The Queen will not announce when she has received her second Covid-19 jab, to ensure Brits get behind the programme and accept whatever vaccine is first available to them.
The monarch broke with protocol to announce on Saturday she had been given her first injection, alongside husband Prince Philip, from a royal doctor at Windsor Castle.
The head of state made the personal decision to let it be known she had accepted the vaccine to send a “message of hope” to the country, as Britain reaches a crisis point in the battle against coronavirus.
Royal sources confirmed the Queen will not go public when she is given her follow up inoculation in order to squash speculation into which vaccine she received.
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed whether the royal couple were given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the first to be approved by the UK’s medicines regulator in early December, or the British-made Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which was rolled out last week.
Speculation has continued as to whether the royals waited until the British made vaccination was ready, in an apparent show of support to our scientists at home.
On December 30, the four UK chief medical officers announced the second doses of the covid vaccines should be given towards the end of 12 weeks, rather than in the previously recommended 3-4 weeks.
The controversial statement which has been criticised by some medical experts, was to ensure the prioritisation process “will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, severe disease and hospitalisations and in protecting the NHS and equivalent health services,” they said.
The Queen will not reveal when she receives her second jab
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed whether the royal couple were given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the first to be approved by the UK’s medicines regulator in early December, or the British-made Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which was rolled out last week.
Speculation has continued as to whether the royals waited until the British made vaccination was ready, in an apparent show of support to our scientists at home.
On December 30, the four UK chief medical officers announced the second doses of the covid vaccines should be given towards the end of 12 weeks, rather than in the previously recommended 3-4 weeks.
The controversial statement which has been criticised by some medical experts, was to ensure the prioritisation process “will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, severe disease and hospitalisations and in protecting the NHS and equivalent health services,” they said.
Pfizer and BioNTech have both said their vaccine was tested based on two doses three weeks apart and that they have no data to support diverging from that timeline.
Data from the Oxford/AstraZeneca trials supports the new plan.
It showed that antibody levels were nearly three times higher in participants who had waited 12 weeks between doses, compared with those where the gap had been under 6 weeks.
To squash further speculation the Queen agreed with her advisors to stay silent on the timing of her second jab A royal source said: “The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh received their Covid-19 vaccinations when they were made available to them on the NHS.
“They were clear from the offset on the announcement of the vaccination programme that they would wait their turn and be willing to accept any vaccine offered to them on the advice of their doctors.
“The Queen believes it is important for everyone to do their bit in defeating the virus.
“She chose to make it known she had accepted the vaccine and she will receive her second inoculation in the next 12 weeks.”
Her Majesty is also said to be “acutely aware” of the anti-vax movement and wanted to “lead from the front” to get the country back to normal.
The source added: “It is the Queen’s sincere and hopeful wish that everyone does their bit to assist the heroic actions of our frontline NHS workers and that the country is able to return to normal as soon as possible.”
Source: Mirror