Covid anti-vaxxers protest booster jabs in Forbury Gardens

A crowd held up signs opposing the vaccination of teenagers and mandatory vaccines for employees, the latter of which have been introduced for care home staff.

Anti-vaccination protesters gather in Forbury Gardens, Reading, on Saturday photographed by Paul King

Responding to the protest, MP for Reading East Matt Rodda encouraged residents to be part of ‘the battle to beat Covid’.

“We have been very fortunate that scientists in the U.K. led the way on developing vaccines to combat Covid19. “We should be absolutely clear that the vaccine is safe and it is helping us overcome Covid.

“I’ve had both jabs and I will have the booster when I am eligible.

“If individuals choose not to take the vaccine, that is a matter of personal choice, but I would encourage everyone in Reading to take the vaccine and be part of the battle to beat Covid.”

Reading MP Matt Rodda

Read more: MP urges Reading residents to wear face masks again

Analysis endorsed by the UK Scientific and Advisory Group for Emergencies found 84 per cent of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital in the UK between December 2020 and July 2021 were not vaccinated.

The National Immunisation Management Service and the Coronavirus Clinical Information Network, which undertook the study of 40,000 patients’ data, revealed 13 per cent had received only one vaccine and three per cent had been fully vaccinated.

Protestors in Forbury gardens

Read more: NHS Covid vaccine walk-in clinics in Berkshire: See the full list

In the UK, the vaccine was the underlying cause of five people’s deaths as of August 2021 (June 2021 in Northern Ireland), according to the Office for National Statistics.

In the same time period, more than 154,000 people died with COVID-19 on the death certificate, according to Public Health England. That figure is now 166,730.