Covid: Leicester plans door-to-door vaccines to boost uptake

Uptake of the vaccine varies across the city and infection rates remain high

Vaccinators could go door-to-door offering jabs in a bid to tackle low uptake in parts of a city where infection rates remain high.

Health officials in Leicester have said they are looking at "innovative" ways to reach more people.

This could include vaccinations for multi-generational households in parts of the city with high infection rates and low uptake.

The city has been subject to the longest lockdown in the UK.

Sulaxni Nainani said there were "certain pockets" where vaccine take-up had not been as high as hoped

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said about 430,000 vaccinations had been carried out, but concerns about the levels of acceptance had led officials to look at other options.

They will focus on residents in wards where take-up rates for the vaccine are lowest.

In England 85% of people aged 55 or older had received a first dose by 14 March but in Leicester the figure is about 76%, according to data published by the city council.

The uptake rate among the over 60s varies across the city from more than 90% in some wards to below 70% in others.

The city's infection rate also remains relatively high, at 108 per 100,000 people in the week up to 17 March, according to government statistics.

Health authorities want to make sure as many people get the vaccine as possible

The CCG said that while they would not be going door-to-door targeting whole streets, they would be visiting households where they know there has been vaccine hesitancy and where they could cover eligible patients belonging to different generations.

Other options include "pop-up clinics" outside factories and at shopping centres, opening later to allow those observing Ramadan to visit after fasting and women-only vaccination centres in mosques.

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Leicester GPs have already been phoning up hesitant patients in a bid to encourage more of them to accept the vaccine.

The pilot scheme was prompted by figures showing uptake was up to 40% lower among residents from deprived areas and BAME communities.

Dr Sulaxni Nainani, from the CCG, said "fantastic work" has already been carried out across the area, with the new initiatives planned to reach "certain pockets" where fewer people than expected had been vaccinated.

"What we have done is [come up with] innovative ways to reach those populations to ensure that the vaccine is taken, because these are the high-risk groups," she said.

"It's not just Leicester, we've got pockets in Loughborough, we've got pockets in Coalville.

"We're working with these populations groups, with faith communities, to see what would suit [them], and [creating] bespoke models for those areas, because we know that one size doesn't fit all."

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