More than one-third of under-30s in Mansfield yet to get first Covid jab

This nightclub has been turned into an NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre for under-30s. (PHOTO BY: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

Data from NHS England shows that 10,063 people aged between 18 and 29 in Mansfield had got their first dose by last Saturday (August 7).

But that figure represented only 63 per cent of the age group, based on the number of people registered with the National Immunisation Management Service.

It meant 37 per cent of this cohort were yet to receive a jab, compared to 19 per cent among adults of all ages.

Now experts and scientists are urging younger people in the town to snap out of their hesitancy.

Professor Adam Finn, who advises the government on the vaccine programme, believes many under-30s think they are safe from the virus. But he warned them “not do die of ignorance”.

He said: “We are now seeing young people, who were previously healthy, getting seriously ill from Covid-19.

"If you really know the facts about the disease and vaccinations, then getting the jab is a complete no-brainer.”

Poverty-hit children much more likely to be excluded from Notts schools

Across the East Midlands as a whole, 35 per cent of people between 18 and 29 had not received a first jab by August 7. Yet all people from that age group in England have been able to book a first vaccine dose since June 17.

The rate comes amid a warning by NHS England that one-fifth of those currently being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 are aged between 18 and 34 – a figure that is four times higher than during the virus’s peak last winter.

NHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said vaccines had “a major impact” on keeping people out of hospital and saving lives.

Efforts by the government to get young adults to come forward for a first jab include appeals by politicians and the creation of a host of pop-up vaccination centres around the country.

It has also been suggested that they won’t be allowed into nightclubs and other venues from the end of September unless they have a Covid vaccine passport to prove they have had the jabs.

Prof Finn added: “In the end, vaccines are good things, and something people should want and accept.”

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