Last night at GB News's People's Forum with the Prime
Minister there was 1 stand out viral moment.
My name is John Watt
and I'm one of the COVID vaccine injured
in this country.
I want you to look into my eyes,
which is soon I can.
I want you to look at the pain,
the trauma and the regret I have in my eyes.
We have been left with no help at all.
Why are the people who are in charge,
who told us all to do the right thing
have left us all tear up.
So there is a vaccine compensation scheme that's in place
as you alluded to in the NHS.
Obviously everyone individually will work through their cases.
It's difficult for me to comment on anyone's individual case,
I'm sure. Well, John's comments actually got a round of
applause from the audience and a massive reaction online.
So that man is John Watt who had,
I believe, 3 vaccines and developed a heart condition that
nearly killed him.
Four hours fat and healthy.
And we used to do boxing.
We'd do CrossFit, you know,
do a lot of weights,
weight training and you know,
keep myself in good shape.
When I had my fire booster,
that's from my world just totally crumbled.
Yeah. I mean he ended up in a wheelchair It
we nearly killed him.
OK. He is a voice for the vaccine injured and
those who are sadly no longer here to make their
voice heard.
He thinks people have been lied to and betrayed over
vaccine safety and he wants the government to take responsibility.
I'm very pleased to say that he joins us now
to tell us his story.
John, thank you very much.
I know we've spoken a couple of times today and
he's taken it out of you,
especially considering your condition. Could you just explain to our
viewers and listeners exactly what went on with you then
in terms of the vaccine?
Please,
man, I'd be here all night if I was to
tell you what has happened to me.
But
just like you said, I was bedridden for
14 months in a wheelchair,
had numerous conditions, ports, poster,
orthostatic, tachycardia syndrome
stomach issues, neuro. I've got neurological issues now.
So people may have seen me moving back and forth
on the video
and they think, you know
that. Unfortunately, that's my problem though.
When I'm when I stand up,
I feel like I'm dizzy and I'm off balance.
So if you see me moving about or anything like
that,
unfortunately it's how I cope with things.
Now for me, doing that last night,
it's adrenaline and a heart issue does not go well,
Patrick. It took a lot of me to do that
and drive down there and
I see an opportunity and unfortunately I had to take
it.
Well you you certainly did and
you were still being demonised.
OK And earlier on today
Kevin McGuire is a journalist.
Well he he said this,
we'll play the clip.
I think you would but didn't you watch the the
bit where some anti vaxxer went on and on and
on.
That's so that I think the two of them,
I think why would Keir Starmer subject himself to that?
Yeah John, I mean how does that make you feel
being called an anti vaxxer?
First of all who is that guy?
I don't know who he is.
But anyway, what is an anti vaxial factor?
Could somebody tell me, Can somebody elaborate what an anti
vaxxers?
Because I took, I took three of them,
I took three of these vaccines.
So does that man have any idea how how stupid
he sounds at this point in time?
By saying that
it's you know, this is
the terminology the language people are using.
Just know, saying anti vax and all that's nonsense.
To be completely honest with you,
the narrative is safe and effective in my opinion is
no longer.
Because to be honest with you Patrick,
ask anyone and I call anybody in this matter.
Someone showed me the data to show that that saved
one single life.
I'm asking anybody because since the roll out
there has been a massive increase in people dying
and one of the reasons I spoke out Patrick,
is because I'm not going to be a died suddenly
statistic.
And I so honest answer and these debates and everything
need to be spoke about and the vaccine injured and
believed need to be held
and
I just can't believe that that's where we're at.
You know they call me
anti vaxxer.
Honestly, I don't want to use the wrong language here,
you know, But yeah, OK,
well, look, as you know,
yeah, the government goes well,
it's, it's saved many lives,
etcetera. But can I get your views on
the compensation scheme and where you're at with it?
Because that was one of the things you were really
trying to hammer home to the Prime Minister,
wasn't it? Because you feel completely left behind and completely
forgotten about.
And that it's been left to you,
actually. Really. And And and other people like you to
really bang the drum to the guy trying to get
justice.
Yeah, I mean, where I'm at with,
I've recently just got my doctor's notes.
It's taken about six months to get those doctor's notes.
But I know certain people who
have, you know, I speak to all the vaccine injured
in the UK.
There's only been a very,
very small percentage that have had a payout.
And I'm talking about people that have had spinal strokes.
You know, people who have the heart conditions now
what is 60% look, but no further fault but no
further forward than we were a year ago.
But we're in the exact same position where we were
a year ago,
Patrick. And it's it's ridiculous.
