Shropshire Star

Third of young adults in England have not had first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

In some local authority areas, less than half of 18-24 year-olds have received a first dose.

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Nurse Maria Simon (left) vaccinates Sophie Beardsley (right) with a Covid-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination centre at Adwick Leisure Centre in Doncaster (Danny Lawson/PA)

More than a third of young adults in England have not had a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, new figures suggest.

Some 64% of people aged 18 to 29 had received a first dose as of July 11, according to estimates from NHS England – meaning 36% are still likely to be unjabbed.

A breakdown of this age group by gender shows vaccine take-up continues to be lower among males than females.

HEALTH Coronavirus VaccineDoses
(PA Graphics)

An estimated 70% of women aged 25 to 29 have had a first dose, compared with only 63% of men.

And among 18-24 year-olds, while 66% of women are estimated to have received one dose, only 57% of men have done so.

All adults in England have been able to book a first dose since June 17 – about three-and-a-half weeks before the latest snapshot of vaccinations by age.

The slow take-up of vaccines among young adults is also having an impact on the overall rate of vaccinations in England.

As of July 14, nearly 38.7 million first doses had been delivered in England – the equivalent of 87.4% of the adult population.

This is up just one percentage point from 86.4% a week earlier.

It compares with week-on-week growth of 1.4 points on July 7, 2.4 points on June 30 and 2.9 points on June 23.

HEALTH Coronavirus VaccineDoses
(PA Graphics)

Take-up of first doses among older age groups has levelled off in recent weeks, settling at around 94% of people aged 80 and over, 99% of 70 to 79-year-olds, 98% of 60-69 year-olds and 95% of 50 to 59-year-olds.

The figures are lower for 40-49 year-olds (88%) and 30-39 year-olds (79%), and take-up among these age groups has also slowed in the last two weeks.

There are 22 local authority areas in England where less than half of 18-24 year-olds are estimated to have received a first dose of vaccine, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

The areas with the lowest proportions are Islington in London (39.0%), Birmingham (39.3%), Lewisham in London (43.3%) and Middlesbrough (43.4%).

In seven areas, under half of 25 to 29-year-olds are estimated have received a first dose: Coventry (40.4%), Nottingham (45.1%), Birmingham (45.4%), Barking & Dagenham in London (47.3%), Liverpool (48.9%), Runnymede (48.9%) and Canterbury (49.4%).

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