It has been a long haul since March last year, but it is finally starting to feel like we are in the home straight. Our vaccine rollout has been world-leading and continues to break new ground. A huge milestone was reached last Friday when everyone aged 18 and over became eligible to book their Covid-19 vaccination first dose.
The NHS sent out around 1.5 million texts to young people aged 18-20 from last Friday and received a fantastic response with over 700,000 appointments booked in just one day. This high uptake followed similar instant high uptake in booking appointments from people in their twenties who booked over one million appointments in one day.
This milestone came less than 200 days since the NHS made history by delivering the first Covid-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial. We have already achieved 82% of adults have had their first dose and 60% of adults having had their vital second dose, giving maximum protection from Covid-19.
Our vaccination numbers in Crawley are lower than the national average and I don’t know why that is. For first doses we are running at about 10% less of the adult population vaccinated, and for second doses it is around 8%. This means we have a little further to go locally to maximise keeping everyone safe, so I encourage everyone to make that booking to better protect themselves, their family, our community and the NHS. It is also the surest way to speed up life getting more back to normal.
It is obvious there is a race going on between vaccinations and the spread of the virus in its third wave. We should soon reach a point where daily infections start a downward trajectory but we are not there yet and the sooner we reach a critical mass with second jabs, the sooner that trend will start and the sooner we can get all parts of our economy fully open. People who are not able to go online to make their booking can call the service on 119 instead to book their jab. We are nearly there.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
23rd June 2021
