Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure greater uptake of the covid-19 vaccine in (a) Luton North constituency and (b) other areas with lower take up of the vaccine.

On 13 February 2021, the Government published the COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Plan, which aims to improve uptake across all communities in the United Kingdom. We have allocated £23.75 million for councils and voluntary groups through the Community Champions scheme. Through this scheme, Community Champions will use their local networks to provide advice about COVID-19 and the vaccine. Champions will also work with councils to identify the barriers to accessing accurate information about the vaccine and to provide tailored support, such as phone calls for people who are digitally excluded and linking to general practitioner surgeries.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation supports flexibility in delivery of the programme at a local level to ensure that every opportunity is utilised to offer the vaccine to groups with lower uptake. This can include offering vaccine in a wider range of settings. In Luton, additional vaccination centres, including a gym and a youth centre, have been set up by the local clinical commissioning group to maximise vaccine uptake.