Emmerdale’s James Hooton leaves fans ‘disappointed’ as he reveals he ‘may not take Covid vaccine’

Emmerdale star James Hooton has come under controversy after revealing he ‘may not take’ the Covid vaccine. 

The actor, 47, who plays Sam Dingle on the soap since 1995, took to Twitter on Wednesday and said he believes he has a ‘pro immune system’ as he takes vitamins, exercises regularly and has a varied diet. 

Fans soon flooded the comment section, telling James they felt ‘disappointed’ and ‘shocked’ by his decision to not take the vaccine and urged him to take it for the ‘sake of others’. 

In the Tweet, James wrote: ‘I’m 47yrs old. I take Vit c,d, zinc, b-12, Q10 and anti virals such as Andrographis, Sambucus, Curcumin, Along with regular exercise and a varied diet. I may not be taking a Covid vaccine. I may be labelled “anti vaxer” for being pro immune system, pro informed choice.’ 

But the soap star’s followers were less than impressed as they took to the comments to air their views. 

One wrote: ‘Disappointed in this statement James. Shocked in fact.’

Another follower typed: ‘Please take the vaccine for the sake of others’, while a third chimed: ‘Not a team player, James? It’s good you are okay, but taking the vaccine is about protecting those who *are* vulnerable. You’ve only considered yourself in your decision according to your tweet, which essentially says “I’m alright, Jack.” You could have a mild case and spread.’

‘And that protects us taking the vaccine , well let’s hope you don’t need the nhs !!!!’, said another. 

Others, however, were supportive in James’ decision. One follower wrote: ‘Finally, someone speaks out with another side to the story. People have got to realise everyone has their own reasons not to have the vaccine, not just this one too. All those having a go at people should consider that there are mental health reasons involved, be kind.’

Another typed: ‘You must do what feels right for you, trust your instinct. I don’t trust the vaccine either.’ 

It comes as top experts claimed on Thursday that vaccines are behind Britain’s sharp drop in coronavirus cases since January despite Boris Johnson insisting earlier this week that lockdown was behind the fall.    

Professor Tim Spector, a King’s College London epidemiologist who runs the UK’s largest Covid symptom tracking study, said the epidemic had ‘mainly’ been squashed by the ‘exemplar vaccine programme’.

With more than 60 per cent of the population jabbed with at least one dose and up to 10 per cent of people protected due to prior infection, Professor Spector added Britain was getting close to achieving ‘herd immunity’. 

His study of more than a million Britons showed daily cases have fallen 17 per cent in the last week, with an estimated 1,600 new symptomatic cases a day across the country, down from 60,000 at the January peak.

Professor Spector said: ‘As the UK slowly exits lockdown, I’m encouraged to see Covid cases continue to fall with our rates among the lowest in Europe. 

‘In fact, the UK closely mirrors cases in Israel with its exemplar vaccine programme. Based on our data and countries like Israel, I believe the fall in cases since January is mainly thanks to the vaccination programme and less about the strict lockdown the UK has been under since late December. 

‘With up to 60 per cent of the population vaccinated and around 5 to 10 per cent with natural immunity due to infection, we’re starting to see herd immunity take effect. 

‘This should prevent future large-scale outbreaks. However, we do expect to see smaller, manageable outbreaks in the coming weeks and months among groups which are yet to be vaccinated.’

It comes after Mr Johnson warned the reduction in Covid infections, hospitalisations and deaths was down to lockdowns and ‘has not been achieved’ by the rollout of vaccines.

In a significant toning down of his praise for the jabs, the Prime Minister said the ‘bulk of the work in reducing the disease had been done by the lockdown’.