BBC broadcaster Andrew Marr has revealed he was struck down with a “nasty bout” of Covid-19 shortly after returning from a trip to cover the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this month.
The newsman had to miss last week’s edition of The Andrew Marr Show and he started this week’s programme by thanking fellow presenter Nick Robinson for standing in for him.
Marr explained he’d been taken ill with coronavirus despite having had both his vaccinations.
Opening today’s show, he told viewers: “A warm thank you to Nick Robinson for standing in for me last week. I had a bit of Covid last week, despite being double-jabbed, and very nasty it was too.”
Marr went on to interview Professor Sir Peter Horby, chairman of virus advisory group Nervtag, and asked him about his battle with the bug.
The telly presented asked his guest: “I got coronavirus last week, I’d been double-jabbed earlier in the spring and felt, if not king of the world, at least almost entirely immune. And yet I got it. Was I just unlucky?”
Horby replied: “I think you were. What we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths. They are less effective at preventing infection.
“So, although you were sick, you weren’t hospitalised and there wasn’t any fatality, and that is probably because of the vaccination.”
Marr then went on to explain that his condition was much more unpleasant than he thought it would be after having both his inoculations against Covid-19.
He said: “I’m pretty clear that by being vaccinated I did not end up in hospital and that is a great thing.
“But we use slightly glibly occasionally this phrase ‘mild and moderate infections’. For me it was really, really quite unpleasant.
“And I just wonder whether in terms of public health messaging to explain to people you may be double vaccinated, but that doesn’t mean you won’t catch covid 19 and it won’t be pretty bloody.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Horby: “I think you are right. You can be very sick and not end up in hospital”
Marr explained his early symptoms were similar to “a summer cold” before his condition got worse.
It’s not known where the broadcaster picked up the bug.
He filmed an episode of The Andrew Marr Show from Cornwall on June 13 when the world leaders were in the area for the G7 summit.
The programme was filmed at the Tate St Ives gallery away from the closed off area at Carbis Bay used for the summit.
The presenter was struck down by the virus after returning and had to miss last weekend’s programme.
Marr suffered a debilitating stroke back in 2013 and was likely to have been vaccinated early on due to his previous health condition.
Coronavirus cases have been rising in Cornwall recently but a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted there were no cases linked to the summit.
They said: “We are confident that there were no cases of transmission to the local residents. All attendees were tested, everyone involved in the G7 work were also tested during their work on the summit.
“We always said, following the move to step three, that we will see cases rising across the country.
“That is what we’re seeing playing out.”
Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/andrew-marr-nasty-bout-covid-24407266