Queen Elizabeth II encouraged her British compatriots to get vaccinated against COVID-19, explaining that the bite did not “hurt her at all” and that she had to “think of others”.
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The 94-year-old monarch said she felt “protected” after being vaccinated in January, like her husband Prince Philip, 99. She was speaking during a video call last Tuesday with health officials in charge of the vaccination campaign in the four constituent nations of the country (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
More than 18 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. While the vaccination acceptance rate is very high, around 90%, some minorities are more reluctant.
When asked to tell about his vaccination experience, the monarch said it was “very fast”.
“It was very quick, and I received many letters from people who were very surprised by the ease of the vaccination. And the injection – it did not hurt at all. ”, She testified, according to her comments transmitted by Buckingham Palace.
“It is obviously difficult for people if they have never been vaccinated (…), but they should think of others rather than of themselves,” said the queen, who compared the coronavirus to a “plague” that swept the whole world.
His eldest son, Prince Charles, who was infected with the virus last year, has been vaccinated, as has his wife Camilla.
Prince William, the queen’s grandson, said on Monday that he would be “leading the way” to get the vaccine to show it’s safe, but “will wait (his) turn”.