Covid: Manchester council offers vaccines to over-18s

It follows a similar surge vaccination push in Bolton

People aged over 18 in parts of Manchester are being urged to book Covid vaccinations in a bid to prevent cases spiralling to levels seen in neighbouring Bolton.

Infection spikes, partly driven by the Indian variant, are continuing to cause concern in parts of the North West.

Rochdale is also rolling out a similar scheme for over-18s.

Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese said vaccinating younger people could stop transmission.

'Rapid increase'

Invitations were being sent to people in Ardwick, Crumpsall, Cheetham, Moss Side, Levenshulme, Longsight, Rusholme and Whalley Range.

Manchester recorded 42 infections per 100,000 people in the week ending 17 May, while Bolton continued to be the worst-affected area in the country with 385 cases per 100,000.

The average area in England had 12 cases per 100,000.

Sir Richard Leese said current cases were being driven by younger, unvaccinated age groups.

"Clearly what's been happening in Bolton, and the variants of concern, and the rapid increase in cases is something we legitimately need to be worried about," he said.

"By getting to younger people, what we really want to do is stop that transmission."

A council spokesman said decisions on how to move forward with the jabs programme were being taken by authorities on an individual basis, and government guidelines allowed some flexibility.

Across England people aged in their mid-30s and over are currently eligible for vaccines. Younger people are only eligible if they have underlying health conditions or other exemptions.

More than 6,000 local residents went to get their first dose of vaccine in Bolton over two days

David Regan, director of public health for Manchester, said: "We have known for a long time that a flexible approach would be required as variants of concerns emerge, hot spots pop up and as we learn to live with Covid."

"Given the situation which has unfolded in Bolton over the past two weeks the decision was made to increase capacity for vaccinations in parts of the city with the aim to avoid similar spikes in cases," he said.

The areas chosen, he said, were areas that had seen higher case rates throughout the pandemic.

More testing would also be carried out in the same areas of the city.

Meanwhile, the head of the vaccine rollout in Bolton said many people who had previously declined the vaccine there were now coming forward.

"I'm hoping that we've made a big dent in to that now," Dr Helen Wall said.

She added that vaccination hubs were "seeing people coming forward that clearly had the option to have the jab for some time - older people, disabled people - and they've chosen to come forward now".