City’s low covid jab take-up among school pupils to be investigated...
As new figures show just 6.2 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds in the city had been vaccinated as of October 16, Kathie Mcinnes looks at why we have the ninth lowest take-up in the country, despite roll-out starting three weeks ago
COMMUNITY leaders are to investigate why fewer school pupils in Stoke-on-trent have received covid jabs than almost anywhere else in England.
New figures show just 6.2 per cent of the city’s 12 to 15-yearolds, who don’t have underlying health conditions, have so far been vaccinated.
It is the ninth lowest take-up in the country, despite the local roll-out starting three weeks ago.
Young people attending Staffordshire schools fare marginally better, with 9.3 per cent having been given the jabs as of October 16. In Cheshire East, the inoculation rate among 12 to 15-year-olds is 14.3 per cent.
Stoke-on-trent City Council leader Abi Brown, inset, said: “It’s something that we will be looking at closely. I know that supply of vaccines has been a big part of that, in terms of being able to get into schools.”
She believes some of it could simply be down to parents leading busy lives and not getting round to filling in the consent forms. “If you’re concerned, please do ask for information around the safety of the vaccinations,” she added.
School pupils aged 12 and over are being offered a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine. It is being delivered by the NHS’S school age immunisation team for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent.
Staffordshire’s vaccination programme lead, Lynn Millar, revealed earlier this month that the roll-out in schools had got off to a ‘rocky’ start.
She told a meeting of local clinical commissioning groups: “What we’re finding is that a lot of the children are off school at the moment, there are staff shortages in both the schools and the vaccine programme, and uptake isn’t as high as we would have liked.”
It’s not known how many parents have signed the consent forms. But some families have been put off by mixed messages coming from politicians and medical experts, particularly over whether the individual health benefits outweigh the risks of rare side-effects.
The disruption caused by coronavirus has also meant some pupils have not been in lessons on the day when the school nurses have been on site. There will be ‘mop-up’ clinics offered next month to any pupils who have missed out.
The local programme was due to finish in mid-november.
Across England, there have been widespread variations, with some authorities reporting a third of 12 to
15-year-olds are now vaccinated.
The Government announced on October 19 that it will be following Scotland’s lead and offering young people the chance to get their jabs at walk-in centres as well as schools.
City council leader Mrs Brown has welcomed the move. She pointed out there were queues outside clinics when 16 and 17-year-olds were offered the vaccine.
It comes as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc to some pupils’ education.
The Department for Education estimates 2.6 per cent of all pupils
– around 208,700 children – did not attend class for Covid-19 related reasons on Thursday last week. That’s up from 2.5 per cent on September 30.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools have reported logistical problems, such as the vaccination teams having insufficient staff to deal with the number of students needing jabs, running out of vaccines or even not turning up when they have arranged to. The Government needs to do everything possible to boost the delivery and take-up.”