Coronavirus restrictions will remain in place if large numbers of people refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, a UK task force warned.
There are fears that millions of Britons may choose not to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, and many were swayed by the demystified anti-vax claims released online.
Several scientific studies have denied previous claims by anti-vaxxers, including the false claim that MMR jab can cause autism.
But two recent surveys show that a large proportion of Britons are against a coronavirus vaccine or are unsure whether to take one.
On Monday, the government announced that it had signed agreements with pharmaceutical companies to secure 90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
That is in addition to 100 million doses of a vaccine from the University of Oxford developed by the company AstraZeneca. Findings from its first human trials, published Monday, showed that its vaccine is safe and induces an immune reaction.
Kate Bingham, chair of the government’s vaccine working group, criticized those who support anti-vaxxers.
“Vaccination has been an incredibly positive force for good in global society and they are not helping themselves or others with an anti-vax message,” he said.
Bingham said “if a large number refuse to have it, I think so, there is a problem.”
She added: “We are now living in a world where we do not have millions of children dying in infancy.
“The last case of smallpox was in the 1970s. Polio is now very rare.
“Vaccination has had an enormously positive benefit for society, and if we manage to vaccinate large numbers of people, the restrictions we are currently facing will stop and we will return to normal.
“But, conversely, if a large number of people in the correct cohort, those who are at increased risk for COVID infection, are not vaccinated, then the restrictions will have to remain and we will not return to normal until the vaccine is in site.”
When asked if the UK should introduce mandatory coronavirus vaccines, he said: “That is a matter for the politicians, not me.”
Bingham said Monday that he is hopeful that a coronavirus vaccine will be available by the end of the year.
Boris Johnson said he could not be “100% sure” that a vaccine would be available this year or next.
He said, “Obviously I am hopeful, I have my fingers crossed, but to say that I am 100% sure that we are going to be vaccinated this year, or indeed next year, is, unfortunately, overkill, we are not there yet. .
“The vaccine may be going over the hill like the cavalry, but we can’t count on it at the moment.”
Two weeks ago, a YouGov poll revealed that nearly a third of Britons may not take a coronavirus vaccine.
A separate poll released on Sunday by ORB International, which works with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, showed that 27% of Britons don’t know if they will have the vaccine or are definitely ruling it out.
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