JABS BLITZ ‘TO SAVE SUMMER’
Calls for all adults in variant-hit areas to get vaccine immediately & stop spread
BORIS Johnson faces demands to vaccinate all adults in areas where Covid-19 cases are rising.
The Indian variant is blamed for a spike in cases in Bolton, London, Glasgow and Bedford.
As fears of a summer of restrictions grew, Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth called for a “surge vaccination” campaign.
Mr Ashworth said: “We need to contain this variant, fast.”
IN Bolton, the Government message displayed on a huge sign in front of the town hall is clear, if you have Covid-19 symptoms then get a test.
But local people said testing was not enough. They want everyone vaccinated – and fast.
Last week, the infection rate in Bolton was the second highest in the UK at 162.4 per 100,000 people and cases of the Indian variant have risen dramatically.
Shopkeeper Mohsin Nazir, 50, who fears having another local lockdown like the one imposed last summer, said: “They need to be vaccinating everyone now. We want to get back to some sort of normal life, no more lockdowns.”
Mark Logan, the Tory MP for Bolton North East, led the calls for surge vaccinations. Pleading in the Commons for help, he was told by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that local surge vaccinations were “not top of the list” of “potential solutions”.
If people refuse to have the vaccination then they should have to stay at home
CAROL MARSDEN BOLTON RESIDENT AND RETIRED COOK
I feel it is getting out of hand now. They need to think about closing schools
REIA RAICHURA BOLTON SIXTH FORM COLLEGE STUDENT
ANXIOUS
Infections are rising in the under-25s, and Bolton councillor Elaine Sherrington said: “If we have got the capacity to vaccinate the younger people without putting anyone else at risk then we should do it.”
Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham also called for vaccines for all over-16s in the town. Mr Burnham said: “Surely surge vaccinations for people of all ages is the best answer?”
Public health expert Prof Azeem Majeed, of Imperial College London, agreed, posting: “It’s time to consider a ‘surge vaccination’ campaign. It’s essential to contain these outbreaks.”
As England prepared for further lockdown easing on Monday, Mr Johnson yesterday admitted he was “anxious” about the Indian variant.
Spikes in London, Bedford and Glasgow are also being blamed on the variant. The Covid case rate per 100,000 people in Bedford Borough has more than doubled to 84.3 from 39.8 in one week.
Bedford mayor Dave Hodgson said: “We need a vaccination programme to be rolled out for all residents aged 16 and over.”
At a primary school in Ferryhill, Co Durham, Mr Johnson said: “It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it. There are meetings going on today to consider what we need to do.
“We are ruling nothing out.” Asked if local lockdowns were possible, Mr Johnson said: “Obviously there’s surge testing, there’s surge tracing. If we have to do other things, then of course the public would want us to rule nothing out.”
Some members of SAGE are thought to want a delay to the final stage out of lockdown, set for June 21.
Back in Bolton, Carol and Peter Marsden, both 70, have been vaccinated, but are still worried.
Carol, 70, said: “They definitely need to start vaccinating the younger people. If people refuse the vaccine, then they should have to stay at home.”
On Bolton Market, fishmonger Lee Morris, 48, said: “They should offer younger people a vaccine. If they lock us down again I’ll be devastated.” Students
Reia Raichura and Jamee Patel are also worried. Jaimee, 17, had Covid in November and lost her grandma to the virus. She says: “Everyone should be offered the vaccine now.”
Reia, 16, said cases were rising at their sixth form college. She said: “It is getting out of hand. They need to think about closing schools.”
Prof James Naismith, of Oxford University, said the variant may spread “way beyond” the areas where it has been detected. He said: “I think we should view it as a country-wide problem. It will get everywhere. So I don’t think thinking about a localised strategy for containment will really work.”
Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics said that seven in 10 people in England now test positive for Covid antibodies, suggesting vaccination or prior infection.
Prof Steven Riley, of Imperial
College
London, who runs the UK’s biggest Covid-19 surveillance study, said there was no indication that the variant was increasing admissions to hospital.
amanda.killelea@mirror.co.uk