Jab more under-30s
Alert after UK falls behind EU nations over uptake rates
SCIENTISTS warned Britain must do more to vaccinate younger adults as Ireland and other EU countries surged ahead in the jabs race.
PM Boris Johnson has boasted about our vaccination drive but then Spain overtook us and France is set to be next.
In the past few days Ireland, Belgium, Denmark and Portugal leapt ahead of Britain on their rates of first doses.
Many are accelerating rollout among teenagers and it comes after it was announced all 16 and 17-year-olds in England will be offered a first jab by August 23, before schools go back.
Experts called on No10 to step up efforts to inoculate under-30s before an expected Covid-19 wave in the winter.
Prof James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute at Oxford University, said: “I would like to see a more effective campaign to encourage take-up among the hesitant.
“Pop-up clinics at nightclubs, football grounds, religious venues and under-served communities have been effective.” Comparisons of data as of Saturday showed the UK has given 70% of the population at least one dose.
Ireland has edged ahead with 70.5%, while Belgium is on 71%, Canada 73% and Spain 74%. Denmark and Portugal have surged to 75%. France – among the most vaccine-sceptical nations – was blighted by a slow rollout but is now just behind the UK on 68%.
Dr David Matthews, virologist at Bristol University, said: “They basically said, ‘If you don’t get double jabbed you can sit at home and not go out’.” In France, proof of vaccination is needed for bars and attractions, and Mr Johnson said some form of certification will be introduced from October. But it is uncertain if he will be able to get a law through Parliament. Yesterday, the UK had 28,438 more infections and 26 deaths. France began offering jabs to all over-12s in June and more than two million have had a first shot. In the UK, 12 to 15-year-olds at increased risk of serious illness are currently offered the jab. A Government spokeswoman said that the comparison of data is “misleading”.
She added: “When taking into account over-18s only, we have one of the highest vaccine uptake rates in the world, with almost 90% of UK adults vaccinated with a first dose and over threequarters of adults vaccinated with both doses.”