Patients reject Pfizer vaccine to wait for 'English one'

Nurse Pat Sugden prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, the first UK museum to host a COVID-19 vaccination centre, as BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin says he is confident vaccine will work on UK variant. - Credit: PA

A high-profile doctor has said patients turned down the chance to have the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, saying they would “wait for the English one”.

Paul Williams, former Labour MP for Stockton South, said it shows nationalism has consequences, given they were delaying having a jab at the height of the pandemic.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was made available to patients at the start of December, while the Oxford/AstraZeneca version was authorised on December 30.

Dr Williams was a GP before turning to politics, continued to see patients while he was an MP to maintain a link with them, and since he was voted out in 2019 has worked on the NHS’s fight against Covid-19.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Some local patients have turned down an offer this weekend of getting a Covid vaccine when they found out it was the Pfizer one. ‘I’ll wait for the English one’.

“People at risk of death in the depths of a pandemic. A lesson that Nationalism has consequences.”

Some local patients have turned down an offer this weekend of getting a Covid vaccine when they found out it was the Pfizer one. “I’ll wait for the English one”.

People at risk of death in the depths of a pandemic.

A lesson that Nationalism has consequences.

— Dr Paul Williams (@PaulWilliamsLAB) January 7, 2021