[ad_1]
Frank Augstein / AP
An AstraZeneca vaccine is being prepared for injection into a homeless person in East London. The British health service NHS has started vaccinating the homeless ‘vulnerable’. (File photo)
Liam Thorp was surprised to find that he qualified for a priority Covid-19 vaccine in the UK, but not quite as surprised as when he was told he was only 6.2 centimeters tall.
The health bug, which should have correctly recorded that he was 6 feet 2 inches tall (188 cm), also recorded it with a body mass index (BMI) of 28,000.
Although BMI is not a perfect measure, generally speaking, a record of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight, while a BMI of 30 or more is classified as obese.
It was only when the “really confused” 32-year-old journalist, who has no underlying health problems, contacted his doctor about vaccination, that he learned of the NHS mistake. The Guardian reported.
READ MORE:
* UK gets approval to infect healthy volunteers in world’s first coronavirus ‘challenge trial’
* Covid-19: First ‘real world’ data shows vaccines kill two-thirds of infections
* Covid-19: UN chief Antonio Guterres urges a global plan to reverse unfair access to vaccines
* Covid-19: Who in New Zealand will get the vaccine and when?
“I have put on a few kilos in the confinement, but I was surprised to have become clinically obese and morbid,” he told the BBC.
“It really made me rethink what I was going to do for pancake night.”
In a Twitter thread, Thorp played down the mistake, posting some jokes that thousands of people liked.
One included: “Coming Soon: Tom Thumb’s Summer Body Workout Plan.”
And: “When I told my mom that I had been classified in the category of clinical obesity, she said ‘well, maybe this is the wake-up call you need,'” he wrote online.
Currently, in the UK, Covid-19 vaccines are being applied first to the most vulnerable, including the elderly.
Thorp is the political editor of the Echo of Liverpool. In a newspaper article he wrote, he said that after receiving a text message saying it was time for his vaccination, he called his doctor to verify the situation.
Hugh Hastings / Getty Images
Malcolm Hopes, a man from the UK, receives his Covid-19 vaccine in England. (File photo)
After doing some research, the bug was revealed. He said the very nervous man on the phone who broke the news of the mistake sounded “relieved that I found it so funny.”
“Had I been less stunned I would have asked why no one cared more about a man of this remarkable size slipping through South Liverpool,” he wrote.
Thorp was also praised on Twitter for not attending the vaccination appointment.
“I would rather someone else who needs it before I have that appointment,” he told the BBC.
According to The GuardianThe Liverpool NHS clinical commissioning group said it was “grateful” to Thorp for consulting with his GP. President Dr. Fiona Lemmens said: “I can see the funny side of this story, but I also recognize that there is an important issue that we need to address.”
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
A staff member administers a Covid-19 vaccine to a member of the public at a self-service center in Scotland. (File photo)
