London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025

NHS to enlist 'sensible' celebrities to persuade people to take coronavirus vaccine

NHS to enlist 'sensible' celebrities to persuade people to take coronavirus vaccine

Exclusive: People who are ‘known and loved’ will front campaign amid fears of low take-up

NHS bosses plan to enlist celebrities and “influencers” with big social media followings in a major campaign to persuade people to have a Covid vaccine amid fears of low take-up.

Ministers and NHS England are drawing up a list of “very sensible” famous faces in the hope that their advice to get immunised would be widely trusted, the Guardian has learned.

Health chiefs are particularly worried about the number of people who are still undecided, and about vaccine scepticism among NHS staff. “There will be a big national campaign [to drive take-up],” said one source with knowledge of the plans. “NHS England are looking for famous faces, people who are known and loved. It could be celebrities who are very sensible and have done sensible stuff during the pandemic.”

No names are thought to have been confirmed. But NHS communications experts suggested privately that the footballer Marcus Rashford, who is widely admired for his child food poverty campaign, which has forced two government U-turns, and members of the royal family would be ideal recruits. Politicians will not be used, it is understood. It comes as:

* The prime minister tried to quell a rebellion over tougher coronavirus tiers ahead of a Commons vote on Tuesday, telling 70 sceptical Tory MPs from the Covid Recovery Group “there is every reason to hope and believe that the worst is nearly behind us” as he called for “unity and resolve”.

* The latest React study from Imperial College London suggested a 30% fall in coronavirus infections in England during the second national lockdown, with cases dropping by more than half in the north-west and north-east, according to tests on 105,000 volunteers.

* The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, warned, however, that there could be a third wave of the pandemic if the right balance is not struck on restrictions and did not rule out a third national lockdown.

Expectation is growing that the first of three potentially promising vaccinesPfizer/BioNTech, of which the UK has secured 40m doses – is set for regulatory approval within days, allowing hospitals to start immunising their frontline health workers as soon as 7 December, as revealed by the Guardian on Friday.

The government has secured 100m doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and has asked the regulator to assess it for emergency deployment. A further 2m doses of the US Moderna vaccine have also been ordered, bringing its total to 7m for the UK. All three vaccines involve two doses received several weeks apart.

Meanwhile, an internal NHS briefing paper shows that airline cabin crew, firefighters and the jobless are being targeted as part of a huge team of vaccinators being assembled, trained and paid £11.20 an hour to administer the jabs.

Under the slogan “Your NHS needs you”, the recruitment campaign aimed at enlisting “tens of thousands” of extra staff will stress that vaccines “will be our best defence against the virus alongside effective social distancing, wearing a mask and washing your hands” and that vaccinators will be playing a vital role by immunising “millions of at-risk people”.

Public trust in vaccines has risen in most of Europe in the past five years, with the largest survey of global attitudes to vaccinations suggesting that just 7% of Britons would not accept a Covid-19 vaccine in March. According to the findings in the Lancet, this rose to 11% in June and 14% in July, however.

For the NHS campaign to tackle Covid scepticism, officials plan to use doctors who often appear on television and radio discussing health issues, because of their profile and the trust they are assumed to already have with the public. They will also deploy other “influencers” who are popular on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Religious leaders are being asked to help persuade adherents to their faith that vaccination is good for them, their family and the country as a whole. They are seen as important ways of getting pro-immunisation messages to people of black, Asian and minority ethnic origin in particular, amid concern about potential take-up in some communities.

In Yorkshire, staff from Bradford Royal Infirmary are working with local religious and community leaders to devise ways to encourage the city’s large Asian population to have the jab.

The NHS and Public Health England are also drawing up parallel plans to convince the health service’s 1.4m-strong workforce in England to get vaccinated amid signs that a significant proportion may shun it.

Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive of St George’s hospital trust in London, told a seminar run by the Health Service Journal: “I think there is a lot of anxiety [among staff], and some of the polls we’ve done around south-west London show that as little as 50% of people are willing just to have it without any [assurance about its safety]. We might all think people might be rushing to have it, but actually we might find that’s not quite the case.”

Thea Stein, the boss of Leeds community healthcare NHS trust, told the same event: “People who know about vaccines, know about side-effects, feel they don’t know enough about the potential side-effects of the vaccine [for Covid] … they feel anxious and uncertain.”

Experts say that overall take-up would need to be anything from 60% to 75%, depending on how effective the vaccines prove to be.

The British Medical Association, which represents Britain’s doctors, said those deemed a priority to receive Covid jabs because of their poor underlying health would need to be reassured that vaccines are safe, to counter apprehension about taking them.

“It is especially important that those most at risk of serious illness, and the people around them, are vaccinated. Such individuals will need evidence-based assurance of vaccine safety and efficacy in their specific group,” said Dr Penelope Toff, co-chair of the BMA’s public health medicine committee.

“It will be vital that there are clear culturally-tailored communications delivered by trusted local and community leaders, and targeted at the most vulnerable and harder-to-reach communities, and that it is made easy for these populations to access vaccination.”

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia who specialises in infectious diseases, said famous faces could help “people hear the truth and understand the message”.

“Some form of campaign will be essential, even if it is only to advise people how to get vaccinated,” he said. “But with the rise in recent years of vaccine scepticism and the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines then some form of campaign will be needed to counter this.”

The government declined to release details of the campaign. A government spokesperson said: “An effective vaccine will be the best way to protect the most vulnerable from coronavirus and the biggest breakthrough since the pandemic began, potentially saving thousands of lives.

Vaccines will only be authorised for use if they have met the strict safety and effectiveness standards of the UK’s medicines regulator.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
×