Henry Slade, England Rugby Star Who Is Diabetic, Refuses To Get Covid-19 Vaccine

England rugby star Henry Slade is not keen on getting Covid-19 vaccine because he doesn't "think you can trust it."

Slade was one of the sportsmen who missed out on a spot in the Lions squad, which was revealed earlier this month, reported the Independent. Thirty six of the 37-men squad came together in London earlier this week and got their first Covid-19 jab. However, Slade, who is a diabetic, said that he is "fit and healthy" and doesn't feel like there has been enough testing done as far as the safety of a vaccine is concerned.

"I am not going to have a vaccine. I don't agree with it at all. I don’t think you can trust it, can you?," he told The Telegraph. "I don’t think it (vaccination against Covid) has been going long. There is no way of knowing what could happen with it in the future. I am perfectly fit and healthy. I don’t fancy it at all. There is no way of knowing what it could do.

"I have had vaccines in the past and have fallen pretty unwell with them afterwards. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the diabetes or not. I am going to stay away from this one," he added.

Diabetes UK "strongly encourages" people with the condition to get vaccinated, reported Daily Mail. Its website reads, "People with diabetes are vulnerable to developing a severe illness if they do get coronavirus, and vaccines are the most effective way to prevent that from happening."

The NHS said that Covid-19 vaccines available in Britain are safe. "The vaccines approved for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency," reads its guidance.

But last month, British health chiefs advised those under-40s to be offered an alternative to AstraZeneca's vaccine because of fear of blood clot.

According to Cambridge academics, approximately 1.9 in every 100,000 20-somethings given AstraZeneca's vaccine would suffer serious blood clots along with abnormally low platelet levels (thrombocytopenia), which is a specific disorder connected to the jab.

AstraZeneca's vaccine isn't the only one believed to cause blood clots. Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine, which is yet to be accepted in the UK, has been connected to 28 cases in the US.

Looking at the brighter side, top scientists believe the vaccines have already saved lives of about 13,000 people in England.