London Vaccine Summit will aim to increase uptake

A summit to try and boost the vaccine uptake in London is set to take place on Friday.

Senior officials, the NHS in London, London mayor Sadiq Khan, clinical experts, community, faith and business leaders will come together at the London Vaccine Summit in an effort to speed up the number of jabs ahead of July 19 when Covid restrictions could be eased.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi, who praised the London team for doing “an incredible job”, said those at the summit will seek to “see what has worked and how we can learn from it and scale it”.

He said the focus of the summit will be on how to increase the uptake of vaccines over these “crucial few weeks” ahead of July 19.

He also told a Downing Street press conference: “We know there is more, much more to do.

“As we look to tackle and take on those final steps, those hard yards on the road to recovery, we need to make sure as many people are protected as possible.

“So we are intensifying, doubling down our efforts to get more people to come forward and we are seeing real results in places like Bolton and of course in the North West and elsewhere.

“We’re honing in on areas where uptake is lower.”

Mr Khan said: “Together, we will focus on making sure every possible avenue is taken to accelerate the rollout and ensure that all Londoners take up both doses of the vaccine as soon as possible.”