East of England has administered least Covid-19 vaccines in country

Vaccination data, broken down by region and age, has been released by NHS England for the first time.

The data shows 236,023 jabs have been given in the East of England, out of the 2.3 million vaccines administered nationally, between December 8 and January 10.

The figures include first and second doses.

Despite the East of England having some of the highest infection rates in the country, the region’s vaccine figures are the worst nationally.

Those aged under 80 include care home workers and NHS staff.

Figures show just 6,891 people under 80 have received their second vaccine dose in the region.

The Midlands, in comparison, has administered 14,803 second doses.

Hopeful - MP Will Quince 

However, Colchester’s MP Will Quince remained positive and said all care home residents in Colchester should be vaccinated by the end of next week.

Mr Quince spoke with representatives of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group to ask questions on behalf of constituents on Friday.

Mr Quince said on social media: “When it is your turn to be vaccinated, the NHS will phone you (it is not being done by post).

He said it’s important to remember north Essex has 179 of the 400 care homes in the county.

He added: “Everyone over 80 is being prioritised and vaccinated now - this is not being done in any particular order of age and everyone over 80 is being prioritised as one age bracket.

“NHS staff, paramedics, ambulance staff and care home staff are also currently being vaccinated as a priority.

“The vaccination programme is going as fast as possible locally and there will be a real focus on the East of England in the coming weeks.”

Vaccines are now being rolled out at The Fryatt Hospital in Dovercourt.

The vaccine centre at the hospital opened on Friday, and it is understood the staff were the first to receive the jab that day.

Vaccination centres have also recently opened at Constable Country Medical Practice, in East Bergholt, and Pump House Surgery, in Earls Colne.

A Constable Country Medical Practice spokesman said: “We have obtained the Oxford vaccine for our housebound patients and one of our clinicians will likely be visiting patients from next week to vaccinate them in their homes.”

The Pfizer vaccine was administered too but as the vaccine requires special transportation and storage requirements, it cannot be used for housebound or care home patients safely.

Essex Air Ambulance is now helping with the transfer of some Covid patients between hospitals.

Stuart Elms, the charity’s clinical director, said: “The system is incredibly busy, and we are helping to move Covid-19 patients from hospitals in our region which are facing challenges due to the unprecedented number of patients they are seeing, to those with capacity.

“The aim is to help level the load.”