Boris Johnson: ‘Concerning’ number of unvaccinated Covid patients in hospital
The Prime Minister has said he is concerned by the number of unvaccinated people being hospitalised with coronavirus.
Three quarters of those hospitalised had not had a Covid jab, Boris Johnson told the BBC, in an interview at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.
Johnson’s message to the unvaccinated was “come on now,” as he urged people not to delay their jabs.
Young people should ensure they receive their Covid jabs, Johnson said, as there has been an increase in the proportion of Covid victims under 40.
The Prime Minister defended his lockdown easing roadmap and said it had been appropriate to lift most restrictions in July.
However, he said there was still a risk out there and the numbers of infections “remain high or high-ish.”
“I’m certainly concerned and what I’m particularly concerned about is that in great hospitals like this, 75% of the people who are succumbing to Covid still are not vaccinated.”
“What we want to do is get people to see the value of vaccination to themselves and their families,” Johnson said.
The UK has reported more than 30,000 daily cases for the last nine days in a row while the numbers of people in hospital with Covid has also been on the rise.
Johnson also defended a 1.25 percentage point increase to National Insurance for workers and employers, which he said would fund NHS and social care.
“In order to fix the backlogs, in order to give people the surgery that they need – cardiac or whatever, all those things that have been delayed – we need to make the investment now. That’s why we are doing what we are doing with the health and social care levy.”