Sir Elton John and Sir Michael Caine have appeared in an NHS advert urging the public to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
The video, shot at London‘s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, aims to ‘show others that getting the life-saving jab is easy and safe’, according to a statement.
The clip shows the famous pair appearing to audition for a part in an advert promoting the jab.
Important: Sir Elton John and Sir Michael Caine have appeared in an NHS advert urging the public to get vaccinated against coronavirus
In the video, Sir Elton, 73, said: ‘The more people in society that get vaccinated, the more chance there is of eradicating the national Covid pandemic.
‘It is really important to know that the vaccines have all been through and met the necessary safety and quality standards.’
After apparently being given the injection, Sir Elton then references his 1983 hit I’m Still Standing by saying: ‘As you can see, I’m still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah.’
The director then responded by saying: ‘Thanks Elton, we will let you know.’ Sir Elton replied: ‘Well at this short notice you won’t find anyone bigger.’
Campaign: The video, shot at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, aims to ‘show others that getting the life-saving jab is easy and safe’, according to a statement
The video then cuts to Sir Michael, 87, as he appears to be given the vaccine.
The actor said it ‘didn’t hurt’ before saying: ‘Not many people know that.’
Afterwards, the director can be heard telling someone to ‘let the little fella know he didn’t get the job’.
The video has been released after the NHS asked anyone aged 70 and above who has not yet been vaccinated to come forward to receive one.
Vaccine: The clip shows the famous pair appearing to audition for a part in an advert promoting the jab
The campaign’s co-ordinator Professor Lord Ara Darzi, who is co-director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, said Sir Elton and Sir Michael are ‘trusted faces’ who are ‘loved’ by the public.
‘I asked them [to take part] and they were extremely generous in giving us the time to do this, which I was very grateful for, and I hope it does the job in convincing the population that vaccines for Covid is the best way out of this pandemic,’ he told the PA news agency.
‘They were extremely keen to help in any way possible.’ Lord Darzi added he wanted the video to be ‘humorous and engaging’ and he hopes people who are sceptical about the vaccine will change their minds.
‘I think many people who have had two thoughts about this will think again,’ he said.
Jab: After getting the vaccine, Michael said it ‘didn’t hurt’ before saying: ‘Not many people know that’
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: ‘Well over nine out of 10 people aged 75 and over have already taken up the offer of their NHS Covid vaccination, and now we want to encourage everyone in the high priority groups to do so.
‘That’s why we’re grateful to Sir Elton and Sir Michael for helping the NHS promote vaccine uptake, building on the fast and efficient programme to date, which has seen the NHS already vaccinate one in four adults across England.’
Some 352,480 people had their first dose on Monday, taking the total to 12,646,486.
On Monday, the Health Secretary trumpeted the success of the roll-out so far, confirming the NHS is on track to hit its target of immunising the 15million most vulnerable Brits by next Monday.
Almost 12.5million people have already received their first dose of vaccine and the health service is administering 450,000 every day, on average, putting the country well on track to hit the milestone next Monday.
Previously, over-70s were told to wait until they were contacted — through a letter, email, text or phone call — to ensure all over-80s, care home residents and patients with serious underlying health conditions had first access.
People in that age group can now schedule an appointment using the NHS booking service or those unable to get online can phone 119.
On track: On Monday, the Health Secretary trumpeted the success of the roll-out so far, confirming the NHS is on track to hit its target of immunising the 15million most vulnerable Brits by next Monday
Matt Hancock said take-up of the vaccines has so far been ‘significantly better than we hoped for’, claiming it has hit a staggering 95 per cent in people in their late 70s, 91 per cent of over-80s and almost three quarters of people in their early 70s. He said the Government had been expecting approximately 75 per cent.
Frontline health and social care workers, who are also at the top of the priority list, are also being urged to come forward and arrange an appointment if they’ve not had a dose. And GP practices have been told to contact any extremely vulnerable patients who have still yet to receive their first injection.
Meanwhile, Downing Street said today it expects to have vaccinated all over-50s by the end of April, raising hopes that Britain could drop the vast majority of curbs in May. Boris Johnson is under pressure to step up the reopening of the country as soon as the top nine groups – around 32million people – are covered.
Britain is jabbing at record pace, dishing out more vaccines per person than any country in the world other than Israel.