Coronavirus: 'All these anti-vaxxers' are 'nuts', Boris Johnson says, as he wants 'everybody' to get vaccinated

The prime minister has described opponents of vaccines as "nuts", encouraging people to get the jab to help "protect the NHS".

"There's all these anti-vaxxers now. They are nuts, they are nuts," Boris Johnson told nurses at a GP surgery in London.

The PM was speaking as the government announced an expansion of its winter flu vaccination programme, intending to double the number of people who have the jab.

There will be free vaccinations for those aged over 50 and 11-year-olds.

This is on top of at-risk groups such as people with asthma, heart disease and diabetes, and anyone living with somebody on the COVID-19 shielded list.

Mr Johnson said getting the jab is something that can help to "protect the NHS", adding he wants "everybody" to get the jab.

He said: "We want everybody to get a flu jab in the run-up to this winter and that's why we're rolling out the biggest-ever programme of flu immunisation.

"And we're aiming first of all for schoolchildren up to year seven, for pregnant women, for people over 65, for people who are shielded, but then we will be extending it to people who are 50 to 65.

"Now the reason for doing this is to protect the NHS in the winter months because obviously we have still got COVID, we have still got the threat of a second spike on COVID, and it's vital therefore to keep that pressure off the NHS by everybody getting a flu jab and I really hope everybody will."

One woman concerned about vaccines, Lottie Daley, hit back at Mr Johnson's comments, describing them as "alarming and wilfully ignorant".

"I think essentially we socially shame parents to vaccinate and we don't listen to mothers who vaccinate and who then encounter problems," she said.

Vaccines go through rigorous testing to prove their safety and have saved millions of lives globally by protecting people from diseases such as measles, smallpox and whooping cough.

:: Listen to The World Tomorrow on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts and Spreaker

Helen Bedford, professor of children's health at University College London, said vaccines have proven to be "very valuable".

"We can eradicate diseases with vaccines as we've done with smallpox and save many millions of lives every year as a result of vaccines," she said.

"Since the turn of the century, 20 million lives have been saved as a result of the measles vaccine alone, globally."

Ms Bedford added that the "overwhelming majority" of people do get their children vaccinated, while those who do not are in the minority but "often very vocal".