Which of our leaders should take the vaccine first? Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson and the Queen are all contenders

The health secretary has declared he would take the vaccine live on television but debate over who should be prioritised places politicians on the horns of a dilemma, writes Andrew Woodcock

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, speaking to ‘Good Morning Britain’ (ITV / Good Morning Britain)

Medieval kings had food tasters who took a mouthful of their meal before they tucked in, to check that it was not poisoned. In modern times, there is considerable pressure for our rulers to play this role when it comes to vaccines.

After the Herculean scientific effort of identifying the genetic code of the Covid-19 virus, developing a vaccine to neutralise it and putting the vaccine through rigorous tests to ensure its safety and efficacy, one big step now remains: persuading the public to roll up their sleeves for the jab.

Even before Wednesday’s triumphant announcement that the Pfizer/BioNTech inoculation was ready for use in the UK, conspiracy theories of varying shades of craziness had been circulating for months on the internet.