Hundreds of thousands of people ‘probably died’ because scientists and politicians gave the AstraZeneca vaccine a bad reputation, a scientist who worked on the jab has said.
Professor Sir John Bell told the BBC that criticism of the jab had repercussions around the world.
‘They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world,’ he said.
‘I think bad behaviour from scientists and from politicians has probably killed hundreds of thousands of people – and that they cannot be proud of.’
The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed by a team of scientists at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University.
As soon as the genetic code of the new coronavirus was shared by scientists in China, experts at the Jenner Institute started working on a vaccine.
They developed one in record time and it was approved for use in the UK after passing the necessary safety, quality and effectiveness tests on December 30 2020.
During the vaccine rollout, government advisors in the UK recommended under-40s be offered alternatives to the AstraZeneca jab due to a link to very rare blood clots.
It saw countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland and Thailand all pause their use of the jab.
The vaccine has also not played a significant role in the UK’s booster campaign.
It accounted for only 48,000 of the more than 37 million booster doses given in the UK.
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