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West Midlands leaders welcome Queen's message over Covid-19 vaccine

Leaders from across the West Midlands have welcomed a message from The Queen concerning the Covid-19 vaccine.

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The Queen speaking on a video call

The head of state, who received the jab in January, encouraged people to think about others "rather than themselves".

The message has been welcomed by political and health leaders in the region with the hope it will boost uptake of the jab.

Dr Riz Alidina, a GP for East Birmingham who leads the roll-out of the vaccine in the area, said: "I think any encouragement from anyone high above is always going to increase the uptake downstream.

"So, yes, we're very very grateful and very thankful for the intervention. I'm very grateful because it does actually ring true with a lot of people – 'if it's fit for the Queen it's fit for us',"

Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "I certainly think The Queen's encouragement is going to help. In fact, I think anybody encouraging take up of the vaccine will be a help in this particular sphere.

"I have no seen any recent data but I suspect trust and popularity in The Queen is far higher than it is in politicians, so she's bound to have more of an impact than me encouraging people."

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson added: "For Her Majesty The Queen, as our head of state, to put her weight behind the vaccine can be nothing other than a good thing, so I very much welcome it and I thank her for doing so."

On a video call with health leaders from across the UK responsible for delivering the vaccine, The Queen was asked about her experience of having the jab.

She replied: "Well, as far as I can make out it was quite harmless. It was very quick, and I’ve had lots of letters from people who’ve been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine.

She added: "It didn’t hurt at all."