Covid: Van-Tam warns over jab misinformation online

Image caption, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam urged people to talk to a health professional

People worried about Covid jabs should seek advice from health professionals, not social media, the deputy chief medical officer for England has said.

Speaking to BBC Sport about the uptake among footballers, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam - an avid Boston United fan - said that was "where you get good advice".

"If your boiler goes, don't call a doctor, call a central heating engineer," he said.

Likewise, for vaccine advice talk to a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, he added.

Image source, Antonbr Anton/Getty Images

Image caption, He said people should not get their advice from social media

Prof Van-Tam, who is famous for his football analogies during television coronavirus briefings, said: "My message to footballers who are yet to be vaccinated is really the same to any young adult.

"It is the best thing you can do for yourself, your friends and your family.

"If you want to know something about vaccines, and you want trusted, reliable, information... turn to somebody who's spent years and years training for that role.

"You really don't get it from the internet, Facebook or Instagram," he said.

Image caption, Prof Van-Tam says he is delighted that 90% of the players and support staff at Boston United have received both jabs

Prof Van-Tam, who previously helped to deliver jabs to Boston United's players, said vaccine take-up at both the club and around the country had been "fantastic".

He said it showed the majority of people were listening to sensible messages from well-informed health professionals.

However, there was still a lot of misinformation being spread online, along with "a tiny minority who very vocally express their disagreement in the form of abuse", he said.

"It saddens me when people have worked so hard to try and save thousands of lives," he added.

Prof Van-Tam said the vaccine was proven to "massively reduce the chances of you getting infected, and even if you are... it is going to massively reduce the chances of anything bad happening to you."

Pandemic 'not over'

His comments came as new figures showed daily Covid cases in the UK have been above 40,000 for seven days in a row, with 43,738 new infections reported on Tuesday, and the number of patients in hospital rose by 10% in a week to 7,749 on Monday.

Dr Andrew Lee, incident director for Covid-19 at the government's UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said: "Cases are rising across all parts of the country. This is a reminder to us all that the pandemic is not over.

"There are steps we can all take to help protect each other from Covid-19. If you are offered a vaccine take it as soon as you can."

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