Rupert Murdoch has received the COVID-19 vaccination in the UK at a clinic near his Georgian mansion in Oxfordshire.

At 89 years old, the News Corp executive chairman and Fox Corp chairman qualified for the first round of vaccinations.

According to the statement, he received the shot at his local general practitioner’s office “after he received a call saying he was eligible”.

“I would like to thank the key workers and the NHS staff who have worked so hard throughout the pandemic, and the amazing scientists who have made this vaccine possible. I strongly encourage people around the world to get the vaccine as it becomes available,” he said in a statement from a News Corp representative on Friday.

He has been isolating with his wife Jerry Hall Murdoch in the UK.

In a contrast with Murdoch’s statement, Tucker Carlson, one of the most vocal and controversial talk show hosts of Fox Corp’s Fox News, told viewers to be sceptical of the vaccine on Thursday night, even though he admitted vaccines have saved millions of lives.

He said the push to get people vaccinated “feels false because it is”.

Murdoch joined a growing list of high-profile figures receiving the vaccine in recent days, among them actor Ian McKellen and US Vice-President Mike Pence.

Tweet from @NHSEngland

President Donald Trump has yet to receive the vaccine, with the White House explaining that the therapies he received for his own case of COVID-19 are still proving effective.

-with agencies