Matt Hancock has urged male MPs to wear short sleeved shirts when they get their coronavirus vaccinations.
Hearing the news that his colleague, Jason McCartney (Conservative MP for Colne Valley), was due to receive his Oxford/AstraZeneca jab on Thursday, the health secretary suggested the move would mean men “don’t have to bare our hairy chests”.
"It’s wonderful to see the joy on his face in anticipation of his jab,” Mr Hancock told the Commons.
“I hope he gets the opportunity to change, maybe into a short sleeved shirt, because we have seen some colleagues inadvertently have to undo an awful lot of a buttons in order to be vaccinated.
"And while I can imagine some of their more enthusiastic constituents may have enjoyed the sight, I think it's best if we gents wear a short sleeved shirt so we don't have to bare our hairy chests."
The remarks were perhaps a reference to Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who in February shared a photo of himself receiving a Covid-19 jab while topless.
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Similarly, his fellow Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith shared a photo of himself receiving the vaccine while having unbuttoned his shirt down to the final button and exposing one arm.
The scene has been repeated by Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and France’s health minister, Olivier Veran.
