![Inside Matt Hancock's desperate bid to be known as 'Mr Vaccine'](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/03/05/TELEMMGLPICT000327866117_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
How Matt Hancock sought to hog the Covid vaccine limelight
Former health secretary’s messages show he fought to be face of campaign and became furious if he thought others were getting credit
![Inside Matt Hancock's desperate bid to be known as 'Mr Vaccine'](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/03/05/TELEMMGLPICT000327866117_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Matt Hancock feared he would not get credit for the UK’s vaccine success and described the speeding up of the jabs rollout as a “Hancock triumph”.
The former health secretary’s WhatsApp messages show he fought to be the face of Britain’s vaccine campaign at the height of the pandemic and became furious if he thought others were getting the credit.
He was told by his media advisers that fronting Britain’s vaccine programme would allow the press and public to “forgive” him for imposing lockdowns and that “politically” he must balance the two.
By late 2020, after Britain had been plunged into a second lockdown, it had become clear that the pandemic would only end with a nationwide vaccination programme never before seen in the country.
Mr Hancock had already battled with his Cabinet colleagues over who should have overall control of the procurement strategy, and struck an uneasy compromise between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
In November 2020, the Department of Health caught wind that Pfizer was planning an imminent announcement that its vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective against Covid.
The Pfizer vaccine was the first to report its interim trial data and went on to be the first to be administered to the public in the UK the following month.
Dr Albert Bourla, the company’s chairman, fronted the press release, declaring it a “great day for science and humanity”.
On hearing that the news was about to break, Mr Hancock bemoaned that he was not live on camera and worried that he would be overshadowed by Alok Sharma, the then business secretary.
When the news broke online, Mr Hancock tweeted that the news “highlights the phenomenal work of scientists and clinicians around the world” and toured the broadcast studios the next morning to celebrate it.
News outlets led with his suggestion that the vaccine could be rolled out in the UK within weeks.
The vaccine rollout was a rare piece of good news in an otherwise miserable stream of announcements and predictions about the dire state of the NHS, new Covid restrictions and deaths on an unprecedented scale.
Early on in the pandemic, Mr Hancock and his media adviser had discussed how taking credit for the vaccine would allow the public and media to “forgive” him for backing lockdowns that removed their liberty.
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, the former health secretary’s closest aide, said it was important he was there to “cut the ribbon”.
In early December, Mr Hancock gave one of his most memorable interviews of the pandemic, as he appeared to cry tears of joy live on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme. He told the programme it had “been such a tough year for so many people” and he was relieved that people could at last “get on with their lives”.
But with medical agencies, pharma companies and ministers putting out announcements on vaccines without adding a quote from Mr Hancock, he began to get frustrated.
The same thing happened the next month, when he and his media aide suspected that the MHRA, the UK’s medicines regulator, had briefed a Sunday newspaper on the length of time it would take to approve vaccines, without consulting the Department of Health.
The strategy of taking credit for the vaccine, and therefore the impact on lockdown restrictions, was eventually given its own slogan: “Own the exit.” The phrase was repeated several times between Mr Hancock and his aides in the months that followed.
On Dec 6, after The Sun reported that Mr Hancock “can’t wait” to scrap the tiers system of Covid restrictions, he told Mr Poole: “We are going to own the exit. That is the strategic imperative.”
The following month, the pair discussed their strategy again:
On the day the official vaccine delivery plan was published, Mr Hancock sent Mr Poole screenshots of news articles about his announcement: