Ministers are cautiously optimistic that targeted vaccinations can arrest a surge of the Indian variant and stop it from derailing Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Door-to-door Covid ‘hit squads’ are heading to Bolton and Blackburn, where the strain is at its most virulent, to focus on areas with the greatest ‘vaccine hesitancy’.
Entire multi-generational households will be offered inoculations.
A Government source said: ‘In jabs we trust.’
Mr Johnson will proceed as planned with tomorrow’s reopening of pubs and restaurants for indoor dining, but has warned that the Indian variant poses ‘a real risk of disruption’ to the end of social distancing on June 21.
Door-to-door Covid ‘hit squads’ are heading to Bolton and Blackburn, where the strain is at its most virulent, to focus on areas with the greatest ‘vaccine hesitancy’. Pictured: A queue for the jabs at the pop up centre in Bolton
Boris Johnson (pictured) will proceed as planned with tomorrow’s reopening of pubs and restaurants for indoor dining, but has warned that the Indian variant poses ‘a real risk of disruption’ to the end of social distancing on June 21
Ministers are planning to blitz areas where the Indian variant has taken hold by vaccinating entire households to stop Covid spreading ‘like wildfire’. Pictured: A man gets his Covid vaccination in Bolton
Figures released yesterday showed hospital admissions down 1.2 per cent in a week to 103, with deaths down 8.9 per cent to seven.
Positive tests were fractionally down on last Saturday’s figure, at just over 2,000.
A total of 36,320,867 first doses of the vaccine have now been administered – 69 per cent of all adults in Britain – while second doses have reached 19,698,121.
Offers of a vaccine will be extended to all over-35s within days.
The Government source added that there was ‘no evidence’ that vaccines were not effective against the Indian variant.
Ministers are planning to blitz areas where the Indian variant has taken hold by vaccinating entire households to stop Covid spreading ‘like wildfire’.
Figures show that in the two worst hotspots, Bolton and Blackburn, the virus is spreading three times faster in areas where the jab take-up is below 80 per cent.
More than 4,000 people were vaccinated by a Covid ‘jab bus’ (pictured) which drove into Bolton yesterday
Meanwhile, SAGE suggested the R rate for England had risen slightly to somewhere between 0.8 and 1.1, from a possible high of 1.0 last week. If the number is above one it will mean the outbreak is growing. The R rate – the number of people infected by each Covid case – is now almost redundant, however, because it is guaranteed to rise above one as lockdown is lifted and is particularly unreliable when case numbers are low
With Boris Johnson warning that the Indian variant posed a threat to his roadmap out of lockdown, Ministers are now sending in the Army to help with a drive to target entire multi-generational households in the worst affected areas.
More than 4,000 people were vaccinated by a Covid ‘jab bus’ which drove into Bolton yesterday.
It comes as the NHS prepares to send invites to all over-35s by the end of the week to take up their vaccination.
And it was reported last night that at least 20,000 passengers were allowed to enter Britain while Mr Johnson delayed imposing a travel ban from India.
The PM only added India to the travel red list on April 23, three weeks after announcing a ban on flights from neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data indicates an average of 900 people were arriving daily from India during the three-week period from April 2-23.
A Government spokesman pointed out that the most dominant of three strains from India was only identified as a concern six days after the country was put on the red list.
Ministers increasingly fear that a low take-up of the vaccine by ethnic minority communities is helping to spread the Indian variant.
According to NHS England data, 93.5 per cent of white people aged over 50 have had a Covid jab. This falls to 83.5 per cent for South Asians, and 67 per cent among black people in the same age bracket.
As of yesterday, Bolton’s infection rate is the highest in the country at 192 cases per 100,000 people. Pictured: A seven-day cases rate by age in Bolton
A Warwick University model of a more infectious variant after lockdown is completely lifted on June 21 suggests that any more than a 30 per cent increase in transmissibility compared to the Kent variant could lead to an August peak of daily hospital admissions that is higher than either the first or second wave. In a worst-case scenario with a variant 50 per cent more transmissible, hospital admissions could surge to 10,000 per day or even double that (Thick lines indicate the central estimate while the thin lines are possible upper limits known as confidence intervals)
In areas of Blackburn and Bolton with the lowest vaccine take-up, the current weekly Covid rate is 261 cases per 100,000.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi yesterday urged everyone in communities affected by the Indian strain to get the jab.
He warned: ‘If there are communities unprotected, the virus will find them and go through them like wildfire.’
Government sources confirmed that special door-to-door jab services may now be offered in Bolton and other affected areas to combat low vaccine take-up in ethnic-minority households.
The move would mean those in their 20s with no underlying health conditions getting the jab.
Ex-Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq urged those in hotspots who were still hesitant about getting the jab to think of others.
She said: ‘You would never go outside with a gun and start shooting people because you can see the destruction. But those without the jab don’t see the impact of passing the virus on.’
Similar but less grim modelling by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine suggested that a 50 per cent increase in transmissibility could trigger a peak of 4,000 admissions per day in July or August, possibly extending to 6,000 per day
The LSHTM model suggested hospitals could have another 30,000 inpatients by the end of July – up to around 45,000 – compared to the current 845
The LSHTM team suggested that there will be 1,000 deaths per day in August if the variant is 50 per cent more transmissible – which would be less than the 1,900 seen at the peak this January
Labour health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth added: ‘We have to be flexible and carry out a vaccine blitz in those areas most affected by the new Indian variant.’
There were huge queues for a ‘jab bus’ in Bolton yesterday after everyone in the town was invited to get vaccinated before 5pm.
Thousands waited in the pouring rain for injections as council officials went door-to-door urging residents to go to a bus parked in Great Lever – an area where vaccine take-up had been below average.
Bolton’s infection rate is the highest in the country at 192 cases per 100,000 people. The Indian variant now makes up the majority of its new cases.
Nearly 20 million Britons have now had two doses. Yesterday, a further 2,027 cases were recorded. Seven people died.
Bolton: Jab teams in Covid hotspots defy advice and roll out crisis vaccine for young
By Jacinta Taylor in Bolton
Northerners are made of stern stuff but even they need a good reason to go out and be buffeted by driving rain and howling winds.
For the citizens of Bolton, that reason is the Indian variant of coronavirus.
‘I’m here because I couldn’t get an appointment with my GP,’ explained mother-of-four Mel Flanagan as she waited patiently in a line stretching back across the car park of Essa Academy in the Lancashire town.
‘I’ve been trying to get through for ages but just gave up in the end. The queue and the rain didn’t put me off.’
During a day of confusion and mounting anxiety in the former mill town, it was wrongly announced that national guidelines on eligibility for a vaccine had been ditched and that adults of any age should could come forward for their jab.
Bolton has the unenviable title of capital of the Indian variant outbreak. Cases in the town are running at about 200 per 100,000 – with Erewash in Derbyshire next highest on 163. Pictured: People queue to receive jab in Bolton
Forty-two staff inside the ‘vaccination bus’ did their best to inject as many doses as they could. Pictured: people wear face masks and carry umbrellas as they wait to have their coronavirus injections in Bolton on Saturday
Tory councillor Andy Morgan shared a tweet inviting locals to ‘visit the vaccine bus’, adding: ‘The team will find a reason to vaccinate you. Closes at 5pm. The 4,000 vaccines must be used today.’
By the time the NHS had angrily denied his claim, demand at Essa Academy was so high that people were being turned away and asked to return again today.
Bolton has the unenviable title of capital of the Indian variant outbreak. Cases in the town are running at about 200 per 100,000 – with Erewash in Derbyshire next highest on 163.
Forty-two staff inside the ‘vaccination bus’ did their best to inject as many doses as they could and the local authority put more boots on the ground as well as offering door-to-door testing.
There is a genuine sense of urgency. Infection rates in Bolton have soared by more than 250 per cent in the past week, with the vast majority of cases in the under-30s.
There has also been a slight uptick in hospitalisations, including patients in their 50s and 60s who are not vaccinated but would have been eligible.
Local officials are desperate that neither cases nor admissions accelerate and are relying on a sense of community spirit to beat the surge. Rashad, 32, was also in the queue in Bolton yesterday.
‘I’m not looking forward to this at all but it will be worth it to keep myself and my community safe,’ he said. In the line beside him, another man said: ‘The community leaders have been urging people at prayers to come and get their vaccine. We all have our part to play.’
Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh said the majority of cases of coronavirus in the town involved people in their teens, 20s and 30s who are not yet eligible for a vaccination.
‘Bolton craves normality as this town has been disproportionately affected by local lockdowns,’ he said. ‘I visited the vaccination site today and there were still queues long after closing time, with vaccinators working extra time to help everyone.
‘Clearly the surge in Covid cases in Bolton is linked to international travel, there’s no doubt about that.’
Boris Johnson announced on Friday that second jabs for those over 50 would be brought forward, but Mr Greenhalgh wants the Government to supply more doses to allow the town to vaccinate everyone.
