British Health Secretary Open to Mandatory Coronavirus Vaccine Injections: ‘We Have to Watch What Happens’

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British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is open to the idea of making injections mandatory when a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available.

“We have to watch what happens and you have to make judgments accordingly,” Hancock said Monday, responding to a question about whether he would be amenable to forced, widespread administration of a vaccine. He added he has learned “not to rule things out.”

The British Telegraph said other officials confirmed compulsory inoculations were on the table. “This is not our preferred option,” one source said. “We have always operated on the basis of educating people about vaccines to ensure a system of informed consent, [but] if there was an effective vaccine, and because of low uptake we were still seeing deaths in large numbers, then we would have to consider it.”

Two companies have experienced success in clinical trials for vaccines to date, Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer last week claimed an efficacy rate of 90 percent in trials for its vaccine, while Moderna said on Monday it had reached a success rate of 94.5 percent. Both vaccines require two doses, and both companies have said they plan to produce enough for 10 million patients by the end of the year.

Some of the side effects reported to date have included fatigue, headache and muscle pain.

Recent polling indicated about 70 percent of British citizens are interested in receiving a vaccine for the coronavirus while about 20 percent are opposed.  Americans were slightly less receptive to a vaccine as of October — before the announcements by Pfizer and Moderna — with polls showing around 60 percent of U.S. citizens saying they would seek a vaccine after it was developed.

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