The Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, are on the priority list to take the approved Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as they are both aged over 80. They come just behind residents in a care home for older adults and their carers. ITV’s Royal Rota hosts Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson discussed when the Queen would be eligible for the vaccine and if she would make it public she had taken it.
Mr Ship said: “One wonders what will happen to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
“We don’t know but they’re in the age group where they would be in the second tier of people who get the vaccine.
“But many people are saying in order for people to have a vaccine it might be very helpful if it were to be known the Queen herself had taken one to let everybody know it’s safe, for example.”
Ms Robinson added: “Normally we don’t get to hear about private medical things to do with the Royal Family but you never know.”
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Mr Ship noted: “It’s under consideration at the palace whether to make that kind of thing public but really it’s down to the Queen to decide whether she wants to share that very personal information.”
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson might be persuaded to take a COVID-19 vaccination on television to show it is safe but he would not have one before those in greater need, his press secretary said on Wednesday.
Mr Johnson, 56, who spent time in intensive care earlier this year after contracting COVID-19, has hailed the UK approval of Pfizer’s vaccine as a global win and ray of hope amid a pandemic that has hurt the economy and upended normal life.
But, like other leaders, Mr Johnson cannot be seen to be jumping the queue for the vaccine, ahead of more vulnerable people, but he wants to illustrate its safety to try to persuade others to take it when it is more widely available.
The Government has said the health service will prioritise vaccinations, putting older residents in care homes and their carers first, then all those over 80 and frontline health workers.
Mr Johnson spoke openly of his struggle with COVID-19 in April, saying he fought for his life and that it was 50-50 whether the doctors were going to put him on a ventilator.
He said his weight was an underlying condition that made his condition worse and has since spoken frequently about his attempts to lose the pounds. Stratton said she did not know whether his weight might put him in a more vulnerable group, adding that he has been exercising more.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman also said it was a matter for Buckingham Palace whether 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth received a vaccination. A palace spokesman declined to comment on whether the queen would get a shot, saying royal medical matters were traditionally kept private.
— to www.express.co.uk
