Boris Johnson receives AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - 'I cannot recommend it too highly'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received his first dose of the AstraZeneca jab at St Thomas' Hospital in London.

The vaccine was administered by nurse and Clinical Pod Lead, Lily Harrington shortly after 6.30pm on Friday evening.

Leaving hospital after the jab, he told reporters: "I literally did not feel a thing and so it was very good, very quick and I cannot recommend it too highly.

"Everybody, when you get your notification to go for a jab please go and get it. It is the best thing for you, best thing for your family and for everybody else."

It comes as countries including France, Germany and Italy began restarting their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab, reversing earlier decisions to suspend them over blood clot concerns.

Mr Johnson confirmed he would be receiving the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at a press briefing on Thursday in which he dismissed concerns it was linked to blood clots and told the nation it was "safe".

"The Oxford jab is safe and the Pfizer jab is safe. The thing that isn't safe is catching Covid, which is why it is so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes," he said in an address from Downing Street.

The Prime Minister's jab comes as half of the UK's adult population has now received its first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, making it the first of the four UK nations to pass this symbolic milestone.

Mr Johnson was among a record number of more than 700,000 people to receive a Covid-19 vaccine dose in a single day.

Vaccinations minister Nadhim Zahawi confirmed that a total 711,156 first and second doses were administered across the UK on Friday, which is the highest daily amount since the NHS vaccination programme began.

NHS staff also delivered a record weekly number of vaccines, with more than 2.7 million people receiving the jab over the past seven days.

More than 22.9 million people have now had at least one jab in little over 100 days since the inoculation programme began, according to NHS England.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) backed the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, announcing it was "safe and effective" and its benefits in preventing Covid-19 hospital admission and death greatly outweighed potential risks.

The EMA has, however, been unable to say definitively that the jab is not linked to "extremely rare" blood clots on the brain, of which there have been 18 reports among millions of people vaccinated.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have said that the jab is safe and have encouraged people to take up their vaccine appointments.

The WHO's advisory committee on vaccine safety issued a formal statement on Friday saying the vaccine "continues to have a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths across the world".

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she was ready to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca's coronavirus jab if she is offered it, in a bid to shore up confidence in the jab.

"Yes I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine," Ms Merkel told a news conference, adding she "would like to wait until it's my turn but I would in any case".

Mrs Merkel's firm endorsement of the vaccine comes as a reversal to her previous announcement last month that she would not take the jab, as at that time it was not recommended for Germans in her age group.

Around 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.