Queen says people should 'think about others' if in doubt about COVID-19 vaccine

Queen Elizabeth says members of the public with doubts about getting vaccinated against COVID-19 "ought to think about other people rather than themselves".

Her Majesty, 94, and husband Prince Philip, 99, were immunised against the virus in January, the move confirmed in a statement from Buckingham Palace.

Speaking with health officials in charge of the UK's vaccination rollout via video call, the monarch described the process as "very quick".

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"I've had lots of letters from people who have been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine. And the jab, it didn't hurt at all," she said.

The Queen urged members of the public to think about the health of others if they had doubts or hesitations about being vaccinated.

"I think the other thing is that it is obviously difficult for people if they've never had a vaccine… but they ought to think about other people rather than themselves," she said.

"Once you've had the vaccine, you have a feeling of, you know, you feel protected, which is, I think, very important. As far as I can make out, it was quite harmless."

This week's video call marked the first time Queen Elizabeth has discussed the issue of the COVID-19 vaccination publicly.

Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh were among the first UK residents to receive the vaccination, which was administered by a Household Doctor at Windsor Castle.

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The palace statement didn't confirm which vaccine they received, or whether they'd had the first or or both of the two jabs required.

According to reports, the Queen made the decision to announce she'd been immunised in a bid to convince the public to follow suit and share a "message of hope".

This is not the first time the monarch has championed a new vaccine.

She was among the first to approve the use of the smallpox vaccine in her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne when it was rolled out in Britain in the 1950s.

In January 1957, Dr Wilfrid Percy Henry Sheldon confirmed the news Charles and Anne, both teenagers at the time, had each been given two injections a month apart.

"Thus the Queen has followed 200,000 other mothers in using Britain's vaccine - just a year after its discovery was announced," wrote the Daily Mail at the time.

Her Majesty's son Prince Charles and grandson Prince William were both diagnosed with coronavirus in 2020 and fortunately recovered from the illness.

The Queen and Prince Charles have spent the majority of the pandemic in isolation at Windsor Castle, rather than London residence Buckingham Palace.