LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he will take the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca after a number of European countries halted their rollout of the jab over safety fears.
Johnson dismissed questions in parliament about why several countries had suspended use of the product developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company with scientists at Oxford University.
But he told lawmakers: “I finally got news and I’ve got to have my own jab, very shortly, I’m pleased to discover.
“It will certainly be Oxford AstraZeneca, that I will be having.”
Johnson, 56, is among the next category of people being called for vaccination. The government hopes to have offered it to all adults by July.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that timeline remains on track, despite the National Health Service in England warning in a letter to administrators that vaccine supplies will be “significantly constrained” from March 29 for up to a month.
“Vaccine supply is always lumpy and we regularly send out technical letters to the NHS to explain the ups and downs of the supply over the future weeks,” Hancock told a news conference, insisting the letter was “standard” practice.
Britain has now given more than 25 million people a first dose of a Covid vaccine — including 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab — after starting a mass inoculation program in December last year.
It is also using a jab developed by Pfizer/BioNTech in its rollout program but recipients do not normally get a choice of vaccines.
Johnson wrote in the Times newspaper that the AstraZeneca vaccine “is safe and works extremely well.” Hancock and England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam echoed that assurance at the press conference.
European countries including France, Spain and Germany are among those who have halted using the jab pending a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) amid feared links to blood clots and brain haemorrhages.
Queen Elizabeth II’s oldest son and heir, Prince Charles, on Wednesday criticized opposition to coronavirus vaccines.
“Who would have thought, for instance, that in the 21st century that there would be a significant lobby opposing vaccination, given its track record in eradicating so many terrible diseases,” he said in an article in the Future Healthcare Journal.
Charles, who has been vocal in advocating the rollout of the vaccine among more reluctant minority communities in Britain, added that the jab had the “potential to protect and liberate some of the most vulnerable in our society from coronavirus.”
The 72-year-old Prince of Wales tested positive for coronavirus last year and suffered mild symptoms. He had his first dose of a vaccine in February.
His wife, Camilla, 73, confirmed on Tuesday she had been given the AstraZeneca shot.
“You take what you are given,” she said as the couple visited a vaccination center at a north London mosque, adding that she had suffered no ill-effects.
Professor Jeremy Brown, from the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), said suspension of the AstraZeneca jab was “not logical.”
“There is the concern that what’s happening in Europe might make people in the UK less confident in the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he told broadcaster ITV.
The EMA, the World Health Organization and Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have all backed the AstraZeneca jab.
France and Italy have said they will “promptly restart” giving the jab if the EMA review allows it.
As Britain has surged ahead with its vaccination program, European countries have been accused of playing politics to distract from their sluggish inoculation rollouts.
European leaders were angered in January after AstraZeneca announced it was unable to deliver the agreed numbers of jabs to the bloc.
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UK’s Johnson says he will have AztraZeneca jab, dismisses safety fears
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UK’s Johnson says he will have AztraZeneca jab, dismisses safety fears
- Johnson, 56, is among the next category of people being called for vaccination
Cuba says attacking speedboat had nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition
- Firefight took place at a range of 20 meters, Cuba says
- Incoming crew originally set out on two vessels but ditched one
HAVANA: A commando of Cuban exiles who intended to infiltrate Cuba on a speedboat was armed with nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition, 13 rifles and 11 pistols, Cuban officials said on Friday, providing new details about Wednesday’s deadly exchange of gunfire at sea. The government in Havana has said 10 Cuban nationals coming from the United States entered Cuban waters and opened fire on a border guard vessel, leading Cuban forces to return fire killing four and wounding six others, who were taken into custody.
In an attempt to dispel doubts about its account to date, senior Cuban Interior Ministry officers displayed the captured armaments from the studio on a special television program, including bins full of at least some of the 12,846 recovered rounds. They also showed pictures of the vessels, each peppered with bullet holes from the firefight they said took place at a range of 20 meters (66 feet).
The confrontation took place at a fraught moment in US-Cuban relations, with US President Donald Trump pressuring the island by imposing a virtual oil blockade after capturing and ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a crucial Cuban ally, on January 3.
Cuba has identified the assailants as Cuban exiles, some of whom had been previously placed on a list of accused terrorists, who came from the United States with the intent to sow chaos and attack military units on the Communist-ruled island.
