Boris Johnson announcement RECAP: Covid lockdown extended by 4 weeks

Vaccine drive must ‘concentrate’ on London areas with lower rates

Areas of London with lower Covid-19 vaccination rates should be concentrated on to push up jab numbers, England’s chief medical officer said.

Professor Chris Whitty, appearing at a Downing Street press conference, said vaccination rates in the capital were “higher than many countries would really dream of having at this point in time”.

He added: “But they are behind by around, in some areas, 10%, other parts of the country.

“They are high, and I think we shouldn’t pretend that they are low, they are high, but they should be even higher.”

He said there were a number of reasons why this was, including people moving around more in London and records being “less clear cut”, with lower rates of vaccination and other medical interventions being in common with other major cities in the UK.

Prof Whitty said: “What we need to do is concentrate on these areas where the rates are lower because we want to get all of them right up to the very highest rates.”