And when I stood in front of him yesterday and
I told him I looked in the eye,
you know, Richardson, that you've now been notified that we
exist.
It's not the first time,
mate. And see, be honest with you.
This goes to all the politicians because this is a
political issue.
This is, this is a message to you all
because the longer you leave,
you bury your head in the sand.
This hasn't gone away. You want to talk about the
Post Office scandal.
This is bigger. This is global.
It's getting bigger and bigger.
You know it's getting worse.
And to be honest with you,
you can't run away from it any longer.
Yes. All right, look. Meanwhile,
the Department for Health and Social Care has previously said
more than
144,000,000 COVID vaccines have been given in England,
which has helped the country to live with COVID and
safety.
Thousands of lives, all vaccines being used in the UK
have undergone robust clinical trials and have met the Medicines
and Health Products Regulatory agency strict standards of safety,
effectiveness and quality. We reached out to the NHS Business
Services Authority for comment but are yet to get a
response.
However, previously they have said we are continuing to work
with healthcare providers to assess the remaining records as a
priority and to highlight that any delay in receiving medical
records impacts the progress of Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme claims
to the Independent Medical Assessment stage.
Right. OK, let's get the thoughts.
My panels GP News presented under a queer Conservative MP
for Stoke on Trent N,
Jonathan Gullis and author and broadcaster Amy Caltona.
Jonathan, look, I've got to ask you,
you know, why is your government so slow to give
these people payouts then?
Look, I think John gave a very moving account and
I'm very sorry to hear the situation that he's found
himself in that I was one of those who proudly
promoted the vaccine. Because ultimately we were told by the
scientists that this was going to help stopping the spread
and ultimately
build our resilience to the fact that if we did
catch COVID that it would prevent people ending up in
hospital.
I think that was entirely the right thing to do.
And as you heard that
144 million of those have gone out to date.
But I don't deny the fact that there's huge frustration.
I think John was fair in pointing out that with
the post Office scandal on the payment scheme that's meant
to be happening there,
that clearly bureaucracy is getting in the way.
I'm more than happy to sit down with people like
John to hear first hand about why payments aren't happening
quick enough because ultimately it's about up to
£120,000 that people are entitled to.
If they're entitled to it,
they should be getting it.
I mean people like John are demonized,
they're called anti Vaxxer. It's ridiculous because they're three of
the things for a start.
So he's obviously not an anti Vaxxer.
Yeah, people like him are are demonized and and they
will feel,
I mean shunned from society,
laughed at, scoffed by people who maybe have had a
vaccine and are fine.
And that's not the case for everybody.
No, they they absolutely shouldn't.
The vaccine injured are very real.
They're very much there. But in the same way nothing
is risk free.
Planes crash, those people are real that have been involved
in that plane accident.
But we still see flying is safe.
The vaccine is still same conversation or insurance.
But I think the problem with the compensation is probably
because it's extremely difficult to prove that the vaccine
caused that stroke that came five years later.
It's probably extremely difficult to prove that.
And I imagine in the cases where it's cut and
dry,
like in John's case, it it he will get and
he deserves every single penny he gets.
But we can't get away from the fact that vaccine
hesitancy is far more dangerous than getting the vaccine.
Of course it is. It really.
Well, Amy's actually 14,000,000. There's going to be a few
that had.
But The thing is that we were told,
We were. We were told,
oh, if you, if you,
if you get this vaccine,
it's going to stop transmission.
You're not going to be able to give it to
anyone who's going to stop you from getting COVID.
And to be fair, that wasn't true.
Well, you see, that's the thing.
So I was like, Jonathan,
I was, you know, an advocate for the vaccine.
I encourage people to get vaccinated because I thought you'd
be protecting others and and yourself and so on and
so forth.
And I do feel a bit duped at that point
because I was working,
helping the government out and everything else like that.
And the reason I feel deep isn't because I know
obviously terribly and tragically,
some people died and some people got injured.
But I feel deep because it wasn't true.
It didn't prevent transmission at all.
We learned that it doesn't.
So one of the main premises of me ensuring that
others around me were vaccinated was that.
And seeing as that didn't turn out to be true,
it kind of, it kind of irritated me a little
bit.
But I do admit vaccines are good,
but you just have to,
you know, very quick, Patrick.
These type of topics are the things that the COVID
enquiry should be focusing on.
And sadly at the start we're feeling focused on personalities.
We're actually, I'm far more interested in understanding the science
and the decisions behind that science.
OK, All right. All of you.
Thank you very much and thank you to John as
well for coming on there
and getting his story out there.