Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway shared her concerns about unlicensed coronavirus vaccines during Friday’s instalment of the ITV breakfast show.
Health expert Dr Hilary Jones was back on our screens this morning to discuss the latest Covid-19 news.
The GP addressed reports that the government are considering using emergency powers to allow the rolling out of an unlicensed Covid-19 vaccine in Britain.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, host Kate Garraway shared her own concerns before asking Hilary for his take.
The 53-year-old presenter recalled Dr Sarah Jarvis recently being on the show, and discussing reports that Russia had approved a coronavirus vaccine that hadn’t been through all the testing processes.
Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway shared her concerns about unlicensed coronavirus vaccines during Friday’s instalment of the ITV breakfast show (Image: ITV)
Kate, whose husband Derek Draper is currently battling the aftermath of coronavirus in hospital, feared this was what was happening in the UK too, but Dr Hilary was quick to state that it was not the same situation.
The medical expert urged people to realise that “unlicensed” did not mean unsafe or not tested, and said that unlicensed medicines are used all the time.
Dr Hilary, 67, admitted that he would have the vaccine “in a shot” if it was safe.
Speaking on GMB on Friday, Hilary urged people to listen to the professionals, and stated that members of the public should be provided with the correct information.
He said: “There’s a big, big distinction here. What Russia was trying to do was rush through a vaccine that hadn’t been properly tested.
Dr Hilary admitted that he would have the vaccine “in a shot” if it was safe (Image: ITV)
“Unlicensed does not mean tested, we use lots and lots of unlicensed medicines, 40 percent of medicine used in paediatrics and intensive care is unlicensed.
“We haven’t done the trials on children of a certain age where we have done them on adults, and they’re used by specialists and save lives.
“Eleven percent of medicines we use in general practices are unlicensed, it doesn’t mean to say they are not safe, they’ve all been tested for safety but are used in special circumstances.”
Hilary added: “A vaccine that is needed to protect public health in an emergency situation is going to be unlicensed, simply because the pharmaceutical companies haven’t had time to get the necessary permissions to make it licenced.
“But I would have it like a shot if it was safe, and I do believe the trials are showing that it is safe.”
The medical expert urged people to realise that “unlicensed” did not mean unsafe or not tested (Image: ITV)
Mum of two Kate then asked about reports that people would be blocked from suing the government if they were to suffer side effects from the vaccine.
The doctor questioned this though, before stating people needed the right information before accepting a vaccine.
He explained: “You give them the knowledge, and you give them informed consent before they have a vaccination, and you look at what people in the know are doing.
Kate was joined by co-host Alex Beresford on Good Morning Britain today (Image: ITV)
“You don’t listen to anyone who doesn’t have any medical qualifications, and that have a superstitious view on anything that could possibly do harm when there’s no apparent danger.
“Where there is an apparent danger, this is a very dangerous virus. It has much higher mortality than ordinary flu.
“It would have been trialled on tens of thousands of patients and would have gone through all phase 1, 2 and 3 studies that show it is effective and has a good safety level.”
Hilary concluded: “I don’t believe the government is saying they will not have some system in place for the very occasional side effect that might occur, we do that for all other vaccines.
“I think that is just pandering to the unfortunately growing trend of anti-vaccination feeling, and that’s dangerous because vaccines have saved countless millions of lives since the turn of the last century.”
Kate was joined by co-host Alex Beresford on Good Morning Britain on Friday.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV
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