An Oxford scientist who worked on the AstraZeneca vaccine says he believes scientists and politicians “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by tarnishing the vaccine’s reputation.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Sir John Bell said: “You have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that resonates with the rest of the world.”
“I think bad behavior by scientists and politicians has probably killed hundreds of thousands of people – and they can’t be proud of that.”
When the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was introduced in the UK, government advisers recommended that alternatives be offered to people under the age of 40 due to a link to very rare blood clots.
Concerns about links to blood clots also led to countries like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland and Thailand stopping vaccination.
The vaccine has not played a significant role in the booster campaign either. The BBC reported it was just 48,000 of the more than 37 million booster doses administered in the UK.
Sir John’s comments come as around three in 10 local areas in the UK saw a week-on-week increase in the number of cases on Friday.
The five UK areas with the biggest weekly increases were Exeter, Hart, Forest of Dean, Guildford and North Devon.
Scotland on Saturday recorded two more coronavirus deaths and a further 5,593 positive cases of the virus, while hospital admissions fell.
As of Saturday, 958 people with recently confirmed Covid-19 were in hospital, up from 990 on Friday and 1,291 on the same day last week.