People queue for drop-in Covid vaccination bus in Luton

27/03/2021

Hop on, jab in: People queue for drop-in Covid vaccination bus in Luton in new scheme to tackle low take-up of vaccinations

Temporary facility was set up in the car park of Sainsbury’s in Bury Park, Luton
Coronavirus cases increase in area with 4 per cent rise in people testing positive
It comes after the UK registered a further 694,959 vaccinations on Friday

People have been queuing for a drop-in Covid vaccination bus as part of a new scheme to tackle the low take-up of vaccinations.

The temporary facility was set up in the car park of Sainsbury’s in Bury Park, Luton, earlier today – with sites also at Luton Central Mosque and Luton Town Hall.

The move is in a bid to tackle the rise in coronavirus cases in the area after people testing positive increased four per cent from the previous week.

People have been queuing for a drop-in Covid vaccination bus as part of a new scheme to tackle the low take-up of vaccinations

The temporary facility was set up in the car park of Sainsbury’s in Bury Park, Luton, earlier today – with sites also at Luton Central Mosque and Luton Town Hall

The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) told the BBC: ‘Recent data shows that Luton is falling behind other areas in terms of the number of eligible residents booking to receive their Covid-19 vaccination.’

The CCG is working alongside Luton Borough Council in an attempt to reach out to the over-50s and anyone who is clinically vulnerable.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, it was revealed that Luton was also among the bottom ten areas in the country for carers’ Covid-19 vaccine uptake.

Just 56.9 per cent of care home workers in the area had their first dose of the vaccine by March 14 — the most recent day local data is available – lower than the 76 per cent average, according to figures from NHS England.

It comes after the UK registered a further 694,959 vaccinations on Friday – 411,305 first doses and 283,654 second doses – taking the total number of people to have received their first dose to 29,727,435

The move is in a bid to tackle the rise in coronavirus cases in the area after people testing positive increased four per cent from the previous week

The CCG is working alongside Luton Borough Council in an attempt to reach out to the over-50s and anyone who is clinically vulnerable

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has since said the Government may make Covid vaccines compulsory for care home staff – as he admitted mandatory vaccination was ‘something we are looking at’.

He also claimed ‘many’ care homes have supported the proposal.

Source: Read Full Article