Prince William warned his fellow Britons against anti-vaccine messages on social media in a video released on Saturday evening, following a similar call on Tuesday from Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother.
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“Social networks are sometimes inundated with rumors and misinformation,” said the Duke of Cambridge in a video released by Kensington Palace.
This shows him with his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, talking to two clinically vulnerable people who may soon receive their first vaccine.
In one of the videos, a woman called Shivali, who suffers from type 2 diabetes, says she read many social media posts that initially made her “a little nervous” get vaccinated.
“We have to pay a little attention to who we believe and where we get our information from,” the prince told him.
“Catherine and I are by no means medical experts, but if that is any consolation to you, we can wholeheartedly support vaccination, it is really, really important,” he adds in the video.
So far, the use of vaccines has been “awesome”, he said, saying that now we need to convince the younger generations “that it is really important for them to get the vaccine.”
Queen Elizabeth II had encouraged her British compatriots on Tuesday to be vaccinated against COVID-19 explaining that the bite did not “hurt her at all” and that she had to “think of others”.
The 94-year-old monarch said she felt “protected” after being vaccinated in January, like her husband Prince Philip, 99.
His eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, 72, who contracted a mild form of COVID-19 last year, was also vaccinated along with his second wife, Camilla, 73.
More than 19 million people have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, where the vaccination campaign began in December.
The government’s goal is for all adults to have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of July. If the vaccination acceptance rate is very high, around 90%, some minorities are more reluctant.