BORIS Johnson has received his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
The Prime Minister was given the jag at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London shortly after 6.30pm on Friday evening.
Leaving hospital, he told reporters: “I literally did not feel a thing and so it was very good, very quick and I cannot recommend it too highly.
“Everybody, when you get your notification to go for a jab please go and get it. It is the best thing for you, best thing for your family and for everybody else.”
The Prime Minister had previously dismissed concerns it was linked to blood clots, and told the nation it was “safe” at a press briefing on Thursday.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon announces Scotland is facing shortfall of 500,000 vaccines
Meanwhile countries including France, Germany and Italy began restarting their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab – reversing earlier decisions to suspend them over blood clot concerns.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective” and its benefits in preventing Covid-19 hospital admission and death greatly outweighed potential risks.
The EMA has, however, been unable to say definitively that the jab is not linked to “extremely rare” blood clots on the brain, of which there have been 18 reports among millions of people vaccinated.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have said that the jab is safe and have encouraged people to take up their vaccine appointments.
READ MORE: European medicines regulator rules AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective
The WHO’s advisory committee on vaccine safety issued a formal statement on Friday saying the vaccine “continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world”.
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