Warning over government vaccine push as video fuels anti-vaxxer sentiment

Ministers risk damaging trust in the vaccine if they strong-arm young people into getting jabbed, a government adviser has warned – as a video of a woman ‘struggling to walk’ was liked 100,000 times on Instagram. 

In one of the posts, Georgia-Rose Segal, 34, from London, is seen staggering before nearly collapsing on to a kitchen floor. Another clip in the same series then shows her legs and feet spasming in a hospital bed.

The influencer yesterday said the symptoms developed after receiving her second Pfizer jab. She said she had been diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome (GBS), a neurological disorder which can cause muscle weakness. 

Johnson & Johnson has confirmed GBS is an extremely rare side effect of its jab. However, an analysis by the US Food and Drug Administration found that after 100million adults received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines there had been no increase in GBS nationwide. 

In one of the posts, Instagram influencer Georgia-Rose Segal, 34, is seen struggling to walk before nearly collapsing on to a kitchen floor

One of the videos posted on Instagram shows Ms Segal struggling to walk in a hospital ward

Ms Segal announced yesterday that she had been released from hospital, and shared a photo of her using a Zimmer frame. The original video of her struggling to walk was uploaded onto Instagram account Imjustbait. 

Recent figured have revealed that while infections among young adults have soared to a record high, vaccine uptake has slowed to a fraction of what it was in the spring. 

One in three 18-to-29 year olds have still not had a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, NHS England figures show. But the virus is running rampant in this age group, with more than one in 100 aged 20 to 29 testing positive last week.   

Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said people could be ‘nudged’ to get jabbed but must not feel they are being forced into it.

Asked if the Government should use vaccine passports as a way of encouraging younger people to have their jabs, he told radio station LBC: ‘It has to be done really quite carefully.

‘If people begin to feel they are being kind of forced against their will to do something, then in a sense that’s quite a damaging thing to do because it gives people the impression vaccination is something being imposed on them.

‘Nudging can be done but it has to be done in a way that people don’t feel they are being pushed into something they don’t want to do.’ The professor of paediatrics at Bristol University warned that young people are getting ‘seriously ill’ from coronavirus and he urged them to have their jabs.

He said there have been close to 200 admissions, with an average age of 40, in the city during the current wave caused by the spread of the Delta, or Indian, variant. ‘We have had people under 30 on our intensive care unit and also requiring high-level oxygen therapy,’ he added.

The video of Ms Segal appears to be fuelling anti-vaxxer sentiment on Instagram.  

One comment from an account which has 86,000 followers said: ‘This is why I have not got it yet, I’ll get it if it’s life and death but mans had covid and got over it like a cold and no one gave man a vaccine for my cold.’

Another, from a user with 20,000 followers, read: ‘And this is the s*** they’re trying to force into everyone’s bodies… no thanks, had worse colds than Covid.’

Under plans being considered by the Government, football fans who are not fully vaccinated could be barred from attending Premier League matches from October. 

Boris Johnson yesterday faced further criticism from backbench Conservatives who were already opposed to plans to introduce vaccine passports for entry into nightclubs this autumn.

Ms Segal confirmed yesterday that she had been released from hospital, and shared a photo of her using a Zimmer frame

There have been a total of 46,563,452 first doses of a vaccine administered and 37,160,659 second doses. Last Sunday 60 new deaths within 28 days of testing positive were recorded, meaning today’s figure of 28 is a drop of more than 50 per cent

Talks are in an early phase with the Premier League to discuss whether supporters who have not been double-jabbed could be barred from entry, it is understood.

The use of vaccine passports could also be extended to lower divisions and other sports in England as ministers seek to reduce the surge in Covid cases as other restrictions are ended.

While no final decisions have been made, it is being discussed whether vaccine passports could be introduced for seated events with a capacity of 20,000 and over. 

In unseated events such as music gigs, where there are greater concerns about strangers mingling and spreading Covid, the threshold for their introduction could be as low as 5,000.

The Football Supporters’ Association, which has more than half a million members, warned that some fans may stop attending matches ‘unless this is managed very carefully’.

Its chairman, Malcolm Clarke, told Times Radio: ‘I’m not convinced that all football clubs will be able to manage [checks on vaccine passports] in a way that doesn’t cause some chaos.’

But the Prime Minister would face a battle to get legislation mandating their use through the Commons, with many backbench Tories vehemently against them.

Nearly 750,000 people in England were infected with Covid last week as the epidemic grew by 28 per cent. The Office for National Statistics’ weekly surveillance report estimated that one in 75 people had the virus in the seven days to July 17