John Humphrys 'horrendous' health experience and how his father lost his sight

Humphrys continued: “Vaccines are mighty weapons but for them to wipe out a disease entirely it is often vital to establish herd immunity. 

“And there are signs that measles is beginning to make a comeback. That’s one of the reasons I describe myself as a pro-vaxxer.

“Many of you will say there is a huge difference between a measles vaccine and a Covid vaccine.

“Covid is new. The vaccine is untried. We should be very, very cautious just in case of potentially lethal side effects.

“Perhaps but only up to a point. Covid-19 may be new but the coronavirus from which it springs is not. 

“It has caused two relatively new epidemics – Sars and Mers – and scientists have had 20 years to study them in detail.”