LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday hit out at anti-vaccine groups who spread "mumbo jumbo" on social media but ruled out the UK following some European countries in making Covid-19 vaccination a mandatory legal requirement.Speaking during a visit to a vaccination Centre in Northampton in eastern England, Johnson said the UK will maintain a “voluntary approach” to its vaccination programme as opposed to "coercion". However, he condemned anti-vaxxers for spreading complete nonsense and urged people to take up their booster doses to protect against the surging Omicron variant. "They (anti-vaxxers) are totally wrong and I think it is time that I, the government, call them out on what they are doing,” Johnson told reporters. Earlier, Austria was among the first countries to make vaccination a legal requirement.Johnson said while Omicron is milder than previous variants, "the pressures on hospitals are clear". When you're in ICU and you haven't been vaccinated, sadly it's too late to get vaccinated, so get boosted now," he added.

Source: The Times January 07, 2022 12:29 UTC