South African variant: Lambeth lowest area for care home staff jabs

People aged 11 and over in the four boroughs are being urged to take a PCR test even if they have no symptoms

Lambeth has the lowest vaccination rate among care home staff in England, according to NHS England figures.

Just 50.1% of staff at care homes for older adults in the borough have received at least one jab, despite surge testing in the area due to cases of the South African Covid-19 variant.

It is the lowest uptake among all local authorities across England.

In neighbouring Wandsworth, where there is also surge testing because of the variant, 63.3% have been vaccinated.

Efforts are under way to limit the spread of the variant, with more than half a million adults living in south London boroughs being offered tests, including 264,000 in Lambeth, 265,000 in Wandsworth, and 14,800 in the Rotherhithe ward of Southwark.

Covid-19 tests are being delivered to properties in the affected areas

In one one care home in Lambeth, cases were detected in 13 staff members and 10 residents in March.

Six of those residents had received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at least two weeks before their positive test date, one of the staff members had also received a single Pfizer vaccine at least two weeks before.

Surge testing is also taking place in north London within the N3 postcode.

So far 600 cases of the variant have been detected across the UK, an increase of 56 in a week.

'A little bit reassuring'

Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London, said the cluster of variant cases is a "concern".

But he said earlier clusters of the same variant had been found before and "that hasn't led to a rapid take-off".

"I think that's a little bit reassuring," he added.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) says 80% of care home staff and 90% of residents need to be vaccinated to provide a minimum level of protection against Covid-19 outbreaks.

Figures published on Thursday show that 86 out of 149 local authorities have not reached that figure for employees.

In 22 areas, fewer than 70% of staff have had a first jab.

Find out how the pandemic has affected your area and how it compares with the national average:

If you can't see the look-up click here.