Facts

Sajid Javid told the Andrew Marr Show that the UK has “the most successful vaccination program in Europe”. While our initial vaccine rollout was particularly impressive, six EU states had overtaken the UK’s vaccination rate in August 2021. 

As of January 5 2022, the UK was behind 10 other EU states when it comes to the share of people vaccinated against COVID-19, according to online science publication Our World In Data. Portugal, Malta, Spain, Canada, Denmark, Italy, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium all have a higher percentage of their population vaccinated against COVID-19. If you look at the share of the population fully vaccinated against the virus, Germany also ranks ahead of the UK. 

Verdict

The Health Secretary’s claim to TV viewers about the vaccine programme was false.

We approached Sajid Javid’s office and the Department for Health and Social Care for comment, but received no response.