British PM Johnson lambasts anti-vaxxers’ ‘mumbo jumbo’

Signs promote the government’s Covid-19 vaccine programme and alert passersby, near Canary Wharf in the Tower Hamlets district of east London.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday hit out at anti-vaccine campaigners’ “mumbo jumbo” and “nonsense” in his toughest attack yet on those opposed to Covid-19 jabs. “I want to say to the anti-vax campaigners, the people who are putting this mumbo jumbo on social media: they are completely wrong,” Johnson told journalists. “You haven’t heard me say that before, because I think it’s important we have a voluntary approach in this country and we’re going to keep a voluntary approach,” he said, during a visit to a vaccination centre.The UK, already among the European countries worst hit by the pandemic, with a virus death toll of nearly 150,000, has seen a fresh surge in cases due to the arrival of the Omicron variant in late November. Johnson noted that other European countries were going for “coercion”, after Italy on Wednesday made Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for all those aged over 50, with fines for those who refuse.“What a tragedy that we’ve got all this pressure on the NHS (National Health Service), all the difficulties that our doctors and nurses are experiencing and we’ve got people out there spouting complete nonsense about vaccination,” he added. “It’s absolutely wrong, it’s totally counterproductive, and the stuff they’re putting out on social media is complete mumbo jumbo.”Johnson said Tuesday it was “absolutely crazy” that intensive care units in Britain were being filled by the unvaccinated, pushing stretched NHS resources to the limit. He noted the country had 2mn vacant vaccination slots this week and that the majority of people getting intensive hospital care for Covid are not fully jabbed. England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty added at the time he was “saddened” by the number of unvaccinated patients in hospital and “frustrated” at the deliberate scare tactics of anti-vaxxers.Britain reported 179,756 new Covid-19 cases yesterday and 231 more deaths, official data showed. The figures compared to 194,747 cases and 334 deaths reported on Wednesday. Meanwhile, health officials in Britain said yesterday they had identified a rare case of avian flu in a person, as the country battles its largest-ever outbreak of the virus among birds. Transmission of avian flu from bird to human is very rare and has previously only occurred a small number of times in Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. The infected individual, in southwest England, was said to be “well” and was self-isolating, it added. “The person acquired the infection from very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which they kept in and around their home over a prolonged period of time,” the UKHSA said in a statement. “All contacts of the individual, including those who visited the premises, have been traced and there is no evidence of onward spread of the infection to anyone else.”The agency noted the risk to the wider public from avian flu remained “very low” but cautioned people not to touch sick or dead birds. Britain culled around half a million birds in 2021 as it grappled with what Environment Secretary George Eustice has called the country’s “largest-ever” avian flu outbreak.  Alongside culling, the government rolled out new rules in December requiring keepers to ensure all captive birds are indoors and follow strict biosecurity measures to try to stem the spread of the virus. However, officials have voiced concerns that wild birds migrating from mainland Europe during the winter months may be carrying the disease. Geese, ducks and swans are among the wild bird species known to have been affected, while a number of birds of prey are also confirmed to have died.British billionaire Richard Branson said yesterday he was recovering from a “mild” case of coronavirus along with his wife and other family members after they tested positive for the Omicron variant. “Friends & family, including myself and my wife Joan, recently caught Omicron. Thanks to all being vaccinated and boosted, our symptoms have been mild,” Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, said in a post on Twitter. Stressing the importance of vaccinations, Branson urged all eligible individuals to get their booster shots.Omicron appears to be far more easily transmitted than previous strains of the virus, though the World Health Organisation has said that the evidence so far suggests the variant is causing less severe illness. Recently, countries including the United States and Britain have expanded their booster shot programmes, with numerous studies showing that an initial course of vaccines may not be enough to halt infection from Omicron, but a booster shot may help.