Uptake across the town is higher than 90 per cent but there are clusters in deprived areas such as Deane, Rumworth and Great Lever where it is far lower.
Uptake for the Covid jab across the town is higher than 90 per cent but there are clusters in deprived areas such as Deane, Rumworth and Great Lever where it is far lower. Pictured: Hundreds of people queue on the streets of Bolton this afternoon as part of efforts to speed up Britain’s vaccine race
Despite fears over the Indian variant, the Government is pressing ahead with the latest stage of its roadmap tomorrow. Bolton is more cautious, advising care homes not to proceed with the planned easing of restrictions yet
Dr Helen Wall, the clinician in charge of Bolton’s vaccination drive, said: ‘I don’t think there is hesitancy as such, I think it’s more about the barriers to vaccination.
‘There are some really deprived areas where people don’t all have cars, they might not have money for the bus, they might not want to get on the bus because they catch Covid. Maybe they’ve got several children they are looking after, elderly relatives, there’s all sorts of reasons.’
Despite fears over the Indian variant, the Government is pressing ahead with the latest stage of its roadmap tomorrow. Bolton is more cautious, advising care homes not to proceed with the planned easing of restrictions yet.
Few people not in search of a vaccine ventured into Bolton town centre, but Jayne Cadman had braved the rain. ‘The virus is a worry for people and the town isn’t as busy as it usually is,’ she said.
Shaking his head, Peter Worsley, 75, who was hospitalised for two weeks with Covid-19 over Christmas, said: ‘I think Bolton’s infection rate is down to the fact that the Government was very slow in closing our borders to international travel. If we had taken action sooner then perhaps we wouldn’t be in this situation now.’
Bedford: Town where people aged 11 to 22 are at centre of virus surge
By Matt Aitchison in Bedford
In the market town of Bedford, locals are concerned they could be plunged into another local lockdown amid a surge in Covid cases caused by the more infectious Indian variant.
The B.1.617.2 strain now accounts for almost three-quarters of cases in the town and is spreading fastest among people aged 11 to 22, according to the latest Bedford Borough snapshot.
Georgie Lawson, 66, said her biggest fear was the removal of freedoms as the rest of the UK prepares to open up. She added: ‘I am worried about another lockdown. You do feel like a prisoner in your own home.’
Louise Jackson, Bedford council’s lead on health and wellbeing, said: ‘Local lockdowns don’t work.
Our local economy can’t sustain it, and people will just move elsewhere, they’ll take the virus to Luton or London. And why wouldn’t they? They’ve had a whole year of this.’
Meanwhile, SAGE suggested the R rate for England had risen slightly to somewhere between 0.8 and 1.1, from a possible high of 1.0 last week. If the number is above one it will mean the outbreak is growing. The R rate – the number of people infected by each Covid case – is now almost redundant, however, because it is guaranteed to rise above one as lockdown is lifted and is particularly unreliable when case numbers are low
In the town, there is growing concern about the number of cases, which have more than doubled in the last week to 105 per 100,000 people. Bill Gill, a 60-year-old retail manager who lives two miles from the town centre, said that despite having had both shots of the vaccine, he was concerned about the Indian variant. ‘A lot of people are quite anxious to have a rise in cases just as things are opening up,’ he said.
John Hillyard, 85, who has run a vegetable market stall in Bedford since 1960, said: ‘We’re all worried about it but we’ll just have to do as we’re told.’
On Friday, officials started vaccinating younger people – despite official guidance still restricting jabs to those aged 38 and over.
Teachers and parents with children at Bedford Academy were invited to use spare doses in a bid to quash the alarming spread.
Bedford Mayor Dave Hodgson told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It wasn’t easy within the current rules but we managed to get it done in partnership with our local hospital and the local clinical commissioning group who had a limited number of spare Pfizer vaccines going.
‘The school is in an area with higher deprivation and increased levels of vaccine hesitancy so we think it was the right thing to do to help reduce transmission.’
As part of tomorrow’s relaxing of guidelines, masks in schools can be ditched but Mr Hodgson said he had sent ‘very strong guidance’ to schools recommending that pupils should keep wearing them and remain in their bubbles.
His views were yesterday backed by Gurch Randhawa, professor in diversity and public health from Bedfordshire University, who said he thought the town was at a ‘tipping point’.
‘The Government has got to be really careful that they don’t choose the wrong path,’ he said. ‘These populistic gestures of allowing children not to wear masks and permitting hugs are a bit premature, especially in light of the Indian variant being in circulation.’