British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday hit out at anti-vaccine groups who spread “mumbo jumbo” on social media but ruled out the UK following some European countries in making Covid-19 vaccination a mandatory legal requirement.

Speaking during a visit to a vaccination centre in Northampton in eastern England, Boris said the UK will maintain a “voluntary approach” to its vaccination programme as opposed to “coercion”. However, he condemned anti-vaxxers for spreading complete nonsense and urged people to take up their booster doses to protect against the surging omicron variant.

“They (anti-vaxxers) are totally wrong and I think it is time that I, the government, call them out on what they are doing,” Boris told reporters.

“It is absolutely wrong, it is totally counterproductive, and the stuff they’re putting out on social media is completely mumbo jumbo… You haven’t heard me say that before, because I think it’s important we have a voluntary approach in this country and we’re going to keep a voluntary approach,” he said.