Katie Price ‘shares her RELIEF after son Harvey, 18, receives Covid vaccine’
‘He was so brave and it was over quickly’: Katie Price reveals son Harvey, 18, has received COVID vaccine early due to his extremely vulnerable status
- The star, 42, expressed joy after he received the Oxford AstraZeneca injection
- Harvey is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome
- He is ‘extremely vulnerable to the virus’ and received the jab at a school hall
- According to Katie he was the ‘youngest person’ at the vaccine location
- Last week the NHS vaccinated 345,000 people per day, on average – a rate of 2.4million people per week
- If this is sustained it will hit the 15million mid-February ambition on February 17 – just two days after the target
Katie Price expressed relief and joy on Saturday after her son, Harvey, reportedly received an early Covid-19 vaccine because he is ‘extremely vulnerable’ to the virus.
The 18-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, had the Oxford AstraZeneca injection.
The TV star, 42, told The Sun: ‘Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done…
‘Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful. It just felt like being in a film and made you realise more how serious this is.’
Staying safe: Katie Price expressed relief and joy on Saturday after her son, Harvey, reportedly received an early Covid-19 vaccine because he is ‘extremely vulnerable’ to the virus
According to Katie, he received the vaccine in a school hall with everybody sat on seats in rows at a metres distance apart.
Due to his health conditions, Harvey is considered a vulnerable citizen, and he is now immunised in the fourth stage of the vaccine roll-out, orchestrated by the government.
Britain is on course to vaccinate all over-50s against Covid-19 by April 7 at the current rate of immunisation, MailOnline estimates reveal as debate rages through Government about when lockdown can be lifted.
It comes after vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi, Chris Whitty and SAGE scientists have signaled that they want all over-50s to be offered an injection to keep hospitalisations low before society reopens.
Protected: The 18-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, had the Oxford AstraZeneca injection, according to The Sun
The protection offered by one dose of coronavirus vaccine takes two to three weeks to kick in, the latest evidence suggests, meaning the UK would be on track for measures to be lifted at the end of April at the current rate.
If the UK vaccine drive accelerates from last week’s daily average of 345,000 people per day and is able to sustain its maximum rate of 600,000 doses a day, then the over-50s target could be hit by mid-March.
Department of Health sources were keen to downplay hopes, however, and said that giving out second doses could significantly slow down the rollout from March, while Mr Zahawi said the country could not be 100 per cent confident of vaccine supply.
Health: The TV star, 42, said to the publication: ‘Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done. Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful’
But anti-lockdown Tory MPs are pushing for measures including school reopening to be eased sooner when the 15million most vulnerable people are vaccinated by mid-February – but Boris Johnson has ruled out any lockdown relaxation before March 8.
Sceptics claim the ‘goalposts are being shifted’ and the focus is moving away from controlling deaths and hospitalisations with dire warnings about the threat of mutant coronavirus and continued strain on the NHS.
Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic CRG block, said once the top nine groups are vaccinated, which he believes is likely to be by the end of May, restrictions should be lifted altogether.
Making progress: Last week the NHS vaccinated 345,000 people per day, on average – a rate of 2.4million people per week
And former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith told MailOnline: ‘The trouble is they are now being beaten up by the scientists. The scientists are giving them all sorts of new reasons why you can’t unlock.
‘Of course for the scientists it doesn’t make any difference really because they get paid anyway.’
Experts estimate that the effects of mass vaccination could start to show through in falling numbers of people being admitted to hospital in mid-February, and then significantly fewer people dying from March.
They said there would also be an impact on infections, perhaps sooner, but this would be less noticeable.
Change: Analysis shared on Twitter by Professor Daniel Howdon, a health economist at the University of Leeds, suggested there appears to already have been approximately 25 per cent decline in death rates among over-80s
The UK today announced a further 20,634 coronavirus cases and 915 deaths – both down a quarter on last week.
Another 469,016 people got their first vaccine dose yesterday, taking this week’s total to 1.19million in just three days. Mr Zahawi said one in five adults have received a first jab already, with nine in 10 over-75s reached.
One researcher, Leeds University’s Professor Daniel Howdon, said there appears to already have been approximately 25 per cent declines in death rates among over-80s since December, although it is not yet clear whether this is a result of vaccination.
And Professor Karl Friston, a neuroscientist and disease modeller at University College London, today claimed Britain ‘might attain herd immunity by as early as July’, although he admitted to being ‘optimistic’ and said the true success of the vaccination programme will depend on how well the jabs prevent the virus from spreading.
