Professor Sarah Gilbert

Professor Sarah Gilbert (00:01):
Hello. I am Professor Sarah Gilbert, leader of the team that developed a COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Oxford. Through our partnership with AstraZeneca, over one billion doses of our vaccine have been delivered to over 165 countries around the world.

My message is simple: COVID-19 vaccines work. They have been shown to be highly effective in preventing serious disease and hospitalization, particularly in those considered to be at high-risk from COVID 19. For those considered low-risk or who may have successfully fought off the virus before, vaccines still have something to offer. They protect against the effects of long COVID, and the more transmissible variants that have emerged in 2021, both of which are increasingly unlikely to discriminate based on age or prior health.

Vaccines also work to protect others, not just yourselves. They can stop you from getting and spreading the virus. In turn, this protects those around you, particularly those at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and those who are yet to be vaccinated. Reducing the spread of the virus through vaccination not only protects our health, but our livelihoods. Reduced infections means fewer people off work, less disruption to the economy, and increased freedom to roll back restrictions on social interaction. We will have to live with COVID-19 for a while yet, and vaccines are our best bet for doing this as safely as possible, with the least disruption. So please, if you haven't already, get vaccinated. Thank you.