England Cricketers Support Nhs Vaccination Roll-out
England’s cricketers joined Professor Jonathan Van-Tam to support the NHS vaccine rollout with a Q&A session aimed at tackling vaccine misinformation.
Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, and the ECB’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Nick Peirce, took questions from Mark Wood, Chris Jordan and Sam Curran at a virtual event hosted by Presenter Isa Guha.
The players joined a virtual session from India, where they are competing in their Twenty20 series, and asked some of the questions many people around the country might be wondering about the safety of the vaccine.
With a noted rise in misinformation, Professor Van-Tam encouraged hesitant groups to seek information from trusted sources, reiterating that the vaccine rollout is the best way to protect people from coronavirus, as well as getting back to normal life from the summer onwards.
Members of our @englandcricket Men’s team joined Professor Jonathan Van-Tam and the ECB’s Professor Nick Peirce in a discussion about the Covid-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/we1WhUsdTv
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) March 12, 2021
He informed the players that vaccines are tested through three phases of clinical trials to ensure they meet the gold standard and that, like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. However, most of these are mild and short-term, lasting no longer than a week, and not everyone gets them.
He also addressed other questions from the players around safety, reassuring them that the vaccine is suitable for people from all ethnic backgrounds.
“It was a real pleasure to join some of England’s cricket players and answer their questions about the vaccine,” said Van-Tam.
“Vaccination is the best way to protect people from Covid and will save thousands of lives. Over 22 million people have now had their first dose, if people follow the guidance then we all hope that people will be cheering our cricketers and other sport stars on from the stands again soon.”
Concluding their chat, all three players pledged that they would take the vaccine when called upon to do so.
