The vaccines minister has urged people not to let revelations of government lockdown parties ‘affect their potential health’.
Maggie Throup accepts that public trust in the government may have been dented following revelations of parties at Number 10 during national lockdowns - but she said people can still have confidence in the coronavirus vaccination programme.
When asked if trust in the Government had been eroded she said “sadly that could be the case” but said people should still come forward for vaccination to “protect themselves, their loved ones and families”.
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She said: “So really they should be thinking about themselves and not let currencies in other parts of the country affect their potential health.”
When asked if she backed the Prime Minister, Mrs Throup pointed to Boris Johnson’s apology in Parliament last week and the inquiry into partying allegations by senior civil servant Sue Gray.
She told the Manchester Evening News : “I know it’s been very upsetting for people and we know that some things have gone on that should never, ever have gone on - but let’s wait for the report from Sue Gray.
“She seems like a formidable lady, I wouldn’t want to cross her at all, and I’m not going to prejudge at this stage.”
The minister urged people to come forward for their first, second and third boosters to ‘protect themselves’ during a visit to the Manchester Mass Vaccination Centre at the Etihad Tennis Centre, on Monday (January 17).
And she had plenty of time to speak to volunteers and staff during a particularly quiet morning.
The Etihad site opened in January 2021 and was one of the first Covid-19 vaccination centres in the country to begin vaccinating the public and health and care staff.
More than 414,000 people have been vaccinated at the site over the last 12 months
But the city of Manchester has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country with just 67% of people over 12 having had their first jab.
That figure drops to 59.7% for second doses and just 37.6% for booster doses.
Mrs Throup said: “It’s important that we reach out to people, those who may feel they don’t need the booster.
“We know that Covid is still very prevalent in communities and that’s why we’re looking at different ways - whether it’s for the first dose or the second or the booster - to reach out to communities to help them understand how important it is.
“People are eight times more likely to be hospitalised if they’re not boosted.”
As coronavirus case rates across Greater Manchester remain extremely high, the minister said ‘community champions’ are the key to encouraging more people to get vaccinated.
“In Manchester 67% of people over 12 had the jab - in other areas it’s much higher.
“People in certain parts of Manchester are not going to listen to a politician but they are going to listen to their neighbour, or their faith leader, or their community leader and that’s the sort of way we can boost that uptake.”
Responding to a story in the Health Service Journal that potentially ‘hundreds of thousands’ of booster jabs are to be thrown away because of a lack of demand, the minister said any previous wastage has been “way below what could be expected”.
She added: “Obviously at the moment we are working with quite short expiry dates from the manufacturers because they are new products, but the manufacturers are expanding the expiry dates all the time.
“So if we get that extra information then it’s possible we can extend the expiry dates to save wastage.
“But overall very very very few vaccines are wasted. People on sites like this do everything in the right way to make sure they minimise any wastage and they do a fantastic job.”
A number of extra walk-in vaccination clinics are being held in Greater Manchester this week, with more than 100,000 slots available.
Walk-in sites can be viewed here www.nhs.uk/grab-a-jab , you can book appointments on the National Booking System here or call 119.
Details of local centres can be found at these links:
www.bury.gov.uk/coronavirus-vaccine
www.healthierwigan.nhs.uk/covid-19-vaccination
www.rochdale.gov.uk/covidvaccine
www.tameside.gov.uk/covidvaccine
www.boltoncc.nhs.uk/patient-zone/coronavirus
www.manchester.gov.uk/getmyjab
www.stockportccg.nhs.uk/news/covid-19-vaccination-options/