“The intent of this group is to infiltrate, to promote public disorder. To incite the people to unite. To carry out something violent. Attack military units in order to incite social unrest and to unite the people in order to steal the revolution. That has been duly proven,” said Col. Victor Alvarez of the Interior Ministry.
Cuba says response ‘proportional’
US politicians have expressed skepticism over Cuba’s version of events. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said his government would independently investigate, adding that it was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved.
Cuban officers said the infiltrators set out from Marathon in the Florida Keys on two vessels but ditched one at some point due to technical difficulties. They united on one speedboat, which a US official said was reported stolen in Florida. Cuba said it recovered a drone, radios, knives, a portable power plant, bolt cutters and other materiel. They also found emblems of the November 30th Movement and People’s Self-Defense, anti-communist groups that oppose the Cuban government.
Cuba says a patrol of five border guard members on a 9-meter boat spotted the incoming vessel shortly after 7 a.m., with some members of the incoming crew in the water, about one nautical mile off a cay on the Caribbean island’s northern coast, about 100 miles (160 km) from Marathon.
The infiltrators opened fire at a distance of 185 meters, striking the captain of the Cuban vessel in the abdomen, Cuba said. Bleeding heavily, the wounded captain remained at the helm and steered toward the enemy vessel, leading to a firefight at a distance of about 20 meters, the officers said.
Cuba called its response “proportional.”
“It is a defensive model that practically never uses firearms, and the use of firearms is proportional to the type of action being carried out against our force,” said Interior Ministry Col. Ybey Carballo.
The captured Cuban nationals were receiving medical care and face charges including armed aggression, illegal entry into national territory, crimes associated with terrorist acts, and arms trafficking, prosecutor Edward Robert Campbell told the program. He said they face prison terms of up to 10 to 15 years for the lesser offenses and 20 to 30 years — or even the death penalty — for the more serious charges.
In an attempt to dispel doubts about its account to date, senior Cuban Interior Ministry officers displayed the captured armaments from the studio on a special television program, including bins full of at least some of the 12,846 recovered rounds. They also showed pictures of the vessels, each peppered with bullet holes from the firefight they said took place at a range of 20 meters (66 feet).
The confrontation took place at a fraught moment in US-Cuban relations, with US President Donald Trump pressuring the island by imposing a virtual oil blockade after capturing and ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a crucial Cuban ally, on January 3.
Cuba has identified the assailants as Cuban exiles, some of whom had been previously placed on a list of accused terrorists, who came from the United States with the intent to sow chaos and attack military units on the Communist-ruled island.
“The intent of this group is to infiltrate, to promote public disorder. To incite the people to unite. To carry out something violent. Attack military units in order to incite social unrest and to unite the people in order to steal the revolution. That has been duly proven,” said Col. Victor Alvarez of the Interior Ministry.
Cuba says response ‘proportional’
US politicians have expressed skepticism over Cuba’s version of events. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said his government would independently investigate, adding that it was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved.
Cuban officers said the infiltrators set out from Marathon in the Florida Keys on two vessels but ditched one at some point due to technical difficulties. They united on one speedboat, which a US official said was reported stolen in Florida. Cuba said it recovered a drone, radios, knives, a portable power plant, bolt cutters and other materiel. They also found emblems of the November 30th Movement and People’s Self-Defense, anti-communist groups that oppose the Cuban government.
Cuba says a patrol of five border guard members on a 9-meter boat spotted the incoming vessel shortly after 7 a.m., with some members of the incoming crew in the water, about one nautical mile off a cay on the Caribbean island’s northern coast, about 100 miles (160 km) from Marathon.
The infiltrators opened fire at a distance of 185 meters, striking the captain of the Cuban vessel in the abdomen, Cuba said. Bleeding heavily, the wounded captain remained at the helm and steered toward the enemy vessel, leading to a firefight at a distance of about 20 meters, the officers said.
Cuba called its response “proportional.”
“It is a defensive model that practically never uses firearms, and the use of firearms is proportional to the type of action being carried out against our force,” said Interior Ministry Col. Ybey Carballo.
The captured Cuban nationals were receiving medical care and face charges including armed aggression, illegal entry into national territory, crimes associated with terrorist acts, and arms trafficking, prosecutor Edward Robert Campbell told the program. He said they face prison terms of up to 10 to 15 years for the lesser offenses and 20 to 30 years — or even the death penalty — for the more serious charges.
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