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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have confirmed their stance on the COVID-19 vaccination. The royal duo put any speculation to rest this week, during a virtual chat with anxious members of the public who have long-term health conditions. While speaking with Shivali Modha, who has type 2 diabetes, and her family, William spoke for him and Kate, saying they “wholeheartedly support having vaccinations.”
Scroll to watch the full conversation!
The moment came when Shivali, who has been shielding with her family since March, candidly told the royals that she was initially nervous to get the vaccine. She specifically cited negative social media posts as her source of anxiety. After becoming eligible for the vaccine, Shivali was given solace from UK health charities Diabetes UK and Asthma UK. According to Kensington Palace, the organizations “have joined forces to form a coalition to help promote vaccine uptake amongst those with long-term health conditions, who are now being offered the vaccine.”
During their meeting, William told Shivali: “Catherine and I are not medical experts by any means but if it‘s any consolation, we can wholeheartedly support having vaccinations. It’s really, really important.” He added that they’ve “spoken to a lot of people about it and the uptake has been amazing so far.” Now his biggest hope is that younger generations realize it’s important to receive it.
The dad-of-three directly addressed the cons of social media, saying: “It‘s great that, Shivali, you’re taking the time to work it out and come to the conclusion that ’I need to do this’ because social media is awash sometimes with lots of rumors and misinformation, so we have to be a bit careful who we believe and where we get our information from.”
“Especially for those who are clinically vulnerable,” William added, “it‘s so important that those vaccinations are done, so good luck.” Kate echoed her husband’s words, saying: “I know there’s maybe the anxiety and the worry leading up to it, but I hope for all of you it will add a bit of normality back to your lives and confidence as well as we go forward into the spring.” The pair had a similar conversation with Fiona Doyle, who expressed her own anxieties. Watch their full chat above!