Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith has defended receiving a Covid-19 vaccine after volunteering at a hospital in his constituency, stating that the dose would otherwise have gone to waste. The 40-year-old MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire received his first jab on Friday following an afternoon of voluntary work at Retford hospital.
In a Facebook post, Clarke-Smith explained that he was asked to have the vaccine as a volunteer. He said: 'As a volunteer I was also asked to have a vaccine. Many people have asked me about the safety of vaccines and I have always said that my family and I would all have no problem having one.' He added that he hoped having the vaccine would reassure people.
The MP told the Guardian that he received the vaccine not because his volunteer role classified him as frontline staff, but because there were leftover doses. He stated: 'At the end of a day of volunteering there were some left-over vaccinations and rather than letting them go to waste they offered me a vaccination so I don't put people at risk while continuing to volunteer.'
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has prioritised older care home residents and carers, those over 80 and frontline health and social care workers, people over 75, and those over 70 or clinically extremely vulnerable for the first doses. Boris Johnson's spokesperson said spare vaccines should be given to the most vulnerable, but acknowledged that using leftover doses to avoid waste is acceptable.
Chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty, previously stated that it is right for GPs to 'make sure that they eke every vaccine out that they can', particularly with the Pfizer vaccine which has a limited shelf life once unfrozen.
