A month after the Covid immunisation program began, many parts of London do not have a vaccine centre to roll out the jab, new research has found.
According to an analysis by The Times, London has the “fewest vaccination centres per person” in the country despite having the highest rates of weekly cases.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said some 2 million injections would need to be delivered each week to get the country back to normal by Easter, but only 300,000 a week are being provided on average at present.
The publication said 13 million people across the county live in a constituency with “no hospital, GP practise or community building for administering vaccines”.
In London, lots of constituencies have no vaccination hubs including:
Dagenham and Rainham
East Ham
Popular and Limehouse
Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Enfield, Southgate
Eltham
Greenwich and Woolwich
Lewisham East
Lewisham West and Penge
Bromley and Chiselhurst
Camberwell and Peckham
Croydon Central
Streatham
Battersea
Wimbledon
Westminister North
Brentford and Isleworth
Ealing, Southall
Ealing North
Harrow West
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Hayes and Harlington
Areas with one hub include:
Ilford North
Ilford South
Chingford and Woodford Green
Walthamstow
Leyton and Wanstead
West Ham
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Tottenham
Hornsey and Wood Green Enfield North
Chipping Barnet
Hendon
Brent Central
Ealing Central and Acton
Hammersmith
Chelsea and Fulham
Putney
Twickenham
Beckenham
Bexleyheath and Crayford
Vauxhall
Erith and Thamesmead
Areas with two hubs include:
Barking
Romford
Epping Forest
Harrow East
Brent North
Finchley and Golders Green
Hamstead and Kilburn
Islington North
Islington South and Finsbury
Kensington
Cities of London and Westminister
Bethnal Green and Bow
Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Lewisham Deptford
Dulwich and West Norwood
Tooting
Croydon North
Croydon South
Old Bexley and Sidcup
Areas with three or more hubs:
Edmonton (3)
Holborn and St Pancras (4)
Richmond Park (3)
Along with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Oxford-AstraZenec jab will also be rolled out next week, however there are fears that the NHS does not have enough staff and sites to get enough people vaccinated.
The Times analysis showed that some cities in the UK only have a single site giving out the jab, and eight million people in England face a journey of more than 10 miles to get to a hub.
For an additional 1.7 million people this journey is 20 miles.
This proves problematic for older, vulnerable members of the public as the nation recorded another 57,725 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday (January 2).
The NHS told the publication: “In the first few weeks sites were chosen based on their ability to handle the vaccine.
“With more supplies now available hundreds more sites are due to come online this week.”
The minister for Covid vaccine deployment, Nadhim Zahawi, added: “Over a million people have already been vaccinated right across the UK.
“The NHS has a clear vaccine delivery plan for the biggest mass vaccination campaign this country has ever seen.”
