Johnson said he wanted to persuade those people hesitating about the vaccines to get them, but the task was made harder by people spreading misinformation.
"I want a voluntary approach in this country, and we're going to keep a voluntary approach ... Other European countries are going for coercion," Johnson told reporters.
"But what a tragedy that we've got all this pressure on the NHS (National Health Service) ... and you've got people out there spouting complete nonsense about a vaccination ... And I think it's time that I, (and the) government, call them out on what they're doing. It is absolutely wrong. It's totally counterproductive."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
