Omicron Covid wave: London worst in England for booster jab uptake

London is badly lagging behind the rest of England in uptake of booster jabs, with some areas having less than half of all over 50s fully protected.

This is likely helping the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron Covid variant, with Sadiq Khan declaring a major incident in the capital due to a huge rise in cases.

Scientists believe that boosters offer much better protection against the new mutation, than the original two doses.

However the latest NHS data, which covers booster jabs up until December 12, shows that London is far behind the rest of the country in uptake.

LondonWorld’s data team calculated the vaccine uptake in different age groups of the population, by comparing vaccination numbers with population estimates.

Shockingly the top 10 local authorities in England with the lowest proportion of over 50s getting the booster vaccine are all in the capital.

In some areas, such as Tower Hamlets, Westminster and Newham, less than half of the over-50 population has had their booster.

And out of the 25 local authorities with the lowest uptake in England, only six were from outside London.

While in parts of Warwickshire, more than 90% of over 50s have had the booster.

On top of that, in the 10 worst areas in England for booster vaccine uptake across the total adult population, eight are in London.

Tower Hamlets, which has the lowest booster uptake in the country in both age groups, has just 19% of its total population fully protected.

While less than a quarter of the adult population of Newham and Hackney and the City of London has had boosters.

And an additional 13 boroughs have less than a third of adults with the booster vaccine.

Out of the 25 local authorities across England with lowest uptake, only seven were from outside London.

See what the booster rate is in your area, with our interactive maps.

The light areas show where vaccine uptake is lower.

These revelations come after mayor of London Sadiq Khan declared a ‘major incident’ in London due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

The number of Covid-19 cases in London has rapidly increased, with 65,525 new confirmed cases last week.

And on Friday, 26,418 cases were reported – the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

And in the last week, the number of Covid-19 patients in London hospitals has gone up 29% - the largest rise in England.

LondonWorld had already revealed that the capital had become England’s major Omicron hotspot, with six boroughs in the top 10 areas for suspected cases.

And a further six London council areas had also had some of the fastest rises in Covid rates in the UK.

With London also having some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, Mr Khan urged people to get their booster jabs.

“We know that the vaccine offer our best defence against the virus,” he said.

“There are now more clinics in London delivering vaccines than at any point during the pandemic.

“I urge all Londoners to book their appointment or to go to one of the many walk-in centres across the capital as soon as you can.”

Football stadiums, such as Stamford Bridge, and venues such as the Science Museum have been opened up to help out with the vaccine drive.

You can use LondonWorld’s handy guide to find a walk-in centre near you to get a booster.

Mr Khan added: “The surge in cases of the Omicron variant across our capital is hugely concerning, so we are once again declaring a major incident because of the threat of Covid-19 to our city.

“The Omicron variant has quickly become dominant with cases increasing rapidly and the number of patients in our hospitals with Covid-19 on the rise again.

“We are already feeling the impact across the capital and while we are still learning about this variant, it’s right that London’s key agencies work closely together to minimise the impact on our city, including helping to protect the vital vaccination programme.”