‘He’s home and safe’: Katie Price reveals son Harvey, 18, is ‘well’ after reaction to COVID jab saw him rushed to hospital with high temperature… as she urges others to get vaccinated
- Former glamour model Katie, 42, gave fans the update on her Instagram Stories on Sunday afternoon, with her 18-year-old offspring seen siting by her side
- Harvey, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, received his jab on Friday
- According to Katie, Harvey was given the first of two Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs
- He soon reacted, with his temperature soaring to 39.9 degrees, as worried Katie kept a close eye on him due to the complex medication he’s on for his needs
- Mother-of-five Katie remains undeterred, as she revealed that she ‘can’t wait’ to have her own COVID vaccine and urged her followers to do the same
Katie Price has revealed that her son Harvey is home and well, after he was rushed to hospital following a bad reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine.
The former glamour model, 42, took to her Instagram Stories with her 18-year-old offspring by her side on Sunday as she revealed he suffered a reaction after taking the first of his Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs on Friday.
And the mother-of-five revealed that once she got her eldest son home from the hospital, he was back ‘on form’, requesting chicken Kiev and chips at 4am.
Home and safe: Katie Price has revealed that her son Harvey is home and well, after he was rushed to hospital following a bad reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine
‘Harvey is all good, she told her army of followers. ‘Thank you for all your kind messages and best wishes for Harvey he is home, safe and well.’
She then went on to discuss Harvey’s apparent reaction to the vaccine, saying: ‘So because of Harvey’s complex needs and the complex medication that he’s on he had his COVID [vaccine], the Oxford one, and had just as reaction.
The reaction was a really, really high temperature, 39.9 [degrees]. And obviously with Harvey, I have to keep a really keen eye and I couldn’t get his temperature down.
‘So I phoned Great Ormond Street and they told me to go to the nearest A&E that’s what we did. Did all your bloods, did an X-ray, blood, ECG, everything.
Update: The glamour model, 42, took to Instagram with Harvey by her side on Sunday as she revealed he suffered a reaction after taking the first of his Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs on Friday
Appetite: Elsewhere in the video, Katie went on to reveal that Harvey was so much back to his old self that he had a decadent culinary request in the early hours of Sunday
‘Everything was fine, said it was just a reaction from COVID but today, he’s absolutely on form, aren’t you?
‘And the doctors and nurses were fantastic so I can’t wait to still have my COVID injection and I still recommend everyone else have it and Harvey is safe and well.’
Elsewhere in the video, Katie went on to reveal that Harvey was so much back to his old self that he had a decadent culinary request in the early hours of Sunday.
After prompting him to share that he was in hospital the night before, she said: ‘What did you ask for at four o’clock this morning? Chicken Kiev and chips!’
Katie also encouraged others to still go ahead with getting the Covid vaccine, saying that despite Harvey’s reaction it’s still so important for high risk people to have it.
Doing well: Harvey sweetly thanked his mum’s followers for all their well wishes after the scary dash to hospital in a video shared on Instagram on Sunday evening
Relaxing: The teenager seemed to be on the mend as he enjoyed some family time and had a bowl of cheesecake
She told The Sun: ‘I don’t want anyone worrying about him as he’s fine now at home eating carrot cake. Despite Harvey’s reaction, he is one of a kind, the Covid jab is so important especially for those in high risk categories.
‘I am so much happier in the knowledge Harvey is safer now he has had his.’
While her rep added: ‘Katie would like the medical authorities to consider those with complex and rare conditions should be vaccinated under strict medical supervision and monitored for 24hrs as their immune systems can react differently.’
Harvey also sweetly thanked his mum’s followers for all their well wishes after the scary dash to hospital in a video shared on Instagram on Sunday evening.
When Katie asked if he was happy, Harvey told her ‘I’m so happy mum’ before adding that he wanted to tell their fans: ‘Thank you everyone, I love you.’
Katie’s beau Carl Woods then handed the teenager a bowl filled with cheesecake, which seemed to go down a storm.
Scary: The update came after she was said to be ‘worried to bits’ after her son Harvey was rushed to hospital with ‘uncontrollable shaking’ on Saturday
The update came after she was said to be ‘worried to bits’ after her son Harvey was rushed to hospital with ‘uncontrollable shaking’ on Saturday.
Hours earlier, Harvey, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, received his first COVID vaccine, having been declared clinically extremely vulnerable.
A source told The Sun: ‘Katie’s in bits, Harvey only had the jab on Friday but now doctors who know Harvey well are telling her he’s had a bad reaction to it – it can’t be anything else.
‘She’s very worried but is trying to remain calm. It’s dangerous as he hasn’t got cortisol in his body to fight like us.’
It came just hours after Katie expressed her relief and joy as Harvey received an early COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
Staying safe: Katie expressed relief and joy on Saturday after her son Harvey received an early COVID-19 vaccine because he is ‘extremely vulnerable’ to the virus
She told The Sun: ‘Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done…
‘Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful. It just felt like being in a film and made you realise more how serious this is.’
According to Katie, he received the vaccine in a school hall with everybody sat on seats in rows at a metres distance apart.
Due to his health conditions, Harvey is considered a vulnerable citizen, and he is now immunised in the fourth stage of the vaccine roll-out, orchestrated by the government.
Protected: The teen, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, had the Oxford AstraZeneca injection, according to The Sun
Britain is on course to vaccinate all over-50s against Covid-19 by April 7 at the current rate of immunisation, MailOnline estimates reveal as debate rages through Government about when lockdown can be lifted.
It comes after vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi, Chris Whitty and SAGE scientists have signalled that they want all over-50s to be offered an injection to keep hospitalisations low before society reopens.
