Low vaccine uptake fuels variant fear: Only one in four London cases involved people who had travelled back from India… fuelling fears of widespread transmission here because of ‘vaccine hesitancy’
- Low vaccine uptake could be driving the Indian variant’s spread, data shows
- London has the highest levels of the Indian variant – with 400 cases recorded
- The true scale of infections in London and elsewhere is likely to be much higher
Low vaccine uptake could be driving the Indian variant’s spread, figures suggest.
With 400 cases recorded, London had the highest levels of the variant – accounting for almost a third of cases in the whole country – according to Public Health England.
Yet only around a quarter of these cases involved people who had travelled back from India, suggesting more widespread community transmission.
And the true scale of infections in London and elsewhere is likely to be much higher as these figures only refer to cases sequenced up to May 12.
The capital also has some of the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy, separate data shows, with below-average uptake among all age groups.
People in Bolton queue for Covid-19 vaccination at the ESSA Academy in Lever’s Edge area on Monday May 17. Case rates in Bolton are over 12 times the current national average
Experts are worried that the new strain is up to 50 per cent more transmissible than the UK [Kent] variant and will become dominant here.
While ministers are confident existing Covid jabs are likely to be effective, they warn millions are yet to be vaccinated which could prompt a third wave and fill hospitals again.
A PHE report shows the North West had the second-highest number of cases up to May 12. By then there had been 319 detected – more than a quarter of all cases – with less than 8 per cent the result of travellers coming back from India.
NHS figures show that vaccine uptake among all over-40s, which is at 83 per cent average across England, is below average in all but one (Sefton) of the Indian variant hotspot areas. Although experts do not think the at-risk older age groups are the ones driving outbreaks at the moment, it could be cause for concern if the virus spreads to them
Heat maps of where the Indian variant has become most common (left) and where vaccine uptake is lowest (right) show that the same areas are doing badly on both counts – the North West, the Midlands and London. These are the most urban and most populated parts of the country, which are known to be worse affected by outbreaks and have been throughout the pandemic
Yesterday, Matt Hancock told MPs cases had doubled in the past week with 483 detected in two areas, Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, and blamed vaccine hesitancy for rising hospitalisations.
The Health Secretary said: ‘The majority of people in hospital [in Bolton] with coronavirus were eligible for the jab but have chosen not yet to have the jab and have ended up in hospital.
A No10 spokesman said: ‘We are not complacent and there are a number of different approaches we’re taking with vaccine-hesitant groups.’