Covid-19 in Luton: 'I need a third vaccine so I can have a life'

Farley Hill Community Centre in Luton reopened for vaccines on Monday but there have been times when there is no one to jab in a town where take up is low

The Covid booster vaccination programme has accelerated in the past week but the latest figures show Luton has half the uptake of the offer compared to the rest of the UK.

Farley Hill Community Centre in the town reopened for vaccines on Monday but on Tuesday there were times when there was no-one to jab.

Figures up to 19 December say 50.4% of eligible adults across the UK have had a booster but in Luton the figure is 27.5%.

This week the government announced an extra £22.5m in funding to help communities increase vaccine take-up and, as one of the 60 local authorities with the lowest vaccine uptake, Luton is one of the places that will benefit.

In addition, an army of vaccine ambassadors will be deployed across the country.

The BBC spoke to people in and around the community centre to find out the scale of the challenge for health officials in the town.

'We just continue to encourage and to say that we're here'

Abbe Robertson said they are battling conspiracy theories and language barriers

Abbe Robertson, from the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, which runs vaccine centres in the town, says the past week has been "really challenging" but it has been "doing everything to ensure that we have vaccinations ready for our public when they want them".

"It is quieter here in Farley compared to our other centres," she says.

"I think it might be some indication of people's reluctance to come forward for their vaccines and we just continue to encourage and to say that we're here."

She believes the challenges they face that have led to a lower take up in the area include so-called "conspiracy theories" and "ensuring our community reach the information in a way that they understand".

"People are really worried about what's in the vaccine and their perception that it's been rolled out very quickly without trial, which is not the case," she said.

"[Also] not all our public speak English, there are multiple ethnicities in our community and we need to make sure we get them the right information and the accurate information [to them] in a way that they can digest."

Ms Robertson says she hopes the extra funding will help them bring vaccines to more places that are local to communities and also support vaccination of the homeless population.

She says the money can make a difference "if we can mobilise the resource to ensure that we can get out to where our public are".

She adds Luton has had a problem with take-up throughout the whole vaccination programme but the "very rampant" Omicron variant was giving people a "stark reminder that they really need to have their vaccines".

"It's not just about protecting themselves, it's about protecting their loved ones and the other people in the community," she says.

'We've made tremendous progress'

Covid-19 champion, Kwaku Adjei, said "there's still lots more that we can do but we're going to keep trying"

Kwaku Adjei volunteers for the Luton Covid-19 champions, a group made up of members of the public, professionals and charities, whose role it is to encourage vaccine take-up.

Mr Adjei, whose "day job" is in patient engagement in local community nursing service, says encouraging more people to get vaccinated is why he signed up.

"This is the reason why I'm part of groups like Covid-19 champions because they are there to publicly educate as many people as possible about the vaccine and the risks of not actually taking the vaccine offer," he says.

"I tell them ultimately you won't just be protecting yourself you'll be protecting your family also.

"We all want healthy families so if you're offered the vaccine then you should think very carefully about taking up that offer."

He adds that he feels they can make progress in Luton and that operations like this are "really, really helping".

"We've made tremendous progress. We know that there's still lots more that we can do but we're going to keep trying," he says.

'I had no second thoughts'

Donna Galbraith said she was always going to have the booster

Having her booster jab at Farley Hill, 55-year-old Donna Galbraith says: "I had no second thoughts about it, it was definitely going to happen.

"I would have had it sooner but I've had Covid."

She adds she was a "great advocate of everybody having it" and if they were uncertain to " just take some advice rather than listen to scaremongering".

"I would encourage people to explore it if they're worried about it," she says.

'I'm still thinking about it'

David Klims is still unsure about having a booster

David Klims, from Luton, says he had both his first and second jabs but was still unsure about getting the booster.

"I'm still thinking about it because I'm not actually sure how it's going to go with all the boosters, because after the second jab I wasn't feeling very right," he says.

"They were promising us that after the second jab everything was going to be free, but now they've released the boosters so that sounds strange to me.

"But in the future, I probably will get [it] if [places] are going to start requiring that."

'I haven't had a chance to get round to it yet'

Hairdresser Stacey Marshall says she will have her booster eventually "to have a life"

Hairdresser Stacey Marshall, 37, from Luton, says she had her first two vaccinations but it was the busiest time of year in her profession so she would probably now wait until after Christmas.

"I haven't had a chance to get round to it yet," she says.

"Maybe between Christmas and New Year, [I will have it] but I definitely will get it done."

She said she was not so concerned about the health benefits and felt it was only important to have it because of the Covid passports that had been brought in, which meant people in England now need to show their Covid status to get into nightclubs and many other venues.

"Basically to have a life, you need to have three [vaccinations]," she says.

"[Otherwise] I feel like I'm fit and healthy so I think I'll be OK."

'We just wanted to correct misinformation'

University of Bedfordshire student Madison Smith has been part of a student radio station campaign to improve uptake

University of Bedfordshire media performance student Madison Smith, 18, has been part of a student radio station campaign to improve uptake, especially after fears that the vaccine would affect future fertility.

"We want people not to feel so frightened of the vaccine because of what they've heard from other people that don't understand the vaccine themselves," Madison says.

She adds that it is "super important" to have the vaccine because "we want to go back to our old ways, we want to go on holidays, we want to see loved ones".

"We just need to get back to normal," she says.

Announcing the extra booster funding this week, health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid, said vaccine ambassadors would have a branded van, six staff, banners and leaflets containing information on vaccines and Covid-19 and cover the entire country.

"We are in a race between the virus and vaccine and we are doing everything in our power to get jabs in arms as quickly as possible," he said.

"We are calling on people to Get Boosted Now as part of our national mission to reinforce our wall of defence against the rapid spread of Omicron."

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