The protection offered by one dose of coronavirus vaccine takes two to three weeks to kick in, the latest evidence suggests, meaning the UK would be on track for measures to be lifted at the end of April at the current rate.
If the UK vaccine drive accelerates from last week’s daily average of 345,000 people per day and is able to sustain its maximum rate of 600,000 doses a day, then the over-50s target could be hit by mid-March.
Health: Katie said, ‘Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done. Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful’
Department of Health sources were keen to downplay hopes, however, and said that giving out second doses could significantly slow down the rollout from March, while Mr Zahawi said the country could not be 100 per cent confident of vaccine supply.
But anti-lockdown Tory MPs are pushing for measures including school reopening to be eased sooner when the 15million most vulnerable people are vaccinated by mid-February – but Boris Johnson has ruled out any lockdown relaxation before March 8.
Sceptics claim the ‘goalposts are being shifted’ and the focus is moving away from controlling deaths and hospitalisations with dire warnings about the threat of mutant coronavirus and continued strain on the NHS.
It also comes after Katie revealed she’s got her son a three-bedroom house to help prepare him to go to residential college full-time, which is across the road from her home in Surrey.
In the video, Katie and Harvey sat on the sofa in the living room of his new home.
Making progress: Last week the NHS vaccinated 345,000 people per day, on average – a rate of 2.4million people per week
Katie explained: ‘So I’ve got this house for Harvey. Basically it’s a three bedroom house I got him for all he needs. I’ve been doing it up a little bit for him.
‘I’ve got it for him before he goes to residential to get used to the transition. And yes he’s already made some holes in the walls and stuff, which I keep plastering. I’m trying to keep on top of everything and make it a nice home for him.
‘As you can see there’s bits and that everywhere but next time we will give you a tour of Harvey’s new home.’
Katie believes the move is vital for Harvey’s well-being because she can no longer restrain the at 6ft2in and 29 stone teen if he has a mood swing – and fears he could be sectioned if she doesn’t act now.
She also said Harvey is excited about the prospect of going into a full-time college, after previously going to a residential college five days a week.
WHY CAN’T WE VACCINATE PEOPLE FASTER?
The UK’s vaccination programme, while rocketing ahead at a rate of around 400,000 people per day this week, is being held back from going faster by limits in supply, Government ministers say, and there may also be bottlenecks in delivery at the weekends, with some GP surgeries not offering jabs on Sundays.
SUPPLY
Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, was pressed today on how long it would take to complete vaccination of the 31million people in the nine priority groups.
He said: ‘I don’t want to commit to a date without going through it with a very fine toothcomb with the whole team, because our limiting factor is the supply of vaccines ultimately.
‘With any manufacturing process, especially one that is new, there are challenges around that, as we’ve seen in Europe and as we saw in the early days in the UK as well.’
Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the manufacturers of the jabs being used in Britain, have both faced manufacturing problems in recent weeks.
Pfizer had to scale back its deliveries in January while it upgraded its factory in Belgium, and AstraZeneca took longer than expected to reach its 2million doses per week target for the UK because early batches were less fruitful than expected.
AstraZeneca, which manufactures in the UK, has also been embroiled in a bitter row with the EU over cutting back the continent’s supplies – although both the company and the UK Government have insisted this hasn’t hit British stockpiles.
Matt Hancock yesterday described the UK’s ‘lumpy supply’ when asked about a dip in vaccination numbers on Sundays.
DELIVERY
Lower jab numbers on Sundays has emerged as a trend in recent weeks and doctors have admitted not all GP surgeries offering vaccines are open on a Sunday.
Several GPs, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline that a large number of practices shut on Sundays and do not offer appointments – despite No10 insisting the immunisation drive is 24/7 operation. It echoed claims made by Scotland’s national clinical director yesterday who said the closure of surgeries on Sundays was hampering the vaccine rollout north of the border.
The Royal College of GPs said said family doctors were ‘doing everything they can’ to get the vaccine to those who need it most, with ‘some’ but not all practices providing services seven days a week.
Economists from the Institute for Economic Affairs told MailOnline that there is ‘no incentive’ for family doctors, who’ve been juggling the vaccine rollout and battling Covid on the frontlines of the second wave, to work seven days a week. It suggested GPs be offered commission on every jab done on a weekend.
Addressing the camera, Katie said: ‘I’d like to say thank you to everybody, for all your support and messages.
‘It means so much, very kind, loving. We want to do more stuff and hopefully we have raised more about disability and the journey really. Harvey is 18, an adult, lots of people have you seen you as a baby growing up.
‘Also Harvey has asked to been an ambassador for Mencap which is amazing. All these opportunities coming in now for us to help anyway we can.’
The documentary saw Katie’s difficult task in finding a residential college for Harvey which wasn’t too far from home and in which her son felt comfortable in.
It also detailed her anguish at learning to let her son go as she worried whether he could cope without herAt the forefront of everything was the emotional bond between Katie and Harvey, with the former glamour model clearly devoted to her son, while Harvey’s adoration of his mother was hard to miss.
WHAT IS PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME?
Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic condition that causes problems including constant urges to eat food, restricted growth and reduced muscle tone.
Other potential issues include learning difficulties, lack of sexual development and behavioral problems such as tantrums or stubbornness.
The rare condition, which affects one in every 15,000 children born in England, is caused by a defect on chromosome number 15 – and happens by chance.
Because there is no cure, treatment aims to manage the symptoms – with parents of sufferers urged to get their children to stick to a healthy, balanced diet.
Children with the syndrome can eat up to six times more than children of the same age – and still feel hungry.
It was first described in 1956 by Swiss doctors A Prader, A Labhart and H Willi.
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