Sajid Javid tells man to ‘show some respect for the NHS’ in Twitter row

Sajid Javid has told a man to “show some respect for the NHS” after he questioned why his booster jab was from a different manufacturer from his first and second.

Writing on Twitter, Dave Atherton - who describes himself as a libertarian who used to contribute to controversial right-wing blog Breitbart - said he had received two doses of Pfizer before receiving a Moderna vaccine for his third.

He appeared to question whether this was a good idea, by putting “world beating NHS” in quotation marks.

“WTF is happening?” he asked, tagging the health secretary, prompting the minister to surprisingly respond:

“So what? How about you show some respect for the NHS.”

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On Monday, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended “all adults aged 40 to 49 years should be offered an mRNA booster, 6 months after their second dose.”

It is perfectly safe and effective to mix vaccines. Scientific journal Nature reports that studies show that “combining two different COVID-19 vaccines provides protection on par with that of mRNA vaccines — including protection against the Delta variant.”

Meanwhile, NHS guidance says: “Most people will be offered a booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or Moderna vaccine.

“This means your booster dose may be different from the vaccines you had for your 1st and 2nd doses.

“Some people may be offered a booster dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine if they cannot have the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.”

Replying to Atherton’s tweet, many people pointed out that it was standard procedure.

However, others pointed out that – regardless of it being safe to mix vaccines – replying to a member of the public querying something about the health service in that manner was a bit odd.

He even attracted the wrath of Gillian McKeith – so she probably won’t be asking for his sperm.

Atherton then said the NHS was a service he pays taxes for “not a deity that should be worshipped”.

At this point, Javid appeared to realise that it is not the best idea to get into arguments with voters on social media and didn’t reply.

Probably for the best, Saj.

Indy100 has contacted Javid’s office to comment on this story.