(Adds priority list for vaccinations, details)
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson might be persuaded to take a COVID-19 vaccination on
television to show it is safe but he would not have one before
those in greater need, his press secretary said on Wednesday.
Johnson, 56, who spent time in intensive care earlier this
year after contracting COVID-19, has hailed the UK approval of
Pfizer's vaccine as a global win and ray of hope amid a pandemic
that has hurt the economy and upended normal life.
But, like other leaders, Johnson cannot be seen to be
jumping the queue for the vaccine, ahead of more vulnerable
people, but he wants to illustrate its safety to try to persuade
others to take it when it is more widely available.
Asked if the prime minister would take the shot live on
television, press secretary Allegra Stratton said she had not
asked him directly.
"I don't think it would be something he would rule out," she
said.
"But I think we also know that he wouldn't want to take a
jab that should be for someone who is extremely vulnerable,
clinically vulnerable and who should be getting it before him."
Britain's government has said the health service will
prioritise vaccinations, putting older residents in care homes
and their carers first, then all those over 80 and frontline
health workers.
Johnson spoke openly of his struggle with COVID-19 in April,
saying he fought for his life and that it was 50-50 whether the
doctors were going to put him on a ventilator.
He said his weight was an underlying condition that made his
condition worse and has since spoken frequently about his
attempts to lose the pounds. Stratton said she did not know
whether his weight might put him in a more vulnerable group,
adding that he has been exercising more.
Johnson's spokesman also said it was a matter for Buckingham
Palace whether 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth received a
vaccination. A palace spokesman declined to comment on whether
the queen would get a shot, saying royal medical matters were
traditionally kept private.
The queen and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, who
would be in the second priority tier for a vaccine, have spent
national lockdowns this year with a small number of staff at
Windsor Castle to the west of London.
They are planning to stay there over Christmas, rather than
travelling to Sandringham in eastern England as they
traditionally do.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Michael Holden; Editing by
Nick Macfie)