Almost one in five people in Yorkshire and The Humber yet to have a first Covid jab

A total 43.3 per cent of people over 12 in the region are yet to have had a booster or third jab, compared to 38 per cent nationally.

Statistics also show 18.5 per cent of people in the region haven’t had a first jab, compared to just 9.6 per cent across the United Kingdom.

Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup, who is originally from Shipley, told The Yorkshire Post there are “many different reasons” for the region’s vaccine uptake being behind the national average.

“We’re working hard with different communities to encourage people to come forward for their first jab, their second jab or their booster jab,” she said.

“We’ve seen some quite different ways of addressing this, whether it’s pop-up vaccination sites in mosques and temples; there have been vaccinations being carried out in different Pakistani restaurants in Bradford, for example.

“We wanted to really reach out to communities to explain why it is so important to get the jab to protect yourself, loved ones and people around you.”

She said vaccine hesitancy “can be partly to do with age, partly to do with geographical location, partly to do with different ethnic communities”.

“The older population are quite happy to make an appointment with their GP or pop into their community pharmacy because that is what they do a lot. Younger people don’t tend to go to their GP as much and they tend to do things on the spur of the moment.”

She said for that reason pop-up clinics, which are often found in town and city centres, are designed to appeal to younger age groups to get a jab.

“We want to make sure that we reach out to as many communities as possible to make sure that they understand the importance of coming forward for their jab. But one thing I want to emphasise is that offer of their first jab will always be there for people to come forward.”

The numbers of people getting a vaccine in Yorkshire and Humber has fallen considerably since Christmas, with the seven-day average of 2,919 people per day in the week beginning December 20 falling to 1,121 people in the week beginning January 3.

It comes despite Covid cases in the region now standing at over 2,100 cases per 100,000 residents – higher than London’s peak on December 23.Ms Throup said: “The virus obviously hasn’t gone away.

“We’re still seeing lots of infections, the rates across Yorkshire and Humber are perhaps not quite increasing as much as they were but they’re still going up.

“So there’s still every reason to come forward for the first jab or the second jab or the booster. This is the best way to protect yourself.”

Plan B review due on January 26

Maggie Throup said the Government “don’t want to keep restrictions in place for any day longer than we have to” amid reports that Plan B measures may be withdrawn later this month.

The measures are due to be reviewed on January 26 and with hospitalisations flattening, it has been suggested Boris Johnson is keen to remove Plan B rules, which include compulsory face mask wearing in most public indoor venues, working from home guidance and the use of the NHS Covid Pass showing vaccination status to enter nightclubs and major sporting events.

Ms Throup said: “What people can do to so we can live restrictions as soon as possible is get a jab.”

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