely outcome possible”.
Mr Gething told a press conference that it was “certainly not any part of our working assumption” in Wales.
He said he had always been “deeply sceptical” about the benefits of mandatory vaccination and was not “particularly keen to try to change the law for that to happen”.
“I’m interested that people understand the evidence about the safety of a vaccine, then making the right choice to protect them, their family and their community,” he said.