Elderly Britons are REFUSING Pfizer’s vaccine because they’d rather ‘wait for the English one’

Elderly Britons are refusing the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine because they’d rather ‘wait for the English one’ and failing to turn up for appointments as ministers scramble to turbo-charge the jab’s roll out.

Over 80s have turned their noses up at the Belgium-made shots in Stockon-on-Tees and insisted on having the Oxford jab, said Dr Paul Williams who is administering the jabs to residents.

And missed appointments led to up to 10 police officers receiving their first doses in Nottingham to prevent vital supplies going to waste.

Once defrosted from -78C (-104F) doses of the Pfizer jab must be used within two days, official guidance from the UK’s regulator says.

Some 1.1million Britons have been vaccinated over the past five weeks, the latest figures from NHS England show, with 308,500 doses given out last week.

Boris Johnson has promised 13million people – all over 70s, care home residents, NHS staff, and the vulnerable – will be vaccinated by mid-February as he seeks to put rocket boosters under the crawling vaccine roll out.

Yesterday he revealed seven centres across the country that would be used for mass vaccinations, including sports stadiums and London’s ExCeL Centre.

But critics have warned the target is ‘over-ambitious’ and said the Prime Minister should not make promises he won’t be able to meet.

The Government is aiming to vaccinate 13million Britons by mid-February. Pictured is 82-year-old Brian Pinker receiving the Oxford jab at Churchill Hospital, Oxford

Dr Paul Willians said patients in Stockton were refusing the Oxford vaccine

Dr Williams, who is also the former Labour MP for Stockton, vented his fury at those saying they will only have the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab today.

‘Some local patients have turned down an offer this weekend of getting a Covid vaccine when they found out it was the Pfizer one. “I’ll wait for the English one”,’ he wrote on Twitter. 

‘People at risk of death in the depths of a pandemic. 

‘A lesson that nationalism has consequences.’

He added: ‘Please take care everyone. This is real and this has just got more serious.’ 

It is thought to cost around £39 to get each dose of the Pfizer vaccine to patients.

Nottinghamshire Police has confirmed some of its officers working at vaccine centres received jabs but added there were no plans to roll it out across the force.

The leader of a borough council in the county, John Clarke, told Nottinghamshire Live he was ‘appalled’ people were failing to attend appointments.

‘There is a lot that has gone into this and it disturbs me that people are not taking full advantage of it,’ he said.

‘The NHS needs to tighten up the wastage because we are all so desperate for this injection.’

Nottinghamshire’s police and crime commissioner Paddy Tipping added there were ‘two issues’ around administering the Pfizer vaccine.

‘You can get more out of a vial than is allowed,’ he said, ‘so you can get an extra dose out and that should not be wasted’.

‘Getting people through the doors has also proved problematic. Some people don’t turn up to appointments.

He added: ‘People are keen to use it if it is available. Nobody in Nottinghamshire is putting police officers to the front of the queue for the vaccine.

‘But if it is available we don’t want to destroy it and it is best we use it in a positive and constructive way. Police are delighted to have been asked.’