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Sir John Bell of the University of Oxford said Britain may come to a position where it is necessary to make the coronavirus vaccine mandatory. It comes after interim data from the Oxford jab suggested it was 70 percent effective in protecting people from the virus.
Researchers have said that the vaccine figure could reach 90 percent after adjusting the dose.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Sir Bell said that he is actually “strongly against” requiring a vaccine in the country.
But he warned that it could possibly be to control the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
He said, “I think you have to persuade people to come.
“That said, we can get to a position where it is necessary to control the transmission.
“Know who is protected from developing the disease and who is not.”
Sir Bell explained that protection can come in two ways.
He said, “One is that you could have had the disease and I think there is now more and more evidence that if you have had the disease … you are protected against the disease for a period of time.”
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the results “incredibly exciting news.”
He added that while security checks are still needed, “these are fantastic results.”
Speaking in Downing Street on Monday, he said that most of the people most in need of a vaccine in the UK could possibly get it by Easter.
Professor Robert Winston of Imperial College London told BBC Newsnight that he is concerned that the anti-vaccine movement could undermine the launch of the jab in the future.
He also cautions against being too “too optimistic” about the news.
He said, “There are a lot of young people who are really very, very skeptical and somewhat suspicious.”
The UK government has reserved 100 million doses of the Oxford jab.
The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said it will produce three billion doses of the vaccine for the world next year.
So far, more than 55,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the UK according to official figures.
There have also been a total of more than 1.5 million COVID-19 cases in the country.
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