Walsall nurse who refused Covid-19 jab on documentary about anti-vaxxers
A nurse from Walsall has appeared in a documentary aimed at changing his mind after refusing the Covid-19 vaccination.
Charity fundraiser Mark Dabbs said he is against "having a gun to your head and being told to be vaccinated".
He has now appeared on 'Unvaccinated', a BBC documentary aired last night and hosted by Professor Hannah Fry. It is focused on seven people who have refused the vaccine.
Over the course of five days, the show attempts to dispel myths around the jabs.
The participants came face-to-face with leading experts, confronting the latest science and statistics to emerge in the field and dissecting how misinformation spreads on social media.
He said: "It just sort of happened that I didn’t get vaccinated, I already had Covid in January in 2020, and ended up in hospital with it.
"What I am against more than anything is having a gun to your head and being told you need to be vaccinated.
"But all my life I have been told informed consent is what you are entitled to, I have seen people stop their cancer treatment knowing they are going to die, but that is their decision
"To be honest with you, with years of not having it, I am beginning to wonder what the point of it at all is.
"You don’t see other areas forced to take the jab, so why just health care worker and not teachers?
"I don’t drink, I don't smoke, I keep myself fit, I have faith in my health."
He added:"I am not an anti-vaxxer, I am not a freak, I made an informed choice."
Mark had been trying to apply for his favourite show, Bargain Hunt, when his eyes were drawn to an appeal for unvaccinated people to take part in a TV show.
Little did he know he would end up being picked out of thousands of applicants.
Mark said: "We were taken to Bristol University and also a Facebook fact checker was thrown into the mix.
"This caused the biggest row when two of the most forceful members blew up accusing the fact checker of lying.
"The result saw one of the girls shouting at the cameraman who was filming it all that they need to stop filming and not make a “reality” show."
Mark said that his reasons for not having the vaccination were due to "his principles as a nurse" and that the worst part of refusing the vaccine was "being given the ultimatum of losing your job".
Two months after their original, intense week together, Fry is reunited with the seven volunteers at a vaccination centre, where she asks each of them if they will now go for a jab. However, this does not go well.
Unvaccinated with Hannah Fry is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
