Steve Brine called for more support for the vaccine hesitant during a Ministerial statement in the House of Commons.
The Member of Parliament for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford raised the issue of vaccine hesitancy and asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social, Matt Hancock, what could be done to avoid decisions, by a small group, affecting wider society.
He said; “The Secretary of State said earlier that the virus treats us all the same, which of course is quite right, and sadly it doesn’t go easy on those who don’t take up the offer of a vaccine. So can I ask my Right Honourable friend what his thinking is if, despite all the excellent work going on to support the vaccine hesitant, and there is lots of it, we have fellow citizens not protected and will he confirm such a personal decision cannot impact on the ultimate release of our society and economy.”
The Health Secretary responded; “Vaccine take up has been very high and much higher than expected which is terrific. In fact, in the international surveys the UK now has the highest enthusiasm for taking the vaccine, up from 5th a couple of months ago”
The Secretary of State explained the background to this as; “Our attitude and our tone and our communications throughout have been purposely entirely positive about why it is good for you, why it’s good for your community and how people like you are taking the vaccine.”
Steve Brine will continue to follow the work of the Government and the NHS in getting the vaccine to those who have so far been hesitant.
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