Covid: Lancashire health chief wants vaccine walk-ins for all adults

Currently, people aged 30 and 31 in England are being invited to book their first dose

Vaccine walk-in clinics should be available to all adults to help fight a county-wide rise in Covid-19 cases, a public health director has said.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi has asked for permission to increase the vaccine rollout in Lancashire, which has some of England's highest infection rates.

He said that if previous requests for flexibility had been heeded, the county "wouldn't be in this situation now".

The government said the vaccine rollout was "making phenomenal progress".

Lancashire has seen a rise in cases involving the so-called Indian variant, now named the Delta variant.

Blackburn with Darwen has the highest rate of infections in England, with 442 cases per 100,000 residents in the week leading up to 31 May.

The neighbouring areas of Rossendale, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Preston and Burnley, plus Manchester and Bury in nearby Greater Manchester, all saw an increase in their rates in the same period.

Currently, people aged 30 and 31 in England are being invited to book their first dose of the Covid vaccine, with front-line health and social care staff, clinically vulnerable people and over-16s with some health conditions also being prioritised.

However on Monday, Twickenham Stadium in London was turned into a vaccine walk-in centre for those wanting a jab, including people aged 18 and over.

Thousnds flocked to Twickenham Stadium in London on Monday, including over-18s

Dr Karunanithi told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that walk-in clinics should form a permanent part of Lancashire's armoury in the fight against the virus and allowing vaccinations to speed up could have stalled the progress of the Delta variant.

"If we had been allowed to go faster with [administering both] doses of the vaccine, then we would have done the whole thing by now," he said.

As a result, the county would not have been facing "the prospect of issues escalating and a third wave - or rather what would be a fourth wave in Lancashire," he said, adding that there was "probably still time to act if we had... more vaccines quicker".

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The UK regulator has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children aged 12-15, saying it is safe and effective in this age group and the benefits outweigh any risks.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Blackburn with Darwen's public health director called for 12 to 18-year-olds to be vaccinated as quickly as possible, prioritising areas with high case rates of the Delta variant.

"We need to get on with it because there's an enormous opportunity here for us to shut down transmission of the Delta variant," Dominic Harrison said.

Asked how the vaccine programme could be extended to schools, he said he believed the military "would have capacity to support us with surge vaccinations in school settings".

The Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment on why Twickenham Stadium was able to open as a walk-in centre, but said it had already increased the number of vaccination centres and extending opening hours and capacity in Blackburn.

"We are on track to offer a jab to all adults by the end of July," a spokesman added.